Biography of victor van frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character who first appeared as the titular main protagonist of Mary Shelley 's novel , Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. He is a Swiss scientist born in Naples , Italy who, after studying chemical processes and the decay of living things , gains an insight into the creation of life and gives life to his own creature often referred to as Frankenstein's monster , or often colloquially referred to as simply "Frankenstein".

Victor later regrets meddling with nature through his creation, as he inadvertently endangers his own life and the lives of his family and friends when the creature seeks revenge against him. He is first introduced in the novel when he is seeking to catch the monster near the North Pole and is saved from near death by Robert Walton and his crew.

Some aspects of the character are believed to have been inspired by 17th-century alchemist Johann Konrad Dippel.

How old was victor frankenstein when he died

Certainly, the author and people in her environment were aware of the experiment on electricity and dead tissues by Luigi Galvani and his nephew Giovanni Aldini and the work of Alessandro Volta at the University of Pavia. Percy Shelley , Mary's husband, served as a significant influence for the character. Victor was a pen name of Percy Shelley's, as in the collection of poetry he wrote with his sister Elizabeth, Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire.

Percy Shelley's sister and Frankenstein's adopted sister were both named Elizabeth. On 22 February , Mary Shelley delivered a baby two months premature; the child died two weeks later. Victor Frankenstein was born in Naples according to the edition of Shelley's novel to a Swiss family. My ancestors had been for many years counsellors and syndics ; and my father had filled several public situations with honour and reputation.

As a boy, Frankenstein is interested in the works of alchemists such as Cornelius Agrippa , Paracelsus , and Albertus Magnus , and he longs to discover the fabled elixir of life.

Victor frankenstein family tree

At the age of fifteen, he loses interest in both these pursuits and in science as a whole after he sees a tree destroyed by a lightning strike and a scientist explains the theory of electricity to him. It seems to him as if nothing can really be known about the world, and he instead devotes himself to studying mathematics , which he describes as "being built upon secure foundations.

He then becomes curious about the nature of life and his studies lead him to a miraculous discovery that enables him to create life in inanimate matter. Assembling a humanoid creature through corpse assembling and ambiguous means involving electricity , Frankenstein successfully brings it to life, but he is horrified by the creature's ugliness.