Further Characterization

In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor is predominantly characterized as an obsessed and distraught man. Throughout the story, he rarely finds happiness, and if he does, it is only for a short period of time. Omnipresent, however, is Victor's selflessness. For instance, Shelley first produces this characterization of Victor after the death of William when Victor contemplates suicide but decides against it to save his family the grief. He selflessly opts to deal with his own agony, as well as keep the cause of his distress a secret, in order to spare his family. Shelley further amplifies this character trait after the creature tells Victor, "I shall be with you on your wedding night" (Shelley, 123). Victor believes that the creature is intending to kill him; however, instead of fear for his own life, he immediately thinks of Elizabeth. "The prospect did not move me to fear; yet when I thought of my beloved Elizabeth,--of her tears and endless sorrow, when she should find her lover so barbarously snatched from her,--tears, the first I had shed for many months, streamed from my eyes, and I resolved not to fall before my enemy without a bitter struggle" (Shelley, 123). The only motivation Victor has to preserve his life is that of Elizabeth's happiness and well-being. Victor, despite his agony and unaccepting nature toward the character, exemplifies selflessness multiple times throughout the novel.