Sukanya Basu

Wilkinson

Period 4th

5/26/14

The Ignorance of the Ego:

Victor Frankenstein’s Education and his Reluctance to Learn From His Past

How education and knowledge affect characters in Frankenstein

 

               In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor is portrayed as a highly educated and intelligent man. However throughout the book he displays characteristics that are not typical of a man of his intelligence. Although Victor possesses much knowledge of science and has a good education, he seems to lack common sense and is adamant in his refusal to learn from his past. While many of the characters in Frankenstein develop and learn from their past mistakes, Victor has no such improvement until the very end of the novel when talking to Walton.

               At the beginning of the story, Victor is seen at college with a vast knowledge of science and mathematics. With an innate curiosity for the workings of life itself, Frankenstein is initially portrayed as an intelligent and intuitive young man. However with further reading of the passage, it can be seen that Victor’s pursuit of knowledge is done under primarily selfish motives. “Natural philosophy is the genius that has regulated my fate; I desire… to state facts which led to my predilection to science.” Victor’s stubborn persistence in believing the misfortunes are product of circumstance and not experience can be seen as he claims that natural philosophy was the controller of his fate. (Shelley 42) His selfish and ignorant side can be seen when he is at college as he listens to Waldman speak of the science of life. “I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.” (Shelley 57) Victor often deifies himself as a supreme creator, master of all. He blames things like the “professors words-rather… the words of fate…” (Shelley 57) for the problems in his life rather than learning that his ego is the source of all his problems. While he is described as an incredibly intuitive and intelligent young man, he has a stubborn refusal to accept his own faults and learn from them.

               The only time Victor seems to use his past to change his future is when he destroys the female creature. However his motives were entirely selfish and based upon his oversized ego. He only cares for himself and the doesn’t care about the outcome of his actions as long as they result well for him. As the creator of a hideous creature, he was reluctant to create a female creature as grotesque as his first creature. He thinks that both the creatures will come to ruin his life. Instead of saving the lives of others and creating a good life for the creature, Victor learns from his past and makes a grave mistake in not creating the female creature. Victor also never learns the true intentions of the creature as he is obsessed with his own well being. When the monster threatens Victor that he will be “with him on his wedding night”, Victor immediately thinks that the creature will come to kill him. In this moment, he totally disregards all the creature’s past actions of killing Victor’s friends and family, and uses his ego to justify his beliefs. This ultimately leads to the murder of many people that Victor cares about. His reluctance to learn from the past can be seen in these scenes.

               While Victor never learns from his own past, he encourages others like Henry and Walton to learn from his mistakes. “One man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of knowledge which I sought, for the dominion I should acquire and transmit over the elemental foes of our race.” (Shelley 22) When Walton relates this to Victor, Frankenstein’s reaction is immediate. At this point, Victor has learned that the mistakes of his past were the cause of all the strife in his own life. Victor finally understood what his thirst for knowledge did to his life and dissuades Walton against the obsessing over knowledge.  He urges Walton to reconsider his life choices claiming that “You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been.” (Shelley 26) However Victor’s realization and acceptance of his mistakes happens too late as he laments,“my fate is nearly fulfilled… nothing can alter my destiny; listen to my history, and you will perceive how irrevocably it is determined.” (Shelley 27) Victor uses the knowledge he learns from his own mistakes in his life to help Walton make amends in his own. While Victor is not able to repair the damage he makes to his own life, he tries to persuade Walton to use the knowledge that he had gathered from his life. This shows the ultimate development in Victor’s character as he utilizes the knowledge he gains from his experiences in a beneficial way.

               Victor Frankenstein is one of the most brilliant minds in this book. With his avid curiosity and expansive knowledge of science and life, one would assume him to learn from his mistakes. However, his greatest flaw is using his ego as a justification to not learn from his past. This fault ultimately leads him to his doom.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​