November 14, 2007
The Love Makes the Man
Throughout the duration of Mary Shelley's classic novel, Frankenstein, the main character, Victor Frankenstein, learns to be a man by experiencing different expressions of love. The love his parents gave him sheltered and nurtured him during his childhood, the love of his friend Henry Clerval was a guide through his growth into adulthood, and his love for his beloved Elizabeth endured from childhood to eventually save him from his obsession with his own creation, the monster. The application and observation of love throughout a lifetime shape the identity of a man.
The effects of Victor's parent's love and how it laid the foundation for his entire life first demonstrate the presentation of love. From his very birth, endless amounts of love were bestowed on him from his mother and father and, in a way, spoiled him. "Much as they were attached to each other, they seemed to draw inexhaustible stores of affection from a very mine of love to bestow them upon me." (pg 19) The love of his parents taught him productive lessons of life that he carried into his adulthood. "With this deep consciousness of what they owed towards the being to which they had given life, added to the active spirit of tenderness that animated both, it may be imagined that while during every hour of my infant life I received a lesson of patience, of charity, and of self-control, I was so guided by a silken cord that all seemed but one train of enjoyment to me." (pg 19) The influence of his parents sheltered him from the possibility of a horrible childhood and he flourished in their love and care.
Another type of love would eventually grow to change his life along with his growth into adulthood. Henry Clerval displayed a friendship that, upon the creation of the monster and the fear and fatigue that followed, Henry aided Victor to relax and ease his mind from the stress surrounding him. "…I perceived Henry Clerval, who in seeing me, instantly sprung out. "My dear Frankenstein," exclaimed he, "how glad I am to see you! How fortunate that you should be here at the very moment of my alighting!"…I grasped his hand, and in a moment forgot my horror and misfortune; I felt suddenly, and for the first time during many months, calm and serene joy" (pg 45-46) Clerval taught him to be himself again by encouraging him to be himself again by encouraging him to live his own life despite his mistakes.
The last expression of love was the romantic love that Victor felt for his beloved cousin/sister/wife Elizabeth. When Victor was a child, he "received" Elizabeth as a "gift" from his mother and immediately saw her as something more. "…On the morrow, she (Victor's mother) presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childhood seriousness, interpreted her words literally, and looked upon Elizabeth as mine-mine to protect, love, and cherish. All praises bestowed on her, I received as made to a possession of my own… No word, no expression could body forth the kind in relation in which she stood to me- my more than sister, since till death she was to be mine only." (pg 21) Upon their wedding, the display of love between them rescued Victor from the creation of another monster. "To England, therefore, I was bound, and it was understood that my union with Elizabeth should take place immediately upon my return… For myself, there was one reward I promised myself form my detested toils- one consolation for my unparalleled sufferings; it was the prospect of the day when, enfranchised from my miserable slavery, I might claim Elizabeth, and forget the past in my union with her." (pg 141) Elizabeth's love was the redeeming love that saved him from dooming his sanity by creating another monster to be a mate to the savage beast to which he already designed.
The prominence of love throughout the novel preserves the idea of love as a main theme throughout. Victor's parents' love gave him the foundation for a vivacious childhood. Henry Cleval's friendship love acted as a guide through Victor's adulthood. Elizabeth and Victor's love endured from childhood to eventually save him from the downfall of his integrity. By the application of love displayed, love can be the one thing that stands strong throughout a lifetime. And proves that as Albert Einstein once said, "Love is an energy, it can not be created or destroyed but merely change its form."