Frankenquestion #1
Posted by admin on September 11, 2008, 6:51 pm
Who is the hero of Frankenstein?
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Posted by admin on September 11, 2008, 6:51 pm
Who is the hero of Frankenstein?
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September 14th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Who is the hero of Frankenstein?
Victor Frankenstein fits the model of the classical tragic hero. His tragic flaw is his hubris; his pride in himself and his abilities permits him to trespass on the territory of God and women, the “life givers.” Specifically, Victor’s desire for power/knowledge places him in the archetype of a Faustian hero. He may not have sold his soul to the devil or received help from Mephistopheles, but he has traded on his life, health, and happiness nonetheless.
It is interesting though that it is decidedly easy for Victor and Doctor Faustus (I am thinking of Marlowe’s Faustus) to achieve the desires. Both of these heroes were well-educated in their respective crafts, but once they decided to cross the boundaries of traditional knowledge, it seems that they made their discoveries rather quickly with little or no failure. It is possible that the interest in this hero type is purely in the willingness to transgress a sacred boundary and not how difficult it was to do so, but it may also be possible to see this as a critique of the manner in which we pursue occult knowledge.
Would we be so willing to condemn Victor, or Faustus, if he failed repeatedly before achieving “success”? Again, Victor certainly worked hard, but there was never much doubt in his knowledge. If was more difficult to discover the secret of life, would it be less arrogant of him to try to bestow it? Perhaps the more important question is would we react as strongly if the creature was a result of a collaborative scientific effort with the backing of a major university or state department? The suggestion in the novel is that only distinctly proud or, dare I say, “mad” scientist would attempt such a task. We would like to believe that no organized collective would be so rash or audacious with the laws of nature. Yet, we know this is not true. Groups of scientists work together all the time to discover new ways to subvert life or end it all together.
It is this last concept, that of working in isolation and its ethical implications, that makes the role of the “hero” change so much in the novel’s transformation to film. In the novel, the trajectory of the tragic hero follows the typical arc. Victor does fall from a considerably high place in society as a result of his tragic flaw or “hamartia” and does suffer for it. In the end, he also achieves a type of “anagnorisis” or epiphany; he knows it was a mistake to make the creature and cautions Walton not to make a similar one. Victor’s death and the creature’s eventual suicide presumably restore order to the universe. In Whale’s film adaptation of Frankenstein, the identification of the “hero” is complicated by the fact that Victor, now Henry, does not work alone and, although he apparently suffers, is not destroyed by the creature’s antagonism. The presence of observers, including Elizabeth and an assistant, Fritz, among others, would seem to spread the blame. This is complicated even further in the Bride of Frankenstein when Victor/Henry teams up with another, even madder, scientist to create a mate for the monster. Somehow the audience is meant to distinguish between the shades of guilt among transgressive mad scientists and sympathize with Victor/Henry and wish for the demise of the new colleague.
The ultimate result of the modifications made in the film adaptations is that the “hero” of the story becomes less clear. In the films, we are less concerned with a sympathetic condemnation of the tragic hero and instead are provoked more by the rapidly evolving possibilities of technology. It is Science that takes center stage in the films.
September 20th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is one of those novels in which the true hero is the opposite of the cliched sense of the word. In Shelley’s novel, Victor Frankenstein, the main protagonist, seeks out the cliched heroism, which is a strong, valiant crusader who brings about great change to his society. Victor attempts to reach this sense of heroism through his endeavors to advance the scientific world and to resurrect life from the dead/non-living. However, Victor’s intentions weren’t entirely pure, and it is clear that he was working in his own self interest. Victor wanted to be the *first*, the *best* the *one* person that can perform such a task. The fact that Victor opted to work by himself and would not confide in even his loved ones the details of his plan proves the point that he was working in self-interest and that he did not wish to share the glory of his supposed victory. While Victor may very well have had good intentions in terms of bringing about positive change to society, his ego tainted his otherwise true heroism. (By the way, most people, especially women would never embrace said ‘positive changes’ since they entail hyper-masculinity and purely technical reproduction.)
While Victor might have been the valiant crusader in the novel, the true heroes are Elizabeth and Justine, background characters who are regarded by the men as insignificant creatures whose only purpose is to grant reproduction. What makes these women the true heroes is their self-sacrificial natures. Unlike Victor who works in his own self-interest, these women work in the interest of others and what they believe is right. They exert remarkable strength to satisfy said interests.
Elizabeth Lavenza, Victor’s sister by proxy, and his soon-to-be wife suspects that Victor is in love with another woman. Even though it would pain her deeply to do so, she offers to give him up so that he can be happy. A more specific example of Elizabeth working toward Victor’s happiness is when she tells Victor that if she sees one smile out of him, then she would be happier than ever. An example of Elizabeth bringing about unexpected strength for a virtuous cause is when she goes to the courthouse and argues for the innocence of Justine Moritz, despite every one else’s (except Victor) conviction that Moritz was guilty of killing William, the small brother of Victor.
The fact that Justine, a person that Victor forgot about, plead guilty to the crime, despite her innocence is a remarkable strength in itself. Justine turned herself in because she didn’t want any more conflict and she didn’t want to inflict any more pain on the Frankenstein family. The fact that she gave up her life to make life easier on Victor and his family makes her a martyr in the fullest sense of the word.
Elizabeth and Justine are the antithesis of the glorified heroes who do magnificent things and who receive enormous credit for said things. Instead, Elizabeth and Justine are the unspoken heroes that one often encounters in everyday occurrences. Although Elizabeth and Justin probably wouldn’t refer to themselves as ‘heroes’, they perform truly heroic actions in their willingness to stand up for what is right, even it requires giving up something they want.