The Role Of Victor As A Hero In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

517 Words3 Pages
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is first depicted as a hero that turns tragic due to his own detrimental flaws. Victor’s demise began when his mother died while trying to nurture Elizabeth back to health. Due to his need for an escape, Victor turns to his fascination with nature. He feels trapped in his tragic, monotonous life and craves the feeling of living again. Seen first as a genius of science, Victor is loved by others only for him to turn around and become the cause of suffering for nearly every character. Victor was named a tragic character due to his tragic flaw of a need for an escape, leading to the creation that drove him to be the instrument of the suffering and death that occurred throughout the novel.…show more content…
He was constantly trying to escape from his problems and the deaths that were his fault. Victor was trying to escape from the :monster” he created, however it just drew the creature closer to him. The creature was the instrument in the deaths of all of Victor’s loved ones- William, Justine, Henry and Elizabeth. Victor was so consumed with escaping from the monster that even on his wedding night he was less concerned with Elizabeth, leading to her death. As the deaths continued and the monster’s vengeance inclined, Victor became increasingly enthralled in his problems and seemingly ignored others’. He could have killed the creature after he found that he killed William and Justine.. Instead, Victor san and reduced to face his problems face to face, he escaped. To call Victor a “hero” would be ignorant. He did create life, however he never took flu responsibility, always took the easy way out and was the force that created the suffering of the novel. His actions didn’t portray that of a hero, but a villain, a tragic villain. A conductor of death, unconcerned with the people around him, Victor was the evil of this novel; he was the
Open Document