Vengeance In Frankenstein

Superior Essays
An individuals' desire to seek vengeance can only be accomplished through the corruption of one's soul. Whether one seeks revenge through violence, or emotional torture, the individual seeking retribution discovers that they will pay a high price on their own innocence and emotional well being. In the novel Frankenstein the main protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, creates a creature who seeks vengeance on his creator as a result of his abandonment. Victor, in an act of protest also seeks his own revenge by not giving into the creatures demands. In the end both ultimately pay the price of revenge with their own lives. In Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, revenge is a significant theme between the two main characters Victor Frankenstein and his …show more content…
In an act of defiance and protest, Victor decides that he will not concede to the monsters demands. Victor accomplishes his revenge by destroying a creation he was making in the monster's image to ultimately become the creatures companion: “I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged. The wretch saw me destroy the creature on whose future existence he depended for happiness, and with a howl of devilish despair and revenge, withdrew” (180). The idea of Victor creating another creature that could perform acts of violence on others scared Victor. In a moment of clarity, he decides that he cannot be an accessory to the monsters vile existence and actions, and destroys his second creation. Prior to the monster departing, the monster declares that he will return on Victor's wedding night. In preparation, Victor arms himself with a pistol in the hopes of injuring or killing the creature as his act of revenge: “A grin was on the face of the monster; he seemed to jeer, as with his fiendish finger he pointed towards the corpse of my wife. I rushed towards the window , and drawing a pistol from my bosom, fired; but he eluded me...” (213). Furthermore, Victor has not shown many instances of courage but decides that he must stop the creature from harming his other loved ones. On his …show more content…
As a final act of revenge, Victor tragically succumbs to his injuries, and the monster decides that without a purpose will destroy himself: “‘But soon’, he cried with sad and solemn enthusiasm, ‘I shall die, and what I now feel be no longer felt. Soon these burning miseries will be extinct. I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly and exult in the agony of the torturing flames...Farewell" (241). Victor's main objective of revenge was to remove the creature from the world through violent means and to prevent the creature from hurting anyone else. Feeling no other purpose to go on living, the monster agrees that he must kill himself. What Victor did not accomplish while he was alive, he did accomplish in death. Consequently, the monster also achieves his goal of ruining Victor emotionally and to see him die alone, cold and miserable:“That is also my victim! In his murder my crimes are consummated; the miserable series of my being is wound to its close! ... I, who irretrievably destroyed thee by destroying all thou lovedst. Alas! He is cold, he cannot answer me” (237). The monster regrets that he has caused Victor so much pain and suffering, and asks for his forgiveness. Vengeance allowed the monster to satisfy his anger, but could never resolve the loneliness he felt. In the end the creature destroyed his creator and only family, Victor

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