Frankenstein is a novel involving human nature, free will, life, death, the meaning of existence and relationships. Frankenstein creates several internal conflicts for its main character Frankenstein himself as well as for all other characters Frankenstein encounters throughout his life. Internal conflict is present for Frankenstein when he is creating the monster by imagining what it would be like to create another human-like creature like himself.
Frankenstein is tempted to abandon the project of creating his own monster after he sees clay turn into flesh and blood. Frankenstein fears for his life when he realizes what he has done, just as Frankenstein had feared his own death before Frankenstein was even born. Frankenstein questions why he is doing the project in the first place because Frankenstein does not believe it will be normal, which Frankenstein knows perfectly well since Frankenstein had never seen another being similar to himself.
Frankenstein experiences internal conflict when Frankenstein’s actions result in Victor’s mother’s death by shock on Christmas Day. Victor takes responsibility for her death because Frankenstein believes that if Frankenstein had not been so preoccupied with trying to create a new creature, she may have still been alive. Frankenstein’s relationship with his cousin Elizabeth is also a point of conflict because Frankenstein leaves for the North Pole, which results in Frankenstein breaking off their engagement and Frankenstein never returns back home to marry her.
The monster is Frankenstein’s greatest source of internal conflict because most of Frankenstein’s life revolves around securing his own safety from it. Frankenstein is reminded of where the monster will be lurking every time Frankenstein sees a person who reminds Frankenstein of his monster – regardless if that person resembles him or not. The monster becomes a central part of Frankenstein’s nightmares as well as a problem that continuously haunts Frankenstein throughout his whole life, regardless if he sees the monster himself or just pictures what the monster looks like from memory.
Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley is a novel filled with internal conflict. Frankenstein wants to use his knowledge for good but he doesn’t have control of the monster that he created and sends out into the world. Frankenstein’s internal battle leaves a trail of destruction in its wake. Frankenstein has a large amount of regret because his actions have consequences beyond anything that he could have ever imagined. Frankenstein struggles with himself as well as struggling with external forces.
The Monster, Frankenstein’s creation, is filled with internal struggle as it tries to find its place in the world as something unique and unknown. The Monster represents all those who are cast out from society for being different or strange, those cast aside but can still think and feel like everyone else does. Everyone has an inner monologue that Frankenstein’s Monster is expressing. Frankenstein’s Monster also demonstrates the need for companionship, which Frankenstein is unable to fulfill.
Frankenstein’s internal conflict with himself has consequences in the world when he creates his monster and sends it out into the world without being able to control its actions. Frankenstein struggles with his creation but ultimately this begins Frankenstein’s internal struggle with regret. Mary Shelley uses Frankenstein as a platform to express her feelings on the dangers of science when not taken seriously or used for good. Mary Shelley along with her writing partner Percy Shelley were heavily influenced by Romanticism.
The Romantics believed in intense emotion; intense love, intense hate, intense joy or intense suffering (Intense Emotions & Intense Nouns). Frankenstein and his monster demonstrate the Romantic ideal of man being a slave to their own desires and emotions. Frankenstein and his Monster provide a dark mirror into Mary Shelley’s life. Frankenstein’s life is full of regret, while Frankenstein’s Monster is filled with hate and anger at Frankenstein for creating it and abandoning it in the world without any love or care.
The theme of Frankenstein revolves around internal conflict because every character in Frankenstein has an inner struggle that they are dealing with throughout the course of the novel. Frankenstein begins as Victor returns home from school to see Alphonse Frankenstein dying on the floor. Victor goes over to Alphonse and tells Alphonse that he will get help but Alphonse dies before Victor can even get outside (Shelley 9). Frankenstein is wracked with guilt and sorrow over the death of his father and Frankenstein believes that it must have been his fault.
Frankenstein believes he could not save Alphonse Frankenstein because Frankenstein had an argument with Alphonse over Frankenstein’s illegitimate child, William Frankenstein (Frankenstein 10). Frankenstein goes on to describe how important his father was to him and how much Frankenstein loved him (Shelley 9-11). Frankenstein tells Walton about all the great things that Alphonse Frankenstein did for Victor as a child such as encouraging Victor’s inquisitive learning behavior, protecting Victor from their mother’s wrath, and supporting Victor through hard times (Shelley 12-13).
Later in Frankenstein we see more emotional turmoil when Elizabeth dies after giving birth to a baby Frankenstein. Frankenstein himself does not believe that he can live in the world after his wife dies during childbirth (Shelley 121-22). Frankenstein goes on to pity himself for having to face the rest of his life without Elizabeth and Frankenstein also has guilt over Elizabeth’s death because Frankenstein’s Monster killed her (Shelley 124-27).
Frankenstein loses all faith that he will be able to find happiness or love when he learns that even his little angel baby is infected with evilness due to Frankenstein’s Monster killing her (Shelley 131). Frankenstein describes how much pain he feels when Frankenstein describes how much pain his father felt at the loss of Alphonse Frankenstein when Victor was born. The only difference between the two deaths is Victor actually caused both deaths when Frankenstein’s Monster killed Elizabeth Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s Monster was the cause of Alphonse Frankenstein dying (Shelley 11, 19, 49).
Frankenstein goes on to describe that his father had no reason to be sad after the death of Victor Frankenstein because Frankenstein did not want to live in this world (Shelley 20). Frankenstein is filled with emotional turmoil with both the deaths of his wife, sister, daughter, and father. Frankenstein also describes how much pain he has inside him when Frankenstein describes how much pain he feels when he wakes up at night (Frankenstein 51-52). Frankenstein struggles with himself throughout most of Frankenstein through internal conflict.