Victor later on speaks a sign of mental strength and stand up to someone far stronger than him, with far more anger, and intelligence equal to his. “Devil, cease; and do not poison the air with these sounds of malice. I have declared my resolution to you; I am no coward to bend benath words. Leave me; I am inexorable;” This illustrates to the reader how strong Victor is as a character, and shows deep conflict with his real mental state, where he feels deep remorse for the creation of this fiend, sadness for the loss of human life. Shelley shows that intelligence is far stronger than physical strength.
Although Victor speaks of the ‘sophisms’, the false but convincing arguments of the monster, his own reckoning here seems equally refined: he is looking for excuses not to honour his guarantee. When the monster later murders Elizabeth, it could be said that he is only doing what Victor ha already done to him in destroying the female. The threat, ‘I shall be with you on your wedding night,’ suggests that Victor will then be unable to evade a confrontation with his sexuality.
II) Promises have been broken, men have been slain, and the tension between the creation and the creator is inevitable strong. “He approached me and said in a smothered voice ‘you have destroyed the work which you began; what is it that you intend? I have endured misery and toil” The monster shows the anguish he feels, that he may never be saved from solitude. ‘Smothered’ illustrates to the reader the richness, the unbearable voice that fills the room, inescapable from hearing. This already leads up to the dramatic tension between the characters. The monster begins by giving Victor a way out, the chance for an explanation, yet never allows him to speak, as he knows that she was destroyed on purpose. He explains his feelings, acts immaturely; “do you dare destroy my hopes”. It illustrates to the reader the hope that still lives dormant inside the monsters body. “Dare” illustrates to the reader that this is a threat, not just a question, and the anger and tension is already strong between the characters.
However Victor is unhurt or nervous about fighting back to his fiend. “Begone! I do break my promise; never will I create another like yourself, equal in deformity and wickedness” This shows to the reader that Victor is a character of strength, and to speak “Begone” against a fiend far bigger and stronger than himself, increases the tension, and makes the reader fear for Victor, that maybe just the monster will destroy him for his arrogance against the fiend. However the reader does know that Victor is the only monster hope. Victor speaks his mind with no apprehension “deformity and wickedness” increases the fear that we feel for Victor, yet the reader favours Victor for his stuborness and strength of character.
Victor continues outraging the monster and never changes his mind. “Shall I, in cold blood, set loose upon the earth in daemon whose delight is in death and wretchedness”. This illustrates to the reader that Victor blames himself for the murders, and the hell set loose after the monster wad created, and is honest with the monster, that he is not willing to become a cold blooded killer again by creating another monster, who could be far more ghastly than the original itself. Every single time Victor counteracts, and enrages the monster tension is created, as the reader fears for Victor’s life.
The monster enters the passage with demeanour that he is out to become the dominant creature within the argument, yet he lowers his manner “cried he ‘find a wife for his bosom, an each beast have his mate, and I be alone?” He is a passive character because he is now the character crying, and begging for a mate. The tension now reduced between the characters shows us that Victors intelligence, and ability to stand his ground has produced him to become the dominant character, that is not in danger, as he is the only hope for the monster.
III) Frankenstein and his creation are very similar, the major reason for this is mothers. Mothers in Frankenstein, as in most of Shelley’s works are prominent mainly for their non-existence, they show a want for, or gap, something which is wanted but prohibited. This is particularly true in the case of the monster, whose erotic watch is fixed on the maternal figure that he, due to the circumstances of birth, has been starved of. This lack and desire may be of particular connotation if we think the monster as Victor’s double. Victor too has been denied his mother through death, and his fear of the sexuality, which he sees as horrific at least partly a fear of his incestuous desire. He longs for a mother, but also fears and hates her because he cannot posses her.
The role of the woman is of great comparison between the creator and creation. Their view of women is very alike. Women in Frankenstein are generally pure, innocent, and passive. Though there are a few exceptions, such as , who works to support her impoverished father, women are generally seen as kind but powerless. For example, stands up for ’s innocence but cannot prevent her execution. For both and , woman is the ultimate companion, providing comfort and acceptance. For Victor, Elizabeth proves the sole joy that can alleviate his guilty conscience; similarly, the monster seeks a female of his kind to commiserate with his awful existence. Each eventually destroys the other’s love interest, transferring woman’s status from object of desire to object of revenge; women thus are never given the opportunity to act on their own.
Frankenstein is a gothic novel and a frequent motif in gothic is the double. When Victor refers to the monster as “my own spirit let loose from the grave… forced to destroy all that was dear to me”. Victor provides the clearest expression of the view that he and the monster maybe doubles, with the monster acting out Victors own aggressions. In creating the monster, the cultured being let loose the brutal, grotesque self contained within, full of primal emotions, and this monstrous force can be seen as acting out the self-conscious desires of the civilised being.
