How Is Victor Frankenstein A Tragic Hero

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Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights: The Antihero and the Tragic Flaw Victor Frankenstein and Heathcliff, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights respectively, possess many similar qualities. For example, both fall in love with their adoptive family member, Victor for Elizabeth and Heathcliff for Catherine. What makes them similar and differentiates them from other famous protagonists are their lack of heroic qualities. A hero, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is “The chief male character in a book, play, or film, who is typically identified with good qualities, and with whom the reader is expected to sympathize”. Neither Victor nor Heathcliff fit the mold of the hero or its subtypes, mainly the tragic hero.…show more content…
Victor is introduced as a kind, ambitious young man, possessing a good relationships with almost every character in the novel. He is raised in a loving, upper class family, which most likely lead him to be gentlemanlike, as well as an intellect. Heathcliff, in most aspects, could be considered the polar opposite of Victor. Unlike Victor, who is overall a good man, Heathcliff is brutish and unrefined, acting on impulse and spite as demonstrated when hangs Isabella’s dog (150). His personality, like Victor, is most likely contributed to his upbringing. He was an orphaned Liverpool street urchin before his adoption by the Earnshaw family. Contrary to Victor, Heathcliff is raised in an unstable environment. His brother Hindley tortures him throughout his childhood, which only adds to his pent up rage. It is also inferred through the novel that he is not Caucasian, like when he expresses “I wish I had light hair and a fair skin, and was dressed, and behaved as well, and had a chance of being as rich as he will be!”(Brontë 56) when comparing himself to Edgar Linton. In contrast to Victor, Heathcliff is disliked by other characters from his introduction as a child. His heritage puts him at a societal disadvantage, making it difficult for him to be accepted. This is a key factor into why Heathcliff is so bitter, he plays the role society believes he deserves, despite wanting more for himself. Both men however, are completes by their soulmates, Cathy and Elizabeth. Losing these women, to death and to another man respectively, intensifies their desire for

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