Loss Of Innocence In Frankenstein

The romance novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a prominent novel in the romance and tragedy genre. In this novel the story of a scientist,Victor Frankenstein, and his creation is told through the letters of Walton, a ship captain who finds Frankenstein in the Arctic. Important themes in this book are obsession, isolation, creation, revenge and loss of innocence. In Mary Shelley’s novel, Victor Frankenstein and his creation are more similar than they realize. Both characters suffer from depression, have emotional instability, and an obsession with revenge. They reflect the evil in the other and represent each others mistakes.
Both Victor and his creation suffer from depression, for both of them this depression is caused by the creation of …show more content…
They feel extreme hatred for each other and cannot control their emotions and in turn have little control over their dangerous actions. When Victor's creation began to kill his friends and family, he became more and more depressed to an unstable level, although he did have emotional problems before this. Victor had always been very obsessive when it came to his work and personal life. This was shown to be passed down to the monster and he and Victor both obsess over one another. Frankenstein was so obsessive and wanted to play God so badly he could not control his urges and decided to create the monster. Because of his desire he pushed himself to the absolute limit, he “had worked for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health” (page 58). Frankenstein had made himself incredibly ill in several ways. Not only did Victor make himself physically ill, but he also made himself mentally ill. The above quote displayed both of these factors of Victor as he worked two years non stop on a project without paying attention to his health or safety. Victor could not control his emotions and made something unlike any other. Victor not only could control himself when it came to creating a new being but he also could not control his emotions when he first saw the creation. Victor has no control over his emotional state so when he sees that his …show more content…
The pair was upset about what the creation looked like and acted like. Although both shared the same hatred they wanted revenge on the other. Frankenstein obsessed over destroying his creation and the creation obsessed over destroying his creator. The creation was treated unfairly due to his appearance and the only person he had to blame for this was his creator, Victor Frankenstein. He swore revenge on him and when looked down upon by the only humans, he had loved and helped he yelled "Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. I could with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants and have glutted myself with their shrieks and misery” (page 138). When denounced by the Delacy family, who had been the only people he truly cared about, the creation swears revenge on Frankenstein. The creation had never really admired his creator in fact, he had always despised him to some degree. This situation pushed him off the edge and lead him to become obsessed about his revenge on the man who did him