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Victor Frankenstein and his Creature are the two most important characters in the novel — and they are best understood as mirrors of each other. This lesson analyses both in depth, covering key quotes, character arcs, and the examiner's expectations.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Protagonist and narrator (within Walton's frame) |
| Key trait | Obsessive ambition ("vaulting ambition" parallels Macbeth) |
| Fatal flaw | Hubris — believing he can transcend the limits of nature |
| Arc | From privileged idealist to guilt-ridden, self-destructive pursuer |
| Function | Represents the dangers of unchecked scientific ambition |
Childhood paradise (Geneva)
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Fascination with forbidden knowledge (Agrippa, alchemy)
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University obsession (Ingolstadt — isolation, grave-robbing)
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THE CREATION — and immediate abandonment
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Guilt and denial (William, Justine)
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Confrontation with the Creature (Mer de Glace)
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Broken promise (destroys the female)
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Loss of everyone he loves
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Obsessive pursuit → death in the Arctic
| Quote | Context | Analysis |
|---|---|---|
| "A new species would bless me as its creator and source" | Before the creation | Victor sees himself as a god-figure. The language of "blessing" is religious — he is usurping God's role. His ambition is not just scientific but egotistical: he wants worship. |
| "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe" | The creation scene | The word "catastrophe" signals that Victor immediately sees his creation as a disaster. He uses dehumanising language — "wretch," "miserable monster" — rather than acknowledging his responsibility. |
| "I, not in deed, but in effect, was the true murderer" | After Justine's execution | Victor acknowledges his moral responsibility but still does nothing. This pattern of awareness without action defines his character. |
| "I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body" | The creation scene | "Sole purpose" reveals his tunnel vision — he has sacrificed everything (health, relationships, morality) for this single obsessive goal. |
| "Begone! I do break my promise" | Destroying the female | Victor exercises his power as creator to deny the Creature companionship. This is his most consequential decision after the original creation. |
Victor parallels Prometheus in several ways:
| Promethean quality | How Victor embodies it |
|---|---|
| Stealing forbidden knowledge | He uncovers the "secret of life" through transgressive means |
| Defying the gods / natural order | He crosses the boundary between life and death |
| Suffering eternal punishment | He loses everything and dies in torment |
| Giving a "gift" that causes harm | His creation brings only suffering |
Examiner's tip: Victor is not a straightforward villain — he is a tragic figure driven by a desire to benefit humanity that becomes corrupted by ego. A Grade 9 response would explore this complexity rather than simply condemning him.
One of the most important ways to read Victor is as a failed parent. Shelley (who lost her own mother days after birth and experienced the death of her first child) was deeply concerned with parental responsibility:
| Parental failure | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Abandonment at birth | Victor flees the moment the Creature opens its eyes |
| Refusal to nurture | He never teaches, guides, or provides for the Creature |
| Denial of responsibility | He blames the Creature for being monstrous, ignoring his role |
| Refusal to provide companionship | He destroys the female creature |
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Victor's creation; narrator of the inner narrative |
| Key trait | Begins innocent and compassionate; becomes violent through rejection |
| Arc | From newborn innocence to eloquent outcast to vengeful killer |
| Function | Represents the consequences of prejudice, abandonment, and social exclusion |
Birth — confused, innocent, wordless
|
Discovery of the world — fire, food, sensation
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The De Lacey family — learns language, emotion, morality
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Reads Paradise Lost — identifies with Adam AND Satan
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Rejected by the De Laceys — turning point
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Rejected by all humanity — repeatedly
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William's murder — the beginning of revenge
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Demands a companion — hope
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Victor destroys the female — hope destroyed
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Murders Clerval, Elizabeth — revenge fulfilled
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Victor dies — the Creature mourns and vows self-destruction
| Quote | Context | Analysis |
|---|---|---|
| "I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel" | Speaking to Victor | This allusion to Paradise Lost is the novel's most important line about the Creature. Like Adam, he was created by a single being and deserves love; like Satan, he has been cast out and is driven to evil by rejection. The Creature understands his own tragedy. |
| "Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth?" | After finding Victor's journal | The Creature reads Victor's disgusted account of creating him. The rhetorical question shows his self-awareness and anguish — he is beginning to internalise society's rejection. |
| "I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend" | Speaking to Walton at the end | This is the Creature's thesis statement about his own nature. He insists that nurture, not nature, made him violent — directly echoing Rousseau's philosophy. |
| "If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear" | After the De Lacey rejection | This marks the Creature's transformation. He has tried love and been rejected; now he turns to the only power available to him — terror. |
| "Evil thenceforth became my good" | The Creature's declaration | A direct echo of Satan's line in Paradise Lost: "Evil, be thou my good." The Creature has fully embraced the Satanic role that society has forced upon him. |
Rousseau's concept of the noble savage — that humans are born good but corrupted by civilisation — is central to the Creature's characterisation:
| Stage | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Natural innocence | The Creature's first experiences are gentle — wonder, curiosity |
| Learning and empathy | He weeps at the De Laceys' suffering; secretly gathers firewood for them |
| Desire for connection | He longs for friendship and community |
| Corruption by society | Every human he meets attacks or flees from him |
| Violence as response | Murder becomes his only means of communicating with his creator |
This is one of the most important exam questions. A sophisticated response would argue both sides:
| The Creature IS a monster | The Creature is NOT a monster |
|---|---|
| He murders an innocent child (William) | He was abandoned by his creator with no guidance or love |
| He frames Justine, knowing she will die | He tried repeatedly to connect with humanity and was rejected |
| He murders Clerval and Elizabeth | His violence is a direct consequence of Victor's failures |
| He manipulates Victor through threats | He shows genuine remorse and grief at the novel's end |
Examiner's tip: The question "Who is the real monster?" is a cliche, but you can use it effectively by showing that Shelley deliberately blurs the distinction. Victor calls the Creature a "monster," but Victor's own actions — abandonment, silence, selfishness — are equally monstrous. The novel forces us to question what "monstrosity" really means.
Shelley presents Victor and the Creature as doubles (doppelgangers) — they mirror and define each other:
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