Mental Health In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Essay Sample

Victor Frankenstine is a scientist who starts out being ambitious and egocentrically but throughout the book changes to a more paranoid, obsessed and unstable person. As the main character of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, he tells the story through Robert Walton a sailor he came across, nearing the chronological end of the story. He was born to into a good household and had a mostly uneventful childhood (apart from hi mothers death wich marks his obsession with live and death) his search for knowledge lead him off to university in Ingolstadt where ambition overtook him and he abandoned his social life, neglected his family and became obsessed with creating artificial life in order to better humanities lot as well as reaching a godlike status for himself. After successfully doing so, he is so overwhelmed and unable to cope, due to previous disregard of his on mental a physical wellbeing, that he abandons his creation. This starts a downwards spiral of hatred and revenge and regret ending with Frankenstein resembling the monster he resents more than he would care to admit, while at the same time being polar opposites. It is hard to look at either one of the characters without considering the other. Both influence one another and end up lonely and full or regret. 

The duality of the tow characters can be seen from the beginning as Walton describes coming across both in sledges pulled by dogs (p.9). One being described as “looking like a man but much bigger” the other as “terribly thin” Furthermore, the first interaction between Walton and him shows how obsessed he can get. Instead of caring for his own wellbeing he asks Walton where there were headed, only accepting help after finding out that they tow where headed for the Nord pole (p.9). 

This also shows he will pursue his goals at all cost, be it the destruction now or earlier the creation of his monster. The captain in his letters also pens him as having “wild eyes” but looking ready to collapse. The ”wild, even mad..” eyes and thin limbs that “were almost frozen” show both his mental and physical deterioration. Jet some of the ones fine young gentleman remains as he both manages to become Waltons friend (Walton reveres to him as such on page 89) and Walton's first impressions (p.9) include him being “seat and gentle” at times, the sailor also picks up on Frankenstein inner turmoil (“but he often seams to be very angry with himself”)as he is riddled with guild over his actions, but till his death never admits to pursuing a detrimental goal rather he ‘just’ regrets the consequences of his ambition neither seeking fame and glory nor mastering life and death is what is nagging at his conscience.

Simply the fact that he didn’t rise above other and indirectly caused the death of all he loves, including loosing himself and his grip on reality. His monster clearly also recognises this brought on Victor's mental deterioration (p. 87 “Oh Frankenstine! Fine and generous man, I destroyed all that you loved and so destroyed you”) (his loss of connection to reality can be observed by the ones very scientific DR. Speaking about an afterlife and seeing the goats of his loved ones.)

Wile the monsters regrets the misery he caused (p.87-89 example: “I wish that I never killed all those innocent people” Frankenstein is egocentrically focused on his misery. In the end, as the monster clearly states, “I destroyed his hopes, but I did not satisfy my own hopes” as in the end neither of the tow reached their goals. Frankenstine died without ever reaching fame and the monster never did get accepted into society. But as the monster clearly sees himself at least partly at fault, Frankenstein never admitted wrongdoing rather bailing fate.

Overall Frankenstein is an ambition driven character that feels regret over how is live went but not sees himself at fault for that. He starts out being a reasonable young scientist but slowly gets more and more fixated with his goals to a point where he loses touch with reality and breaks down on both the in- and outside. His character can be best observed by also looking at his creation and vice versa, as both shape on another their behaviour shift and the contrasting ambitions and problems can be observed throughout the novel. In the end, their both responsible for the horrible fate that befell  them. And Frankensteins need to set himself apart from the crowd to the point where he completely isolates himself and is unreflective ness over his own action play a major part in that. He is a character that had to prove so hard that he could achieve incredible things that he never bothers to ask himself if he should. Only realising too late that incredible thing scan have incredibly horrid consequences.