History Literature / Frankenstein

Thus begins the stranger's [[NestedStory tragic tale]]: he is a onetime University of Ingolstadt medical student, Victor Frankenstein, who unlocked the secrets to CreatingLife. He used this knowledge to create an artificial man, larger and stronger than most mortals, [[AndSomeOtherStuff by means which he chooses not to describe]]. While he was initially triumphant with his success, a few moments of observing the flailing and moaning patchwork being left [[UncannyValley Victor disgusted by and fearful of his creation]]. [[GoneHorriblyRight Realizing the ramifications of his success]], he was horrified. He abandoned the Creature, and after suffering from several months beset by BrainFever, left Austria and returned to his family's home in Geneva, Switzerland.

* InformedAbility: Throughout the story, we're told how noble and wonderful Victor Frankenstein is, but we never see any of it. His actions in the story make him out to be shallow, irresponsible and self-centered. Of course, [[UnreliableNarrator a lot of the narration is from Victor's own perspective]], so it may just serve as a testament to said arrogance.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Essentially the theme of the novel. You may succeed at your goal of furthering human knowledge and understanding, but if you fail to meet the responsibility and the prudence that it demands from you, it will inevitably bring ruin to humanity instead, yourself included.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Essentially the theme of the novel. You may succeed at your goal of furthering human knowledge and understanding, but if you fail to meet the responsibility and the prudence that it demands from you, it will destroy you.

Thus begins the stranger's [[NestedStory tragic tale]]: he is a onetime University of Ingolstadt medical student, Victor Frankenstein, who unlocked the secrets to CreatingLife. He used this knowledge to create an artificial man, larger and stronger than most mortals, [[AndSomeOtherStuff by means which he chooses not to describe]]. While he was initially triumphant with his success, a few moments of observing the flailing and moaning patchwork being left [[UncannyValley Victor disgusted by and fearful of his creation]]. [[GoneHorriblyRight Realizing the ramifications of his success]], he was horrified. He abandoned the Creature and fled to his family's estate.

In his absence, the Creature was forced to come to grips with suddenly finding itself alive and alone without explanation or guidance. He learned about humanity by watching a family cottage from afar, but was again driven off when he [[ReluctantMonster attempted to offer his friendship]]- one of many bad run-ins with humanity which left the monster [[DespairEventHorizon bitter and cynical]]. Eventually, the Creature came to [[DisappearedDad resent his creator, whom he viewed as his father]], for abandoning the Creature to a life of torment, and decided to come home to seek vengeance against Frankenstein...

* AnAesop: The novel has a moral that how you treat others has a powerful effect on how they treat you. When Frankenstein's monster is abandoned by his creator and he (the monster) starts wandering about, he is at first a shy, gentle creature. It's only when he's treated with fear and revulsion by the townspeople he encounters that he starts to become a fearsome, ferocious, hateful creature.

* AndSomeOtherStuff: Frankenstein is deliberately vague about how he brought a sewn-together corpse to life. The sailor he's telling his story to tries to inquire further, but Frankenstein refuses because he doesn't want anyone else to replicate his experiment.

** Used for tragedy: The monster is a hideous ghoul stitched together from various corpses, yet is the most warm, kind-hearted character in the book... at first. The people he meets are unable to see past his exterior and, with the obvious exception of the blind man, assume his heart is as ugly as his face. Over time, this mistreatment [[ThenLetMeBeEvil twists him]] into the very thing people assume he is.

* TheScapegoat: Poor, poor Justine is framed for the Creature's murder of William and is subsequently executed for it.

While the copyright status on the various adaptations varies, the original novel is in the PublicDomain and can be freely read in both its 1818 and 1831 editions [[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Frankenstein,_or_the_Modern_Prometheus here]].

* BlindAndTheBeast: [[spoiler:The Creature tries to befriend a blind man, and it works! Except the man's family returns and casts out the Creature before he can explain himself.]]

* CycleOfRevenge: The Creature seeks revenge on Victor for abandoning him, causing Victor to hate him in return. Basically, one act of hate leads to the other retaliating in kind [[spoiler:until Victor dies a miserable man and the Monster is so horrified by what he had become that he commits suicide.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Victor Frankenstein dies on Walton's ship without ever taking revenge on the monster for his murders of William, Henry and Elizabeth (as well as Justine being wrongfully executed as a result of the monster framing her). The monster visits Walton, expresses regret for his murders, and leaves to commit suicide.]]
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: After Frankenstein [[spoiler:breaks his promise to make the monster a bride, the monster tells him, "I'll be with you on your wedding night." Frankenstein thinks the monster means he'll kill ''him'' on his wedding, and after the wedding, waits outside his honeymoon cottage with a loaded shotgun, waiting for the monster to come, with Elizabeth waiting in the room]]. But [[spoiler:the monster meant he would kill ''Elizabeth'' on the night of their wedding, and does so when Frankenstein is outside waiting.]]

* FalseConfession: [[spoiler:Justine falsely confesses to killing William, convinced that if she doesn't, she'll go to Hell after she's executed.]]

* ForTheEvulz: While making the [[spoiler:Creature's mate, Frankenstein worries that she might start killing people with this justification]].

* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Victor dies of illness on Walton's ship. Calling him a "hero" is a bit of a stretch, though]].

* LamarckWasRight: Frankenstein destroys the [[spoiler:half-formed she-Creature that he was building for the monster because he feared that the two would breed a race of terrifying creatures like themselves and take over the world]].

* MeaninglessVillainVictory: The creature succeeds in completely ruining Victor's life [[spoiler:And Victor also dies before he had his chance to take his revenge against him]]. However, as the story reaches its conclusion, he is not only as lonely and miserable as he always was, but also filled with so much regret that [[spoiler:decides to commit suicide at the end of book.]]
* MilesToGoBeforeISleep: By the end of his narrative, Victor is [[spoiler:miserable enough to become a DeathSeeker, but he promised himself and his dead family that he'd kill the monster first. Unfortunately for him the monster just happens to be really, ''really'' good at not being killed.]]
* MiscarriageOfJustice: [[spoiler:Justine was framed for the murder of Victor's young brother, and she's executed]]. Victor Frankenstein knew the trial was unjust but refused to act.

** The monster [[spoiler:in the end, as he realizes that, after killing all those people and his "father," he finally became the monster the world thought him.]]

* NeverMyFault[=/=]TheUnapologetic: Victor, who even [[spoiler:on his death bed condemns himself for creating the Creature, but exonerates all of his subsequent actions]].
** Averted with the Creature, who [[spoiler:[[FreudianExcuse blames Victor and humanity at large]] for turning him evil, but still expresses remorse for his actions]].

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Walton gives one to the Creature, [[spoiler:in response to the latter's [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone expressing remorse over Frankenstein's death]].]]

* RevengeByProxy: [[spoiler:The Creature decides to get revenge on Frankenstein for its own wretched existence by making him suffer, so he kills Frankenstein's youngest brother (and frames a close friend of his for the murder), followed by his greatest friend, and then on Frankenstein's wedding day, the monster strangles his bride.]]

* TheScapegoat: [[spoiler:Poor, poor Justine is framed for the Creature's murder of William and is subsequently executed for it]].

* SinisterMinister: It's a Catholic priest who [[spoiler:forces Justine to confess to a murder she didn't commit, which ends up getting her executed and sends Victor into a fit of grief and remorse. It also prevents any further investigation into the actual murderer, who Victor assumes to be his monster]].

* TragicMonster: It doesn't get more tragic than the Creature. Created and immediately abandoned by its creator for being ugly, before it even really wakes up. Made innocent, his nature is soon twisted by circumstance into something horrible and evil, alone, wretched and violent. The worst part, however, is that he knows exactly how wicked he has become but knows he cannot change. [[spoiler:After he has succeeded in destroying his creator during a hunt in the frozen wastes of the Arctic, he mourns the Frankenstein's death. The Creature decides to end his own existence by building a funeral pyre for himself and climbing on top of it.]]
%%* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters

* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler:After learning that William is related to Frankenstein, the Creature has no problem in smothering him to death]].

* YouNeedToGetLaid: The Creature [[spoiler:requests that Victor make him a female companion, and in exchange he and his Bride will go off somewhere and never bother anyone again]].

In his absence, the Creature was forced to come to grips with suddenly finding itself alive and alone without explanation or guidance. He learned about humanity by watching a family cottage from afar, but was again driven off when he [[ReluctantMonster attempts to offer his friendship]]- one of many bad run-ins with humanity which left the monster [[DespairEventHorizon bitter and cynical]]. Eventually, the Creature came to [[DisappearedDad resent his creator, whom he viewed as his father]], for abandoning the Creature to a life of torment, and decided to come home to seek vengeance against Frankenstein...

The novel tells of a University of Ingolstadt medical student, Victor Frankenstein, who unlocks the secrets to CreatingLife. He uses this knowledge to create an artificial man, larger and stronger than most mortals, [[AndSomeOtherStuff by means which he chooses not to describe]]. While he is initially triumphant with his success, a few moments of observing the flailing and moaning patchwork being leaves [[UncannyValley Victor disgusted by and fearful of his creation]]. [[GoneHorriblyRight Realizing the ramifications of his success]], he is horrified. He abandons the Creature and flees to his family's estate.

In his absence, the Creature is forced to come to grips with suddenly finding itself alive and alone without explanation or guidance. He learns about humanity by watching a family cottage from afar, but is again driven off when he [[ReluctantMonster attempts to offer his friendship]]- one of many bad run-ins with humanity which leave the monster [[DespairEventHorizon bitter and cynical]]. Eventually, the Creature comes to [[DisappearedDad resent his creator, whom he views as his father]], for abandoning the Creature to a life of torment, and decides to come home to seek vengeance against Frankenstein...

** Is Doctor Frankenstein a bad scientist (who did a bad experiment), a bad father (who abandoned the son he had created), or a bad God (a flawed mortal who ran in fear from his own creation)? Well, that's something you'll just have to decide for yourself. Most re-tellings of the story will make the choice for you, however, by simply declaring that ScienceIsBad, period, and putting AlwaysChaoticEvil stamps all over the place.

* PullingYourChildAway: This happens to Doctor Frankenstein's creation, when he leaves the laboratory and goes walking in the human world: a child who has realised there is no danger is dragged away by their terrified parents.

* SelfImposedExile: Frankenstein's monster has serious flaws, and cannot assimilate into human society, ''a la'' AllOfTheOtherReindeer, which begins his first exile into the rugged mountains. However, after hearing that his creator planned on getting married, the creature returned to ruin Doctor Frankenstein's happiness by slaying his bride-to-be. Now a murderer as well as an abomination, Frankenstein's monster departs for the frozen north, planning to live in solitude to the end of his days.

* TragicMonster: It doesn't get more tragic than the Creature. Created and immediately abandoned by its creator for being ugly, before it even really wakes up. Made innocent, his nature is soon twisted by circumstance into something horrible and evil, alone, wretched and violent. The worst part, however, is that he knows exactly how wicked he has become but knows he cannot change. [[spoiler:After he has succeeded in destroying his creator during a hunt in the frozen wastes of the Arctic, he mourns the doctor's death. The Creature decides to end his own existence by building a funeral pyre for himself and climbing on top of it.]]

* AGodAmI: Dr. Victor Frankenstein becomes obsessed with discovering the secret of life and eventually succeeds in creating a new lifeform out of human remains. Unfortunately, the creature is hideous and he abandons his creation out of disgust, forcing it to fend for itself. And thus began an endless cycle of revenge and hatred that would last until the day they died...