represent a sort of subconscious self-vision. Victor's incestuous dream, where Elizabeth turns
into an image of his dead mother, seems to represent his feelings of guilt and betrayal. By leaving
home, Victor had separated himself from all feminine influences, focusing his attention on his
quest and repressing all other desires. Thus, it seems that the awakening of the monster
represents the expression of his repressed desires, including his longing to satisfy his mother's
wishes for his and Elizabeth's union. Here, the reader gets a broader view of Victor's
characteróone that involves consideration of his loved ones. However, as he becomes
enveloped by the pursuit of knowledge and the Romantic quest, Victor isolates himself and in
turn loses sight of his need for love and association. This results in the reversal of the romantic
quest, where Victor shuns his creation and ultimately hastens his demise.
Victor's goal in creating the monster was outwardly to create a better race for the benefit of
humanity. It appears, though, that Victor is personally motivated by narcissism. In regards to his
inspiration, Victor states that ìa new species would bless me as its creator and source; many
happy and excellent natures would owe their being to meî (52). With these words, it seems that
Victor desires to be the object of the monster's desire. With his ego as an obstacle of his own
understanding, Victor truly believes that his creation is for the benefit of mankind and the
monster himself, in whom Victor will ìrenew life where death had apparently devoted the body
to corruptionî (53). The simple truth that is revealed by his exploration is that whether as a
mother to his creation or as a son to his mother, Victor desires to be desired.
Secrecy - Victor conceives of science as a mystery to be probed; its secrets, once discovered,
must be jealously guarded. He considers M. Krempe
<javascript:CharacterWindow('http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/terms/char_13.html',
%20'b401ed24ff',%20500);>, the natural philosopher he meets at Ingolstadt, a model scientist:
"an uncouth man, but deeply imbued in the secrets of his science." Victor's entire obsession with
creating life is shrouded in secrecy, and his obsession with destroying the monster remains
equally secret until Walton hears his tale.
Whereas Victor continues in his secrecy out of
shame and guilt, the monster is forced into seclusion by his grotesque appearance. Walton
serves as the final confessor for both, and their tragic relationship becomes immortalized in
Walton's letters. In confessing all just before he dies, Victor escapes the stifling secrecy that has
ruined his life; likewise, the monster takes advantage of Walton's presence to forge a human
connection, hoping desperately that at last someone will understand, and empathize with, his
miserable existence.
Victor embraced the notion of the noble pursuit of knowledge too eagerly and too uncritically.
He had allowed himself to become carried away by the intellectual ecstasy of the pursuit, and
now he receives no reward or gratification. Instead, Victor's creation destroys all that he loves.
Victor begins to recognize his responsibility as he states, ìI murdered her. William, Justine, and
Henryóthey all died by my handsî (176). At this point, however, those near and dear to Victor
have already been killed. His previous failure to warn his loved ones about the murderous
creature says something about his lack of compassion and inability to accept responsibility for
his actions until it is too late.
Shelley uses the story of Walton's quest as a frame for the story of Victor Frankenstein. While
Victor praised his family and was quite concerned with their impressions and desires, he
allowed his yearning for romantic fulfillment to cloud his identity and ruin his life. Robert Walton,
however, guarded against this, and it is evident in his letters to his sister that he never permitted
his quest to completely confuse his identity. His character, while compassionate and
accommodating, is also quite complex. This is evidenced by his perceptions and reactions to
Victor's story.
In his second letter to Margaret, Walton writes that he truly desires a friend, ìthe absence of the
object of which I now feel as a most severe evilî (18). With this, Shelley seems to be
foreshadowing the nature of Victor's downfall. Walton wants a friend who would have ìaffection
enough for me to endeavor to regulate my mindî (19). While it is obvious that he wants a
companion to quell his loneliness at sea, it seems from this statement that Walton feels a deeper
need to protect himself against the ìevilî that could incur from blindly pursuing his quest. In
contrast to this, Victor advances in his studies of science for two years, where he states: ìI paid
no visit to Geneva, but was engaged, heart and soul, in the pursuit of some discoveriesî (49).
His sightless pursuit of discovery differs from that of Walton, who remains connected to nature
and his family.
It is the similarities between the stories of Walton and Victor that allow them to be so readily
compared and analyzed. As noted earlier, Walton's expedition to the North Pole and Victor's
scientific accomplishment are both the products of artistic creation and Romantic idealism. In
fact, it is important to note that Walton's quest too, had scientific implications. He states that he
ìmay there discover the wondrous power which attracts the needle; and may regulate a
thousand celestial observationsî (15).
Scientific endeavors aside, the quests of Victor and Walton seem to both provide a connection
to the feminine nature of their souls. It is in the treatment of these characteristics by Walton and
Victor that the primary difference in their quests is construed. Having already established
Walton's close ties with his sister and his attempts to keep in contact, it is important to examine
how components of Walton's journey are affected by this feminine connection. First of all,
Walton is able to balance aspects of isolation and community, while Victor is not. Walton's
isolation is represented by his condition on the ship, far from civilization and Nature's beauty.
His ties to the community are embodied in his letters to Margaret, where Walton displays his
affections and emotions. He is able, then, to remain connected to the feminine. These qualities of
Walton are reflected in his first letter to Margaret, where he states: ìI shall do nothing rashly; you
know me sufficiently to confide in my prudence and considerateness when the safety of others is
committed to my careî (20). By the time Walton comes into contact with Victor, he has been
separated from his sister and society for quite some time. In contrast to Walton, Victor's story
seems to be a warning against a disengagement from the feminine. On the other hand, Walton
continues to admire Victor, even referring to him as ìnoble and godlike in ruinî (200). It seems
here that Walton is either overly compassionate, or has been blinded by his prolonged isolation
from his feminine nature. We know, however, that Walton can empathize with Victor, as he
understands the mesmerizing nature of the Romantic quest.
In comparing the nature of Walton's quest to that of Victor's, it is important to note that he too,
was motivated by his ego. He states to Margaret: ìMy enticements . . . are sufficient to conquer
all fear of danger or death. . . You cannot contest the inestimable benefit which I shall confer on
mankind to the last generationî (16). However, Walton's compassion is able to overcome his
narcissism. As the sailors justify their apprehension in continuing the quest, Walton feels the
depth of his responsibility just as Victor slowly comes to realize his own involvement in the
murders of his creation. While it was too late for Victor, Walton still had the chance to
demonstrate his compassionate character. Rather than continue his voyage toward the North
Pole as Victor urges, Walton clearly demonstrates the strength of his sister's influence in
deciding to return home to safety.
Both Walton and Victor were unsuccessful in their quests for fulfillment. What is evident as the
primary difference, however, is the nature in which they failed. With the character of Victor,
Mary Shelley means to illustrate the peril associated with the male-dominated quest. Without the
aid of female influences, Victor allows his ego to take over his quest. The result, as noted
earlier, was his demise at the hands of his own creation. It seems that with the character of
Walton, Shelley offers hope in the form of family, friends, femininity and love.
Passive Women - For a novel written by the daughter of an important feminist, Frankenstein
is strikingly devoid of strong female characters. The novel is littered with passive women who
suffer calmly and then expire: Caroline Beaufort
<javascript:CharacterWindow('http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/terms/char_9.html',
%20'6850bdf7f9',%20500);> is a self-sacrificing mother who dies taking care of her adopted
daughter; Justine is executed for murder, despite her innocence; the creation of the female
monster is aborted by Victor because he fears being unable to control her actions once she is
animated; Elizabeth waits, impatient but helpless, for Victor to return to her, and she is
eventually murdered by the monster. One can argue that Shelley renders her female characters
so passive and subjects them to such ill treatment in order to call attention to the obsessive and
destructive behavior that Victor and the monster exhibit.
Light and Fire - "What could not be expected in the country of eternal light?" asks Walton,
displaying a faith in, and optimism about, science. In Frankenstein, light symbolizes knowledge,
discovery, and enlightenment. The natural world is a place of dark secrets, hidden passages,
and unknown mechanisms; the goal of the scientist is then to reach light. The dangerous and
more powerful cousin of light is fire. The monster's first experience with a still-smoldering flame
reveals the dual nature of fire: he discovers excitedly that it creates light in the darkness of the
night, but also that it harms him when he touches it.
The presence of fire in the text also brings to
mind the full title of Shelley's novel, Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus. The Greek
god Prometheus gave the knowledge of fire to humanity and was then severely punished for it.
Victor, attempting to become a modern Prometheus, is certainly punished, but unlike fire, his
"gift" to humanity—knowledge of the secret of life—remains a secret.
Pride and egotism stand as a platform for the central theme of the novel (Kiely 166). As he
begins his tale, Victor describes his family life. Significantly, he opens with the story of Beaufort,
a man whom let his pride lead to his own demise, consequently leaving his poor daughter an
orphan. Victor's father married this young girl and later, Victor was born, remaining an only
child for many years. The underlying theme of the virtue of companionship is introduced here. If
pride and egotism are a part of the novel's platform, then isolationism serves as one of the
novel's beams of support. Shelley seems to say that solitude gives rise to pride and self-love and
through Walton's voyage and Victor's obsessive behavior, the opposite becomes true. As
Victor describes his family life, he reflects on his days as an only child, until his parents decided
to adopt Elizabeth. (It is significant that in Victor's mind, Elizabeth did not join the family as a
member but as a "gift" for Victor, as if his parents recognized his solitude and gave him someone
to play with.) Even after Elizabeth joins the family and a second child is subsequently born,
Victor more or less chooses to be alone, avoiding crowds and only befriending a select few. He
seems almost proud of his introversion as if it makes him more of an individual, more special
than the common man.
At this point the reader begins to see that the novel reflects Shelley's philosophical views. She
alludes to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a philosopher who captured some focus of her interest. Like
Shelley's literary character, Frankenstein, Rousseau was born in Geneva, Switzerland. This
philosopher argued incessantly that humans were from origin essentially good creatures, that it
was society that has corrupted them. However, he believed also that after birth humans are
weak and innocent and require guidance and proper education. In place of this guidance, the
isolated man would find corruption of his own nature due to society. Rousseau believed, "A man
left entirely to himself from birth would be the most misshapen of creatures" (Stevenson 110).
This quote becomes an important reference throughout the novel as the reader realizes that
although it undoubtedly applies to Victor Frankenstein and his morals, it appeals the isolated
process of his research itself and more directly to his monster. Upon his experimentation he
becomes so entranced in his project and his desire for personal glory that he neglects all those
who care about him. He works in solitude; it is only he who can prevent this passion from
turning into an obsession. As he describes his work, his obsessive behavior is unmistakable
through his use of diction. He describes himself as "unremitting", "dedicated", "tortured",
"resistless", "frantic", and "engaged" (33). He admits that he had become "pale with study",
"emaciated with confinement" and that he was so focused that he "lost all soul or sensation but
for this one pursuit" (34). His father writes to him, rebuking him for not corresponding. One
might dismiss all of this by saying that it is only his instinctual curious nature and his passion that
take hold of him, but I beg to differ. I believe that in this case there should be an assessment of
character. Victor's selfish character and his passion for fame rely as the sole foundation of this
obsession. He must not be freed from blame or, more importantly, the consequences of his
actions.
Shelley also uses philosophy throughout the novel to further sermonize that creation can only be
a magnified image of its creator (Levine 16). Because Frankenstein was written during the
period of the first industrial revolution, it contributed to some of the developing ideas of the age.
She seemed to share a component of the Marxist theory, (which developed much later, but
which also developed during the industrial revolution), that men embody themselves in their
creations (Wolff 153). Many critics have accused Shelley of faulty characterization by giving
Frankenstein and the monster the same personality. After all, there has been through the years,
due to Hollywood films and whatnot that people have confusingly referred to the intentionally
unnamed monster as "Frankenstein". Yet these critics overstep the rational thought that a
person's creation represents, by the philosophical theory, an externalization of the self. Even
within the novel, this is apparent as the monster itself realizes that its form is a "filthy type" of
Frankenstein (93).
After all the experimentation and unattended science, Victor Frankenstein brought to life a new
human. On a "dreary night of November"(34) he reaches the dividing line that separates his
ambition and his ideal with the real and actual accomplishment (Kiely 162). Upon first sight of
this new "child", it becomes apparent that creating a being from remnants of the dead could in
no way conceive a spectacle of beauty. The creature that is subsequently borne from Victor's
experiment is derived from natural ingredients, each of its features chosen amongst others as
beautiful, such as pearly white teeth and black flowing hair. Yet the being that stands before
Frankenstein is ghastly. Again Victor's use of diction serves to support his point of view, this
time to illustrate the devastation of the results of his experiment. With the sudden spark of life,
the creature was transformed from a prospect of beautiful immortality into a "catastrophe", a
"wretch" and finally, a "monster" (35). When Frankenstein observes the results of his creation,
he ignores his responsibility and abandons his new being, falsifying his earlier claims to pursue
scientific interests. He has no intention to analyze the creature to find the basis on which his
experiment failed (Kiely 172).
Victor's main purpose for creating this new life is to make himself the father of a new immortal
species. The monster can in fact be perceived as Victor's "child", for he is merely a reproduction
of Victor's own self. Like a father, he reflects his personal desires upon the creature. His wish
for his new species to be immortal is a reflection of his own inner desires for immortality. The
romantic nature of his character leads him to believe that his new human, his "child" will be
entirely grateful for being brought into existence and would indefinitely praise him (Brooks 224).
Undoubtedly, this scene parallels to God and the creation of man, but in an un-Christian context
(Levine 11). Although Victor wants to adopt a god-like image in his role as a creator, he lacks
the knowledge and intuition of that an omniscient God would possess. His human imperfections
can only conceive of something less than himself. This monster becomes an eternal self-inflicted
wound upon its creator and serves as an embodiment of the consequences of selfish ambition.
Upon beginning his tale, Victor Frankenstein had moralized about the pursuit for unobtainable
knowledge and personal glorification. He seemed to warn that the life of the overreacher
becomes burdened with the acquirement of this knowledge as he states, "how much happier that
man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater
than his nature will allow" (31). His reference to knowledge as a "serpent"(13) in the beginning
reveals how the acquirement of it has affected him and suggests a dire warning to Walton.
Although Victor discovers the secret elixir of life, he never once reveals the specifics of his
experiment. He tells Walton to wait until the end of his tale, as if to teach him just how
dangerous the misapplication of acquired knowledge can be.
As a result of hearing this ghastly tale of scientific pursuit and failure, Walton seems to take heed
of Victor's every word, realizing that there is a valuable lesson to be learned. He realizes his
responsibility for his crew's safety and feels remorse for endangering the lives of his men for his
own glory. After all, try to remember the names of the men from any expedition or the soldiers
from any war. It is not the men who will be eternally remembered but the captain. However,
although he seems to have a change of heart towards his men, for one to say that Walton who
undergoes a "moral transformation" (Walling 38), I again implore a discrepancy. His self-
absorbing character never fades as he implies still that his sister is anxiously waiting for his
return. He writes, "what, Margaret, will be the state of your mind? You will not hear of my
destruction, and you will anxiously await my return" (158). He seems to think that she will go
mad due to his absence, as if he thinks that he is so important in her life that she could not go on
without him. There remain even more instances to disprove his moral transformation. For
example, instead of viewing Frankenstein with disgust for his attempt to imitate the Creator of
the world, he looks upon his friend with admiration and refers to his friend's character as a
"glorious spirit"(162).
When Walton and his crew are ultimately faced with pending danger and the sailors demand to
return home, it becomes obvious that Victor himself has also remained unchanged in character.
He takes it upon himself to persuade the men to go forward with this "glorious" expedition.
Instead of warning against danger, he warns against the disgrace they will face at home due to
their failure. He describes to them the absurdity of their prior claims of bravery when now at the
first sign of danger they shrink away. He tells them to "be men" and to be bold against the
"danger and death" which surround them (159). It seems that through this speech of
encouragement, Victor did not learn his lesson. He remains adamant on the pursuit for glory and
honor, disregarding these ambitions as the cause of all his troubles.
Victor Frankenstein dies in his failure, insistent that the cause was an "accident of circumstance,
the result of insufficient knowledge, or an imperfection in nature itself" (Kiely 160). Even through
his last words, he declares himself blameless, and through no fault of his own, he has been
stripped of his dreams. Like his previous warnings, he tells Walton to "avoid ambition" (162),
but this time he blames nature for his failure and fails to see the malice in the pursuit for glory.
Realistically, Frankenstein, the literary character, was in a way successful. By the utterance of
his name today he is immortalized, yet he did not receive the glory that he had intended. He is
remembered for his failure more than his genius. For his failure lie not in the creation of his
monster, but through the intention by which he created. It was not his ambition that killed him,
but his distortion of it.
The pursuit of knowledge is at the heart of Frankenstein, as Victor attempts to surge beyond
accepted human limits and access the secret of life. Likewise, Walton attempts to surpass
previous human explorations by endeavoring to reach the North Pole. This ruthless pursuit of
knowledge, of the light (see "Light and Fire"), proves dangerous, as Victor's act of creation
eventually results in the destruction of everyone dear to him, and Walton finds himself perilously
trapped between sheets of ice. Whereas Victor's obsessive hatred of the creature drives him to
his death, Walton ultimately pulls back from his treacherous mission, having learned from
Victor's example how destructive the thirst for knowledge can be.