While I do have sympathy for him (seriously I do despite what I’m about to say), I genuinely think Victor Frankenstein from Mary’s Shelley’s Frankenstein is the most morally reprehensible character I’ve ever encountered. And a lot of his villainy is not outright or in flashy shocking sequences, it’s just a continuous and deeply poisonous pattern of neglect, cruelty, avoidance of accountability, and complicity.
It might be easy for some to see the creature, whose acts of violence are more overtly obvious through his killing spree, as the aggressor, but considering their circumstances, their intents, and their responsibilities, Victor’s acts are based in genuine cruelty whereas many of the creature’s acts are based in desperation. The creature presents himself as calm and calculated but it’s clear that he’s not mentally stable, and Victor presents himself as frantic and vulnerable, but he has far more opportunities for deliberation than the creature. Not to say Victor is mentally stable, because no, and it’s not a competition, they’re both deeply damaged individuals, but there’s a clear difference in responsibility as well as circumstance. The mere basis that Victor has experienced a monecum of comfort and the creature hasn’t is enough to show Victor truly has no right to judge the creature’s experiences the way he did. He literally could not comprehend them. No living person could.
Victor had an overall loving family, supportive friends, and a stable life. And I’m not saying that as a criticism, because that’s good, that’s the bare minimum. But I am saying it’s entirely unfair to judge someone who hasn’t experienced any of that by the moral standards of someone who has.
Him bringing the creature to life was not an accident. It was a months long, deliberate process, in which he was neither coerced or even supported in doing so. He neglected to consider what he was actually going to do when his work came to completion, because he only ever considered his pride, not the betterment of others, and certainly not the wellbeing of the creature.
Then of course he abandons the creature and scorns his existence, taking no responsibility for the years of utterly brutal abuse the creature endured from everyone he’s encountered.
Even when he genuinely believes the creature to be in the wrong (and isn’t just blinded by fear and prejudice), he is entirely hypocritical. He does not speak up for Justine because he fears for the consequences it might bring him specifically.
But I think his worst act is his final one: on his death bed, he quite actually entreats Robert Walton to not have sympathy for the creature. His DYING WISH is to once again ensure the creature is alone and suffering. Even the creature himself shows remorse for Victor’s death.
It’s one thing to not have the capacity to sympathize with someone for whatever reason, but it’s a whole other thing to actively try to drive others who COULD have the capacity away from sympathy out of pure spite and unrivaled cruelty. Going out of your way to cause harm to someone or prevent them from receiving comfort when it provides no benefit for you or anyone might be the most evil thing someone can do.
Victor and the creature were both a part of a cycle of violence but they were at no point on an even playing field. Ultimately, Victor chose ruthlessness and the creature chose mercy.
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