The Real Monster In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein (1831) has long endured the test of time; however, it is no longer true to the original tale. Most people that think they know Frankenstein have only watched adaptations loosely based on the original Frankenstein. These versions have created many inaccuracies that have altered Shelley’s intended meaning of Frankenstein. One of most common inaccuracies of Shelley’s work is the tendency to believe that the monster’s name is Frankenstein. Yet, the monster is referred to as “daemon” by its creator whose name is Victor Frankenstein. The worst of these false perceptions is the idea of who the real monster is. The versions of Frankenstein in popular culture portray the demon Victor creates as the true monster. …show more content…
(Shelley 19)
The desire to discover the secrets of heaven and earth are by no means something normal people think about or feel like they have to discover. Most people understand that there are aspects of society that humans are not intended to know or discover. However, for Victor, this is not a possibility, as he has to know everything and will do anything to gain this knowledge. Dussinger argues that Victor’s curiosity, his lust for forbidden knowledge, creates a God-complex (40). Victor desires to play God by having the knowledge to be able to create and control …show more content…
He makes everyone around him wait for him to be ready. He makes his future wife, Elizabeth wait for years before he decides to marry her. Even when he finally marries her he only does it because his mother wanted him to. Shelley writes, “And when, on the morrow, she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as mine- mine to protect, love, and cherish” (18). Victor views Elizabeth as a present, not a human being. To Victor, Elizabeth is a piece of property he wants to protect then love and cherish because it is his duty. However, he fails as a protector to her. According to John R. Huber et al., “In marrying Elizabeth, Frankenstein attempted to maintain the atmosphere that he had at home, that is being pampered and treated like a god” (5). Victor was raised as an only child and therefore expects to be treated as he wants. He wants to be treated like a god by everyone and he thinks he will get it. He has also learned to respect only his parents that tell him what or what not to do. When he is in the attic making his monster his parents are not there to steer him away from his crazy notation. Victor’s selfishness is again shown when he does not even think to protect her from the creature. He is so focused on saving his own life that he cannot make the connection that the monster is killing his family. His
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