Garam Noh
Diary of a Hypocrite
Though Mary Shelley was a young woman of twenty years of age when she wrote Frankenstein, she chose to revolve her novel principally around male characters. But her choice of Victor as a narrator is far from anti-feminist—it only highlights the contrast between Frankenstein’s irresponsibility and the selfless (if passive) nature of the women who surround him. Victor’s tale serves to be, for both Captain Walton and Shelley’s readers, a pointed warning against male hubris and selfishness.
In Shelley’s time, society was predominantly under the impression that more is always better when it comes to knowledge. Victor’s intellectual hubris and the misfortune it brings him, however, convince the reader of the dangers of Enlightenment philosophy. As the title “Frankenstein- the Modern Prometheus” suggests, Victor is punished until the very moment of his death for his imitatio Dei. The trials he goes through, from the loss of a best friend to that of a beloved wife, suggest to Shelley’s audience that some mysteries are better left unexplored. Victor himself exhorts Robert Walton to abandon his excessive intellectual curiosity, discouraging the captain from asking Victor to share with him the secret of life.
What first instigates Victor’s fascination with the act of creation is nothing other than the loss of his mother. Frankenstein’s mad experiments are less a quest for glory in the field of science than an effort to prove that death is a reversible process. Victor’s arrogance here lies in his abandonment of familial ties for what he thinks to be the ultimate bond between a creator and his creation. During his years in Ingolstadt, Victor neglects the very people who would later nurse his sickly body and mind back to health, efforts that are not aided by Frankenstein’s policies of prevarication and reclusiveness.
The epitome of Victor’s hubris and selfishness, however, is not the action of creation but his wanton abandonment of its product. Upon first seeing the Monster approach him, Frankenstein tries to break what he previously described as the unbreakable- the sacred bond between creator and creation. Victor runs away. Although the creature exhibits no malevolence towards him, the sight of its wretched face, crafted by Victor’s own hand over the course of months, is too much for him to bear. And thus the one person from whom the Monster should expect obligatory affection chooses instead to turn from him.
Shelley does not mention the word “abortion” until the very last pages of her novel, but the idea is present throughout her narrative. Victor consistently exhibits an appalling lack of responsibility towards the products of his labors- not only does he abandon the Monster in a moment of repugnance, but he also destroys the creature’s mate in an act that is parallel to late-term abortion. The author here demonstrates that perhaps because childbearing is the lot of the woman, men do not fully comprehend the sanctity of life. To rid himself of a source of shame, Victor would not hesitate to tear the Monster or his female counterpart limb from limb. He is a hypocrite in that he is all too quick to label the Monster, but not himself, as a murderer. While Elizabeth and Justine seek to mitigate the sorrow of others before their own, Frankenstein is too narcissistic to feel for anyone but himself. Our mad scientist, in the end, is not defined by his act of creation but instead by his many acts of destruction - of the aspirations of the Monster, of the lives of those who loved and trusted him, and of the natural order and harmony that exists in the world for good reason.
Diary of a Hypocrite
Though Mary Shelley was a young woman of twenty years of age when she wrote Frankenstein, she chose to revolve her novel principally around male characters. But her choice of Victor as a narrator is far from anti-feminist—it only highlights the contrast between Frankenstein’s irresponsibility and the selfless (if passive) nature of the women who surround him. Victor’s tale serves to be, for both Captain Walton and Shelley’s readers, a pointed warning against male hubris and selfishness.
In Shelley’s time, society was predominantly under the impression that more is always better when it comes to knowledge. Victor’s intellectual hubris and the misfortune it brings him, however, convince the reader of the dangers of Enlightenment philosophy. As the title “Frankenstein- the Modern Prometheus” suggests, Victor is punished until the very moment of his death for his imitatio Dei. The trials he goes through, from the loss of a best friend to that of a beloved wife, suggest to Shelley’s audience that some mysteries are better left unexplored. Victor himself exhorts Robert Walton to abandon his excessive intellectual curiosity, discouraging the captain from asking Victor to share with him the secret of life.
What first instigates Victor’s fascination with the act of creation is nothing other than the loss of his mother. Frankenstein’s mad experiments are less a quest for glory in the field of science than an effort to prove that death is a reversible process. Victor’s arrogance here lies in his abandonment of familial ties for what he thinks to be the ultimate bond between a creator and his creation. During his years in Ingolstadt, Victor neglects the very people who would later nurse his sickly body and mind back to health, efforts that are not aided by Frankenstein’s policies of prevarication and reclusiveness.
The epitome of Victor’s hubris and selfishness, however, is not the action of creation but his wanton abandonment of its product. Upon first seeing the Monster approach him, Frankenstein tries to break what he previously described as the unbreakable- the sacred bond between creator and creation. Victor runs away. Although the creature exhibits no malevolence towards him, the sight of its wretched face, crafted by Victor’s own hand over the course of months, is too much for him to bear. And thus the one person from whom the Monster should expect obligatory affection chooses instead to turn from him.
Shelley does not mention the word “abortion” until the very last pages of her novel, but the idea is present throughout her narrative. Victor consistently exhibits an appalling lack of responsibility towards the products of his labors- not only does he abandon the Monster in a moment of repugnance, but he also destroys the creature’s mate in an act that is parallel to late-term abortion. The author here demonstrates that perhaps because childbearing is the lot of the woman, men do not fully comprehend the sanctity of life. To rid himself of a source of shame, Victor would not hesitate to tear the Monster or his female counterpart limb from limb. He is a hypocrite in that he is all too quick to label the Monster, but not himself, as a murderer. While Elizabeth and Justine seek to mitigate the sorrow of others before their own, Frankenstein is too narcissistic to feel for anyone but himself. Our mad scientist, in the end, is not defined by his act of creation but instead by his many acts of destruction - of the aspirations of the Monster, of the lives of those who loved and trusted him, and of the natural order and harmony that exists in the world for good reason.