Frankenstein- The Dark Side of The Human Psyche
On the surface of Frankenstein Victor and the monster seem to be representatives of good and evil respectively. However transcending to a deeper level there appears to be a double between the two and they seem to rely on each other by the end of the novel. It then becomes apparent that both protagonist and antagonist seem to have a dark side albeit this is explored in different means throughout the novel.
For example despite Victor claiming his intentions in discovering "the secrets of heaven and earth" was predominately good as he wished to "renew life where death devoted the body to corruption" it should be noted that a large part of his incentive in doing such was his egoistical nature. He may have attempted to portray himself as a great benevolent being however in the his behavior it becomes evident hes actually quite a amoral persona. When his interest in science develops he shows signs of developing a hubris like characterization, this is shown as he starts to neglect his family ties in his pursuit of his "unhealthy obsession" and develops a hubris-like character. This is quite inconsiderate normally but in recognition that his mother died by a week ago this reflects the view that Victor is a egoistical amoral man, his father even requested "to hear from you regularly". Furthermore his behavior in the creation of the monster is shockingly immoral; Victor develops the view that "graveyards are merely a receptacle for corpses" and he begins to "dabble among graves" in the middle of the night. Thus he shows clear disrespect for the dead and essentially commits body snatching- a crime worthy of the death sentence in the UK in the early 19th century.
The product of Victor's amoral behavior is the "demonic corpse". Victors narration "The limbs i had selected were beautiful! Good God- Beautiful!" shows that not only did he commit body snatching randomly he actually went so far as to carefully choose each limb of the Monster. Therefor the Monster is essentially stitched up from Victor's crimes and becomes a physical metaphor in his egoistical evil nature. If one was to assume a nightmare or devilish/fiendish figure one would expect it to be a repellent ugly being.This is exactly what the monster looks like as his skin looked "yellow" and his eyes "if they were to be called eyes" cuts an ominous repellent view. Indeed Robert comments "such an unearthliness in his ugliness", the monster himself goes as far to describe himself as a "fallen angel". Therefore its evident that the monsters being is a representative of not only Victors amoral behavior but also the loss of Victor's noble intentions.
Furthermore despite the creature not being what Victor expected it to be, he would still have an obligation as a quasi-father. Indeed when Victor goes into "containment" and turned into "a wretch with trembling arms" and is cut off from the outside world there's a clear link to the Victorian stage of "confinement" and therefore Shelly places emphasis on Victor's role as some sort of parent. The creature turns out to be of a very high intellect capable of learning speech very quickly, reading Paradise Lost and other intricate works. However Victor himself see's none of this and only rejects the monster on the basis of aesthetic appearance calling him an "miserable wretch", this becomes all the more apparent he has an evil side as he learns the monster due to his intellect could be "acculturated" but rejects that idea as all he can see is failure as the monster appears to be ugly.
His egoistical nature comes to a high point when the monster goes on to frame Justine for murder. Despite at the trial Victor could produce evidence and thus redeem an innocent soul he doesn't; on the basis he would like a failure to society. This therefore illustrates the fact he believes his ego to be more important than another life; a clear view of his dark side. Once the Monster goes on to murder his wife Victor devotes himself to an animalistic like state of revenge. Christopher Small argues both protagonist and antagonist show themselves to be slaves to emotions, and this is illustrated through the monster's vows who swears "indistinguishable hatred" on "mankind" while Victor willing goes under social isolation to gain revenge embodied in the climax in the novel where they pursue each other across the arctic wastes. Indeed both characters seem unable to forgive each other for their past acts, instead giving way to a hatred that doesn't seem rational illustrating both characters being a representative of the dark side of the human psyche.
However it could be argued that Victor initially fleeing away can be justified as Robert despite being aware of the "vile insect"'s appearance he "shut [his] eyes involuntary" as "i never beheld a sight so terrible". Furthermore the creature himself actually performed very noble intentions initially such as using "extreme labour" to save a young girl from drowning, and thus the Godwinian tablu rasa concept is utilized. This is important Shelly's father William Godwin believed in the perfectibility of man and so the book takes on a plea for tolerance and not to reject people on the basis of aesthetic's as it would lead to them becoming monsters. Indeed the monster claims to be "malicious because i am miserable" and if he wasn't met with hostility he would have never "swore eternal hatred on mankind". Thus the novel could also be seen as a plea for tolerance in society
Within the framework of Frankenstien Shelly's stance towards the relationship with Victor and his creation complicates things; she intended to demonstrate the wrongness of Frankenstein efforts albeit at the same time showing the monster as fundamentally morally natural creature that is made evil by social circumstances. This leads the reader to be uncertain whose behavior is most unjustifiable. However it becomes clear that both characters have a dark side to them; Frankenstein in his egoistical nature rejects the creature and thus must be indirectly responsible for him turning "malicious" and so must be responsible to the murder of his young brother but also directly responsible for the death of Justine. The monsters acts aren't justifiable either, as despite being "remorseful" the whole time he went on to murder all those close to Frankenstein simply because they were related to him. The novel is therefore a example of the dark side of mankind and delves into the human psyche.
For example despite Victor claiming his intentions in discovering "the secrets of heaven and earth" was predominately good as he wished to "renew life where death devoted the body to corruption" it should be noted that a large part of his incentive in doing such was his egoistical nature. He may have attempted to portray himself as a great benevolent being however in the his behavior it becomes evident hes actually quite a amoral persona. When his interest in science develops he shows signs of developing a hubris like characterization, this is shown as he starts to neglect his family ties in his pursuit of his "unhealthy obsession" and develops a hubris-like character. This is quite inconsiderate normally but in recognition that his mother died by a week ago this reflects the view that Victor is a egoistical amoral man, his father even requested "to hear from you regularly". Furthermore his behavior in the creation of the monster is shockingly immoral; Victor develops the view that "graveyards are merely a receptacle for corpses" and he begins to "dabble among graves" in the middle of the night. Thus he shows clear disrespect for the dead and essentially commits body snatching- a crime worthy of the death sentence in the UK in the early 19th century.
The product of Victor's amoral behavior is the "demonic corpse". Victors narration "The limbs i had selected were beautiful! Good God- Beautiful!" shows that not only did he commit body snatching randomly he actually went so far as to carefully choose each limb of the Monster. Therefor the Monster is essentially stitched up from Victor's crimes and becomes a physical metaphor in his egoistical evil nature. If one was to assume a nightmare or devilish/fiendish figure one would expect it to be a repellent ugly being.This is exactly what the monster looks like as his skin looked "yellow" and his eyes "if they were to be called eyes" cuts an ominous repellent view. Indeed Robert comments "such an unearthliness in his ugliness", the monster himself goes as far to describe himself as a "fallen angel". Therefore its evident that the monsters being is a representative of not only Victors amoral behavior but also the loss of Victor's noble intentions.
Furthermore despite the creature not being what Victor expected it to be, he would still have an obligation as a quasi-father. Indeed when Victor goes into "containment" and turned into "a wretch with trembling arms" and is cut off from the outside world there's a clear link to the Victorian stage of "confinement" and therefore Shelly places emphasis on Victor's role as some sort of parent. The creature turns out to be of a very high intellect capable of learning speech very quickly, reading Paradise Lost and other intricate works. However Victor himself see's none of this and only rejects the monster on the basis of aesthetic appearance calling him an "miserable wretch", this becomes all the more apparent he has an evil side as he learns the monster due to his intellect could be "acculturated" but rejects that idea as all he can see is failure as the monster appears to be ugly.
His egoistical nature comes to a high point when the monster goes on to frame Justine for murder. Despite at the trial Victor could produce evidence and thus redeem an innocent soul he doesn't; on the basis he would like a failure to society. This therefore illustrates the fact he believes his ego to be more important than another life; a clear view of his dark side. Once the Monster goes on to murder his wife Victor devotes himself to an animalistic like state of revenge. Christopher Small argues both protagonist and antagonist show themselves to be slaves to emotions, and this is illustrated through the monster's vows who swears "indistinguishable hatred" on "mankind" while Victor willing goes under social isolation to gain revenge embodied in the climax in the novel where they pursue each other across the arctic wastes. Indeed both characters seem unable to forgive each other for their past acts, instead giving way to a hatred that doesn't seem rational illustrating both characters being a representative of the dark side of the human psyche.
However it could be argued that Victor initially fleeing away can be justified as Robert despite being aware of the "vile insect"'s appearance he "shut [his] eyes involuntary" as "i never beheld a sight so terrible". Furthermore the creature himself actually performed very noble intentions initially such as using "extreme labour" to save a young girl from drowning, and thus the Godwinian tablu rasa concept is utilized. This is important Shelly's father William Godwin believed in the perfectibility of man and so the book takes on a plea for tolerance and not to reject people on the basis of aesthetic's as it would lead to them becoming monsters. Indeed the monster claims to be "malicious because i am miserable" and if he wasn't met with hostility he would have never "swore eternal hatred on mankind". Thus the novel could also be seen as a plea for tolerance in society
Within the framework of Frankenstien Shelly's stance towards the relationship with Victor and his creation complicates things; she intended to demonstrate the wrongness of Frankenstein efforts albeit at the same time showing the monster as fundamentally morally natural creature that is made evil by social circumstances. This leads the reader to be uncertain whose behavior is most unjustifiable. However it becomes clear that both characters have a dark side to them; Frankenstein in his egoistical nature rejects the creature and thus must be indirectly responsible for him turning "malicious" and so must be responsible to the murder of his young brother but also directly responsible for the death of Justine. The monsters acts aren't justifiable either, as despite being "remorseful" the whole time he went on to murder all those close to Frankenstein simply because they were related to him. The novel is therefore a example of the dark side of mankind and delves into the human psyche.
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