Comparing Macbeth to Victor Frankenstein

        Also, both characters are disloyal. In Macbeth, King Duncan is killed because of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth, in a sense, hypnotized Macbeth into going along with the plan by making him feel like less of a man if he didn’t. In doing so (killing Duncan), Macbeth would be killing a dear friend and a trusted ally, who was nothing but nice to him. This shows how much of a monster he has become; not letting anyone get in his way. The audience, at this point, would feel empathetic towards Macbeth because this is the point where is starting to become an evil person. Similarly in Frankenstein, Victor betrays the very life that he created. He spends so much time and effort into creating the creature but at first glance, is repulsed by it. He abandons the creature. Consequently the creature becomes angry and violent. The creature, at this point, is forced into a life of rejection. The audience would feel empathetic towards Victor, because he commited an act of blasphemy, followed by an act of complete selfishness. The audience definitely feels pity towards both characters.

        Both characters display qualities of inability to understand human life and feelings. They seem to forget about the value and worth of a life. In Macbeth, he becomes so power-thirsty that he lets nothing stop his plans and get in his way. He doesn’t value a life the way it should be. He takes lives for his own purposes and descisions, killing innocent people. He does this only to keep his power asserted so that no one could even challenge him. In Frankenstein, a human himself, forgets all about human emotions and value of a life. He abandons his creation, forgetting that it has a conscious. He abandons it as if it were a pile of metal, like a robot, and not as if it were made the same way as Victor, just a little different and uglier. In both cases the reader could feel either empathetic or sympathetic depending on how their relationship with the characters is since the start of the book.

        In conclusion, I would say generally the reader would feel sympathetic for both these protagonists. With all the understanding of circumstances that the reader undergoes, along with the characters, they would be able to understand exactly why and how these characters made their descisions. For example, in Macbeth, the protagonist is severely influenced by Lady Macbeth who, ultimately, decides his future for him. Similarly in Frankenstein, Mr. Waldman helps cultivate his ambition to study the sciences. If these events never occurred to both characters, the end results of the stories wouldn’t be the same and probably less tragic. This is the factor which I believe makes the reader feel sympathetic.