Frankenstein Lit Essay

Submitted By Klindsay25
Words: 1248
Pages: 5

Frankenstein compare and contrast
Kevin Lindsay
English 1010
Professor Forman

“Frankenstein”
In Mary Shelley’s, “Frankenstein,” the characters, Victor Frankenstein and “the creation,” are exposed to different outlooks and experiences in life. Their differences in class, family and friends, and education play a major role in their destruction. Victor Frankenstein was born a Genevese around the 1800’s. His family and ancestors for years had been counselors and syndics of the republic.(31) His father was respected for his integrity and attention to public business.(31) Having a family with this kind of reputation would expose a child to many possibilities, not to mention the amount of pressure to keep up the family name.
The creation of Victor Frankenstein had no family of birth. The creation’s life was made from assembling parts of cadavers to one another, Victor created the ultimate creature, his limbs were of proportion, he had yellow skin; lustrous black hair; pearly white teeth.(56) The creature was a horrid contrast of monstrous looks.(56) The creature knew nothing of the world or of life, he was alone. Victor never even gave the monster a name.
Victor was the only child of his parents for a long time. Imaginable during his infancy and childhood he received a lesson of patience, of charity, and self-control.(33) Victor traveled the world with his parents; his, mother, however longed for a daughter.(33) Upon their travels, Victor and his mother came across a poor gypsy family in a village. Victor’s mother adopted the prettiest girl, her name was Elizabeth and she was to be betrothed to Victor, she was Victor’s property, “until death she is to be mine,” (35) Victor quoted.
The creation was never an infant or was of a child-like figure; the creation had the appearance of an adult and the mind of a child. The creation urged Victor to make him a companion. Another creation one as deformed and horrible as the creature would, she would not be able to deny herself to the creation.(137) Victor agreed but in the end it fell through. He felt he could not see reason into bringing another “Horrid” creation into this world.
Victor, as a child, was intrigued by natural philosophy he studied three major authors, “Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus.”(38-39) Victor’s father was not of science or philosophy, and was outraged at Victor’s waste of time on “blasted systems.” He insisted Victor not spend so much time with such nonsense Victor did not heed his father and, indulged in science and, continued his studies, Victor was mostly self-educated, even, though he did follow the routine education of schools in Geneva. As and adult Victor knew his time spent involved in philosophy would lead to misery and eventually to his destruction.(38) Victor at the age of seventeen was urged by his parents to attend the University of Ingolstadt.
The creation was never even a child, the creations youth of life never studied at a university. The creation never had the opportunity to study philosophy; however, he was self-educated from people he observed in a hovel that he lived in for some time near a cottage. The creation by watching and listening would learn their basic means of communicating he learned his first means of their language by their reference to objects e.g. bread, milk, and wood. The creation found a couple of articles and books, “Paradise lost, Sorrows of Werter and a volume of Plutarch’s Lives.”(122) These three books were not on philosophy.
In Ingolstadt, Victor was taught by Professor Waldman who constructed a new light for Victor he engaged in his past studies and spoke of new ways for Victor to learn, Victor became M. Waldman’s disciple, M. Waldman was undoubted of Victor’s success. Victor learned of new science, machines, and chemistry he devoted his whole life and time to learning he was involved heart and soul.(49) One of Victor’s attractions was the structure of the human