Who has read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley???
I have not only read it, I have taught it and published academic papers on it. Victor’s motivation is often misunderstood. He seeks to create life and studies the work of Cornelius Agrippa because of his mother’s death, which he deeply regretted that no one was able to prevent. It is really unfair and superficial to call him whiney, etc. He is a man of science who makes a terrible mistake (The act of Hubris) and then compounds it by making a second one (Failing to nurture his creation). His actions were really born of love. The difference between him and Henry Clerval is that Henry IS a nurturing person – as is Elizabeth. Had either of them known about The Creature, I have no doubt they would have done their best to nurture him (after the initial shock of course). Both Henry and Elizabeth paid a terrible price for loving Victor — something the Creature intends to use to haunt him until his death. This is a Gothic novel, and is true to that in that Victor Frankenstein is a genuine Goth
