The Deadly Ambition of Victor Frankenstein

What would the human race be without ambition? Beyond it's definition of desiring success, it has come to mean so much more; it is the thing which keeps us all striving for greatness; it is what has brought about some of the most revolutionary, world-altering inventions the world has ever seen. On the other hand, it has also been the downfall of great leaders and societies who reached too high. In Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is a man who finds that ambition has taken him and those that he cares about down a deadly path, yet still refuses to admit defeat. His ultimate end is brought on by unchecked ambition designed to benefit only his own ego.

Even as he lay dying, Frankenstein insists his crew continue on their voyage to through the Arctic, insisting his crew not return home as cowards but as “heroes who have fought and conquered;” these words are similar to those that Ulysses told his men in Dante's Inferno. Much like Frankenstein, Ulysses was a man of ambition and curiosity; he believed men were made to “pursue power and knowledge,” the same pursuit which had driven Frankenstein's entire life. While these pleas to their separate crews may sound as though they wish for not only the betterment of themselves but also of their men, when given further background knowledge, it is easily noted that their ambition lies solely on selfish groundwork. Ulysses cared little if his crew survived; he lead them into one perilous encounter after the next, all in the name of “adventure,” and in the end was the only one to survive. Frankenstein, even after the death of his beloved mother and even as he sees his own death approaching him, insists his men go on by making them feel too guilty and cowardly should they turn back. In both novels, these ambitious protagonists are forced to suffer for their actions: Frankenstein, in the physical world; Ulysses, in the afterlife, where he finds himself in a flaming ditch reserved for evil