The Role Of Reputation In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

After studying for several years at Ingolstadt and gaining a reputation as a brilliant science student, Dr. Frankenstein would start experimenting with reanimation, which is what many would consider the beginning of the end for Victor. The wretch is created after many raids of morgues and cemeteries and several failed attempts at reanimating dead tissue. Victor’s obsession with granting life to the lifeless will lead to his downfall, with his endless pursuit for immortality leading to him creating in his words a “new species” that would “bless me as its creator and source…” (pg. 53). Victor warns that knowledge, while powerful, can be used for great evil as well as tremendous good, stating “Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow.” (pg. 53) Dr. Frankenstein runs away from his creation, and wanders the streets until his friend Henry finds him in an extremely poor state of living. Henry and Victor go
While on a stroll, Victor’s brother William was found murdered “stretched on the grass livid and motionless; the print of the murderer's finger was on his neck.” (pg. 67) Victor later sees flashes of the wretch in between lightning strikes. Victor then fully believes that his creation murdered his brother, leading to the conclusion that Victor was directly responsible for the murder of William. Frankenstein’s foolish pursuit of immortality led to great personal loss that he cannot possibly atone for. Later, Victor quest for endless life leads to another victim, the scapegoat of William’s murder, Justine Moritz. Justine was convicted of the murder of William Frankenstein based on circumstantial evidence, as Victor refused to acquit her by telling his tale of the