Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stephenson, and Macbeth by Shakespeare, all have the same theme of heroes and monsters. A hero is someone who is considered a person who rises to an occasion that other people fear. Also, a person does not have to be a hero to a large number of people, being a hero to one person is important enough. A monster is considered the antagonist, while the hero is usually the protagonist. The word “monsters” can mean a number of things.
The main definition is something or someone that is evil and has no remorse for its actions. All three novels follow the same theme of heroes and monsters. The main character in each novel share the same traits. They start off with the intension of becoming a hero, but later are transformed into alienated monsters that end in death.
Starting off, Victor Frankenstein fits the theme of heroes and monsters in the novel Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein becomes fascinated with the “secret of life,” discovers it, and brings what he thinks a hideous monster into life. In his own mind, he sees himself as becoming a hero if he can create this creature. He becomes so concentrated on creating his own creation, so involved on becoming a well-known hero that he does not stop to think about the consequences.
After Victor creates his new life form, he runs away and loses the hero trait. His creation ends up killing his youngest brother, best friend, and wife. Though torn by remorse, shame, and guilt, Victor refuses to admit to anyone the horror of what he has created, even as he sees the results of his creative act spiralling out of control. That was the starting downfall of Victor’s life. His conscience took over his actions and he lost control.
The Essay on The Byronic Hero Vs Victor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein does fall under the Byronic Hero category because he is a rebelling man. He believes that it is possible to create ... he is too curious and ambitious. When the monster is created he realises that what he has done is ... this creature using his bare hands. Work is all Victor thinks about and he starts to lose his ... to you alone do I consecrate my life and my endeavours for contentment.".
Victor changed over the course of the novel from an innocent youth fascinated by science into a disillusioned, guilt-ridden man determined to destroy his scientific endeavour. Victor cut himself off from the rest of the world and eventually committed himself entirely to an anomalistic obsession with revenging himself upon the monster. However, “the monster” that he created was actually more human than he and his fight for the revenge of his creation led him to death. In the same way, the novel Dr Jekyll and My Hyde is very similar to the other two novels. Doctor Jekyll falls under the category of being a hero because of his struggle to get rid of the evil in man. He does this by inventing a potion that will destroy evil in the mind and body in order to make a perfect and righteous human.
His main intension was to make the world a better place and be a well-known hero. However, no one knew about his project and he was only a hero to himself. Doctor Jekyll was also considered to be a monster. When Jekyll took his potion, the evil took over his body and his whole personality changed. He would change from a hero to a monster. He began to hurt people and cause a great deal of trouble.
The worst part was that he enjoyed his transformation. He had no pity or remorse even though he knew that what he did was wrong. The evil started to take control of his body and mind. He didn’t want to transform into Hyde, but got to the point where he couldn’t control it. It got so bad that he had to take the drug continually just to become himself, and, when he ran out of it, he realized that he had fought a losing battle with himself. He ended his life in misery because the monster inside himself took over.
Likewise, in Macbeth at the beginning of the play, Shakespeare defines Macbeth as a valiant hero. He is a courageous warrior and one of King Duncan’s best generals. In the second scene of the play, Macbeth had just won his most important battle and saved Scotland from the Norwegian King. To honour his bravery, King Duncan gave Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor. His innate greed is first inflamed by three wicked witches who profess to Macbeth that he will become Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland. This is one of the first steps to Macbeth’s undoing, for he longs to be more than just a thane.
The Essay on Macbeth Tragic Hero Wife King Life
Macbeth-Tragic Hero As I finished reading Macbeth by William Shakespeare I realized the true reason that Macbeth is considered a tragic hero. Like all other tragic hero's he had many good things going for him in his life before he messes with self- destructing things and threw it all away. Macbeth had a great marriage, he was Thane of Glam is, the people and the king respected him and he was well ...
When the first prophecy comes to pass, Macbeth immediately begins to long for greater power. He realizes that in order to seize the throne from the king, he will have to murder him. After the successful murder of Duncan, Macbeth entered a life of evil. Ambition was also clearly stated when he thought of killing his friend Banque to protect the kingship.
The witches’ predictions sent Macbeth into his own world where he could not be stopped on his way to becoming king. He was overcome with such ambition that he transformed into a monster. He would go to any limit to maintain the crown. For example, to get revenge on Macduff, he murdered Macduff’s wife and children. Macbeth was transformed into a complete monster and there was nothing that could stop him. He could not sleep at nights, was hallucinating and reconstructed into a complete mutant.
At the end, the army moved in on Macbeth. He realized that his ambition had created him into a monster and now was going have to pay by death. In conclusion, the novels Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Macbeth all compare in the way that the main characters are the heroes in the beginning, but at the end transform into monsters and end their lives in death. Victor Frankenstein believed he was going to be a hero by creating what he called a monster, but in reality he was the more deviant of the two. Dr Jekyll intended to be a hero by ridding the evil in man, however the evil took control over his body and turned into an aberration. Macbeth started off as a very heroic warrior, but let his ambition take over and ended up as a mutant.
In all three cases the character’s monstrosities lead them to death.