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The Mind of The Creator: A Character Analysis of Victor Frankenstein from Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus (1818).

Grunditz, Nora LU (2024) ENGK03 20241
English Studies
Abstract
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) has been scrutinised in a large variety of fields and from a wide variety of perspectives. Yet, each new published article proves there is more to be uncovered of the novel and its characters. Still, there exists a discrepancy in the attention afforded to its narrators, as the character of Victor Frankenstein is overshadowed by that of the Creature. This phenomenon was studied by Anna Clark, who found that the Creature’s sympathetic storytelling was behind its promotion to protagonist, in the eyes of the reader. However, Victor Frankenstein is once again overshadowed by his creation in Clark’s article. In this thesis, I will present three readings of Victor Frankenstein’s character. Firstly, Aristotle’s... (More)
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) has been scrutinised in a large variety of fields and from a wide variety of perspectives. Yet, each new published article proves there is more to be uncovered of the novel and its characters. Still, there exists a discrepancy in the attention afforded to its narrators, as the character of Victor Frankenstein is overshadowed by that of the Creature. This phenomenon was studied by Anna Clark, who found that the Creature’s sympathetic storytelling was behind its promotion to protagonist, in the eyes of the reader. However, Victor Frankenstein is once again overshadowed by his creation in Clark’s article. In this thesis, I will present three readings of Victor Frankenstein’s character. Firstly, Aristotle’s Poetics provides a structuralist approach with which to bring the surprisingly strong tragic elements of Victor’s story to light, and his awareness of this fact. Secondly, the contemporary field of cognitive literary analysis will show how the reader’s mind reading and metarepresentational abilities affect their perception of Victor’s character, and how the story creates the mental state of Victor Frankenstein. Then, by virtue of a look into the novel’s historical context in the Vitality Debate I will show the influences and allegories present in the story and character of Victor Frankenstein. Finally, I will compare the approaches and argue for the application of simultaneous approaches when analysing text. (Less)
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author
Grunditz, Nora LU
supervisor
organization
course
ENGK03 20241
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein, Frankenstein, character study, multidisciplinary, cognitive literary theory, The Vitality Debate, Aristotle's tragedy
language
English
id
9172121
date added to LUP
2024-08-21 09:19:46
date last changed
2024-08-21 09:19:46
@misc{9172121,
  abstract     = {{Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) has been scrutinised in a large variety of fields and from a wide variety of perspectives. Yet, each new published article proves there is more to be uncovered of the novel and its characters. Still, there exists a discrepancy in the attention afforded to its narrators, as the character of Victor Frankenstein is overshadowed by that of the Creature. This phenomenon was studied by Anna Clark, who found that the Creature’s sympathetic storytelling was behind its promotion to protagonist, in the eyes of the reader. However, Victor Frankenstein is once again overshadowed by his creation in Clark’s article. In this thesis, I will present three readings of Victor Frankenstein’s character. Firstly, Aristotle’s Poetics provides a structuralist approach with which to bring the surprisingly strong tragic elements of Victor’s story to light, and his awareness of this fact. Secondly, the contemporary field of cognitive literary analysis will show how the reader’s mind reading and metarepresentational abilities affect their perception of Victor’s character, and how the story creates the mental state of Victor Frankenstein. Then, by virtue of a look into the novel’s historical context in the Vitality Debate I will show the influences and allegories present in the story and character of Victor Frankenstein. Finally, I will compare the approaches and argue for the application of simultaneous approaches when analysing text.}},
  author       = {{Grunditz, Nora}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Mind of The Creator: A Character Analysis of Victor Frankenstein from Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus (1818).}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}