Victor Frankenstein, like many romantics, relies on his unusual capacity for sensitivity and creativity to help him in his ambitions. Unlike Robert Walton, who ventures to the North Pole to find “beauty and joy” (Shelley 15) amidst the desolation, Victor desires to create a better race to give to humanity. Although he and Walton appear, at first glance, to be undertaking completely different quests, the underlying motive is the same: both men desire spiritual exaltation (the elevation of their minds and souls above those of other men ). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The characters of Walton and Frankenstein are shaped by romantic idealism, as manifested in their quest for discovery through scientific investigation and adventure. The essential difference between the two men lies in the way they attempt to achieve their respective goals. Curious and determined, Walton sets out to "tread ground never before left by the foot of man" in an attempt to live up to his romantic ideals. Although she describes his motivations as "sufficient to conquer any fear of danger or death" (16), Shelley paints Walton as a compassionate character from the beginning. Despite his deep investment in the journey, his concern for family and friends persists. This seems to mirror the romantic position presented in William Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey," which addresses the poet's "dear, dear sister" (Wordsworth 110). Walton similarly claims from the beginning of the novel that his “first duty is to assure my dear sister of my well-being” (Shelley 15). His respect for his sister reflects his vigilant concern for the well-being of his crew. Like Walton, Victor is haunted by the idea of ​​what has not yet been discovered. In narrating his first scientific attempts, Victor exclaims: "no one can conceive the variety of feelings which carried me forward like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success" (52). It is obvious that both Walton and Victor are driven by an unusually avid passion for discovery. Walton, however, differs from Victor in his capacity for compassion and love. This is illustrated by Victor's isolation from society and his callous treatment of the monster once it is completed. Like Walton, whose fond recollections of youth form the majority of his early letters, Victor also experienced an idyllic childhood. Victor observes, "no human being could have had a happier childhood than I. My parents were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence" (37). However, a strange transformation seems to take place in Victor upon his departure for university. Melancholy grips him as he, "who had always been surrounded by amiable companions... now [he found himself] alone" (44). It is at this moment that Victor begins to descend into the isolation that will devastate him at the end of the novel. During this initial isolation, Victor occasionally reflects on his self-imposed loneliness. He observes that he did not notice "a beautiful season" because his "eyes were insensitive to the charms of nature"; he also recognizes that “the same feelings that made me neglect the scenes around me also made me forget those friends who were so many miles away and whom I had not seen for so long” (53). Although Victor promises his family that they will remain foremost in his thoughts, he becomes obsessed with his unnatural pursuit. This self-centeredness is the cause of Victor's final fall at the hands of the monster. Many of the most odious aspects of the character ofVictor become evident in his reaction to the creature. He responds in horror the instant the monster opens his “dull yellow eye”: “now…the beauty of the dream is gone, and breathless horror and disgust have filled my heart.” While it can be assumed that his disgust is due to the ugliness of the "wretch" (56), his terror has an entirely different source. The monster is a reflection of Victor, his mysterious double; when the monster opens his eyes Victor is shocked to see his soul reflected there. Victor's incestuous dream, in which the figure of Elizabeth transforms into his mother's corpse, seems to represent his feelings of guilt and betrayal. By leaving home, Victor had separated himself from all feminine influences, immersing himself instead in the masculine world of scientific activity. It therefore seems that the monster's awakening represents the violent return of his repressed sexual desires: he has abandoned marriage and fatherhood to "give birth" to a monster of his own (exclusively male) creation. Since his mother's dying wish was his marriage to Elizabeth, it is as if the marriage should also be to his mother. The repressed sexual desire is in fact directed towards both women. In creating the monster, Victor apparently hoped to create a better human race. His true drive, however, can be seen as his own narcissism. Victor claims that "a new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their existence to me" (52). With these words, it seems that Victor wants to be the object of the eternal cult of the monster (as God is for the "normal man"). Vittore abandons himself to the unnatural and transgressive desire to «renew life where death had apparently consecrated the body to corruption» (53). Whether he is a mother/God to his creation or a passionate son to his mother, Victor longs to be desired. At the beginning of the novel, Shelley portrays Victor as a victim of mysterious circumstances. The reader's first encounter with him occurs through Walton, who instantly falls in love with the noble victim: ecstatic to have "found a man whom, before his spirit was broken by poverty, I should have been as happy to possess as the brother of my heart" (25-6). This sympathetic portrait of Victor continues until the creation scene, after which the novel will be devoted to Victor's suffering and the profound flaws in his character that made that suffering possible and affection (as a newborn baby does), the creature moves to embrace Victor "while a grin wrinkled his cheeks" (57). Victor rejects those advances, describing only his "horror" at the monster's physical appearance Victor, this is the beginning of the end: his decision to abandon the creature is the catalyst for all the evil and misfortune that follows Even though he is the one who brings the creature to life, his first act is to abandon it and deny any responsibility for it his happiness and well-being. Victor desired to transcend death, create a superior human race, and thus become a god; instead, his megalomania (the mad, obsessed desire for absolute power) results in the destruction of everyone he loves. Victor finally acknowledges his guilt, exclaiming "William, Justine, and Henry are all dead by my hand" (176). By then, of course, it is too late: his failure to warn his loved ones of the creature and its murderous intentions indicates Victor's inability to accept responsibility for his actions. Shelley uses the story of Walton's quest as a framework for Victor's story. Frankenstein. While Victor praises his family and, indeed, loves them dearly, he allows his desire for personal aggrandizement to overshadow his emotional bonds..