A Comparison of Victor Frankenstein and Henry Jekyll Mary Shelleys Frankenstein and Robert Louis Stevensons Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are two horrific tales of science gone terribly wrong. Shelleys novel eloquently tells the story of a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who creates a living monster out of decomposed body parts, while Stevensons novel describes the account of one, Henry Jekyll, who creates a potion to bring out the pure evil side to himself. Although the two scientists differ in their initial response and action to their creations, there are strong similarities between their raging curiosity to surpass human limitation, as well as their lack of responsibility concerning their actions. These similarities raise an awareness of human limitation in the realm of science: the further the two scientists go in their experiments, the more trouble and pain they cause to themselves and to others.In Frankenstein, Victor is extremely excited about his creation, but once the monster becomes animated with life, he is horrified and abandons his work. Dr. Frankenstein, upon seeing the reality of what he had created, had a moment of realization, . . . when those muscles were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as Dante could not have conceived (Shelley 57). In the previous quotation, we, the reader, see Victors utter shock and abandonment of the project. When Victor notices the creatures muscles twitching, his eyes are opened to what he has really done: Oh! No mortal could support the horror of that countenance (Shelley 57). He had not thought about the consequences of creating a being, only the actual task.Unlike Dr. Frankensteins abandonment, Dr. Jekyll finds his experiment intriguing even after the initial experiment had occurred. Dr. Jekyll claims, I knew myself, at first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and de...
