In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein creates a monster that becomes his vengeful nemesis, yet ironically serves as his foil. This is due to Frankenstein’s parental absence in the creature’s upbringing, which incites the Creature to turn to violence against his creator. The two supposedly polar-opposite characters ironically resemble each other through their devotion to their goals and isolation from society, drawing out their kindred natures to ultimately show how different upbringings can still yield similar endings.

Although Frankenstein and the Creature are driven by different causes, the two possess the same unwavering drive to commit to a cause. Frankenstein disregards everything to pursue his ambitions of the natural sciences, going as far as saying, “I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit” (Shelley 33). Frankenstein uses the hyperbole of losing all his soul to emphasize that his devotion to his work makes him feel inhuman. The fact science makes Frankenstein feel inhuman furthers the idea of the two being foils as the creature is only able to feel “human” because of science. On the other hand, the Creature shows the same relentless drive but for a drastically different reason. After Frankenstein abandons the Creature, he develops a deep hatred for Frankenstein as Frankenstein is his parent and should have been the one to look out for him when everyone else rejected him due to his looks. Upon learning how families are meant to function, the Creature realizes Frankenstein failed to fulfill his fatherly duty and left the Creature to his own devices. The Creature pronounces this hatred by asking, “Should I feel kindness towards my enemies? No… I declared everlasting war… against him who had formed me, and sent me forth to this insupportable misery” (Shelley 95). Frankenstein’s failure as a father figure causes so much pain for the Creature that he declares an everlasting war to indicate his absolute dedication to seeking revenge against his creator. Shelley chose to use hyperboles to depict the extent of the two characters’ relentless drives. Though for differing causes, Frankenstein and the Creature both exhibit the mentality of committing to a cause until completion. 

Though Frankenstein’s isolation was voluntary because he wanted peace and the Creature's isolation was forced upon him but regardless they were both isolated from society, which further proves their kindred nature. Frankenstein’s isolation begins with his science experiment, which makes him “neglect the scenes around [him and] cause[s] [him] also to forget those friends who [are] so many miles absent, and whom [he] ha[s] not seen for so long a time” (Shelley 34). Frankenstein chooses to isolate himself from society, but more importantly, from his friends and family— devoting himself entirely to his academic venture as he fears his family would misunderstand his passion project. After the experiment goes awry, Frankenstein again believes the only way “[he] might be restored to [his] family in peace and happiness... [is to be] absent from all [he] love[s]” (Shelley 109). Frankenstein metaphorically correlates absence with peace and happiness and finds himself once again distancing from his family to protect them. Unlike Frankenstein, the Creature does not choose isolation but is alienated due to his hideous appearance. The Creature compares himself to Satan, stating that “Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred” (Shelley 91). The Creature is outraged when he finds out Satan, who was also an outcast, still had companions while he has no one. In a sense, the Creature also correlates isolation with peace, as every time he tries to integrate himself into a community, he is attacked. Frankenstein and his creation have contrary reasons for being isolated from society— one by choice and the other due to alienation— but they were both deemed outcasts and suffered from loneliness. Their shared understanding of being the lonely outcast results in their tendency toward obsession, one turning to the sciences while the other turns to revenge.

Though drastically different characters, Frankenstein and the Creature possess the same drive and suffer from loneliness. With Frankenstein and the Creature reflecting each other in those aspects, their dynamic allows the reader to instantly recognize that both characters serve as an extension of the other. From their kindred natures, Shelley makes readers realize that though the two had very different upbringings— Frankenstein had a great childhood while his creation was left to his own devices— both characters ended up very damaged— the outcome of the struggle being death.

Works Cited

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851. Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus: the 1818 Text. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.