Victor was devastated when he learned of Elizabeth’s untimely death. After creating his monster and bringing it to life, Victor had fled in horror, only to return and find that the creature had killed his youngest brother William. Mourning William’s death, Victor then received a letter from his father informing him that his beloved Elizabeth had been murdered as well. This news utterly crushed Victor’s spirit.
Victor’s Initial Reaction
Upon reading the letter, Victor reacted with complete and utter despair. The letter relayed the tragic news that Elizabeth had been found dead, apparently strangled. Victor was overcome with grief and anguish, cursing himself for ever having created the monster that brought about so much ruin to his family. He lamented that by creating the monster, he had “deprived myself of every hope of happiness.”
Victor felt deep remorse that his blind obsession with creating life had now cost him the lives of two family members that he loved dearly. First William, just a young boy when the monster cruelly took him. And now Elizabeth, Victor’s beautiful cousin who he was betrothed to marry. With her light and kindness, Elizabeth had filled Victor’s heart when they were children, and the thought of living without her pained Victor greatly.
In his letter, Victor’s father described Elizabeth’s serene beauty even in death. This only compounded Victor’s sorrow, knowing the monster had slain “a being so harmless.” The thought that he had unintentionally brought about the death of his pure, innocent cousin was too much for Victor to bear.
Rage and Vengeance
Along with despair, Victor also felt tremendous rage toward his creation after learning of Elizabeth’s murder. The monster had promised to be with Victor on his wedding night, and Victor now saw this threat was tragically fulfilled in the most horrific way possible. Fueled by hatred and vengeance, Victor vowed to find and destroy the monster:
“I burned with rage to pursue the murderer of my peace and precipitate him into the ocean. My spirit was aroused to seek vengeance; my heart panted for ruin and death.”
Victor wanted to make his monster suffer as he was suffering. He felt justified in wanting vengeance given the pain the monster had inflicted on him and his family. However, Victor’s father warned against seeking revenge, fearing it would only lead to more heartbreak and tragedy. Though it pained him greatly, Victor reluctantly heeded his father’s advice.
Isolation and Despair
After the successive deaths of William and Elizabeth, Victor completely isolated himself from society and those who cared about him. He writes:
“I remained during the rest of the day in my inn, my heart oppressed with the bitterest reflections. I considered how mysterious are the ways of Providence, and how little do we poor mortals know of what may happen even in the next instant.”
Seeing no joy left in the world and only tragedy surrounding him, Victor descended into severe depression and dark brooding. He did not reach out to friends or family for comfort, convinced that the monster’s curse had made happiness impossible for him. The deaths of his loved ones left Victor feeling empty, with nothing but sadness and despair filling the void in his heart.
Self-Loathing and Regret
Most painfully, Victor blamed himself for the deaths of William and Elizabeth. He saw their murders as a direct consequence of arrogantly striving to play God and create life. Victor laments:
“I had turned loose into the world a depraved wretch, whose delight was in carnage and misery; had he not murdered my brother?”
By creating the monster, Victor unleashed evil onto the world. Any murders committed by the monster were ultimately Victor’s responsibility. This left Victor racked with intense guilt. He rebukes himself as a foolish scientist led astray by unchecked ambition, causing only pain to those around him.
Victor fell into deep self-loathing and regret, wishing he could undo his disastrous actions. But it was too late – the monster was out there, and the deaths of William and Elizabeth could not be undone. This self-blame and remorse only fueled Victor’s anguish all the more.
Determination to Destroy the Monster
Despite his isolation and despair, Victor’s fury toward the monster eventually overcame his depression. He became determined to find his creation and put an end to its reign of terror once and for all. Victor states:
“My rage was without bounds; I sprang from the window, and with a loud voice proclaimed that I would be the death of the monster.”
Swearing vengeance, Victor set out to hunt down and kill the monster, even at the peril of his own life. He could not rest knowing his creation was still alive and would likely kill again. Destroying the monster became Victor’s sole purpose, the only possible recompense for the deaths it had caused.
While despair initially incapacitated Victor, the desire for retribution ultimately motivated him again. Victor’s hatred of the monster that took so much from him drove him relentlessly in pursuit of the creature.
A Thirst for Revenge
In many ways, Victor’s reaction followed the common stages of grief – first shock and depression, then anger and a thirst for revenge. With Elizabeth murdered, he cried:
“Evil thenceforth became my good…to cause fear not to fear; to inflict pain not to suffer it was my daily vow.”
Victor became obsessed with making the monster pay for its crimes. He devoted himself fully toward vengeance, believing it was now his purpose in life. Where before he had sought knowledge through science, now Victor sought only to destroy.
This dark desire for revenge replaced Victor’s despair with manic energy and conviction. He dispatched himself immediately in pursuit of the monster, certain that one of them would die in their next confrontation.
A Cautionary Tale on Loss
Ultimately, Victor’s tale serves as a warning about the destructive power of grief, rage, and the desire for revenge. While understandable, Victor’s reaction led him down an increasingly dark and isolated path. Fueled by hatred and vengeance, he pursued the monster to the ends of the earth, soon losing himself in the process.
The story is one of loss begetting loss – Victor’s scientific creations leading to William’s murder, plunging Victor deeper into despair upon Elizabeth’s death. Obsession and isolation only exacerbated Victor’s misery and diluted his humanity. Shelley suggests allowing grief and anger to consume one’s soul only leads to more tragedy in the end.
Through Victor’s tragic story, Shelley warns against entirely submitting oneself to vengeance and allowing it to dominate one’s life. There are no winners in the end – only wasted lives and the loss of one’s self in an endless spiral of suffering.
Unresolved Grief
Victor’s reaction also underscores the self-destructive power of unresolved grief and anger. He never allows himself time to properly mourn William and Elizabeth, instead quickly succumbing to rage and thoughts of revenge.
Left unaddressed, Victor’s grief festered like an open wound, leaving him vulnerable to the darkest impulses of human nature. His quest for vengeance became a way to distract from truly confronting and accepting his losses. In this way, grief led Victor down an increasingly self-destructive path.
The lesson is that properly addressing one’s grief, rather than being consumed by it, is necessary after suffering terrible loss. Obsession, isolation and thoughts of revenge only impede the mourning process. Victor’s tragic reaction serves as a warning against leaving grief to fester into darkness.
Loss of Humanity and Perspective
Critically, Victor’s reaction also represented his utter loss of perspective and humanity after Elizabeth’s death. Fixed solely on revenge, he became emotionally disconnected, descends into depression, and later ruthlessly hunts the monster without mercy.
Victor essentially lost himself – and the best parts of his humanity – in the aftermath of profound grief and rage. Any noble intentions he once had were washed aside by his pain, leaving only avarice and cruelty in their place.
Victor serves as a warning of how we can lose our way when dominated by grief and thoughts of vengeance. Pain endured can make one increasingly callous to the suffering of others, even leading one to lose basic human decency, as happened to Victor.
Parallel to the Monster’s Reactions
Analyzing Victor’s reaction also draws an interesting parallel to how the monster reacted to tragic events throughout the story. After being rejected by the De Lacey family he lived with, the monster similarly reacted with despair, rage and vengeance, leading him to kill William.
Just as grief warped Victor’s soul, the monster was also fundamentally changed by events, descending from innocence into violence. This highlights how trauma and loss can twist anyone into darkness, no matter how pure they once were. Victor and his creation both illustrate this gradual corruption born of pain.
So Victor reacting to loss with vengeance makes him culpable for bringing more violence into the world. He becomes hardly different from the monster in this regard. Both end up consumed by hatred, willing to destroy the other at any cost. Their feud highlights the cyclical nature of revenge and violence.
Alienation from Friends and Family
It is also notable that in his grief, Victor isolated himself from every close connection, shunning both friends like Henry Clerval and his own family. Consumed by guilt, depression and thoughts of revenge, Victor cut himself off from anyone who could support him emotionally.
This alienation only accelerated Victor’s downward spiral into suffering and darkness. With no one to temper his grief and offer comfort or perspective, Victor had no lifeline keeping him tethered to his principles. His self-imposed isolation allowed his demons to fully take hold.
The lesson is that while loss often makes one want to withdraw into sorrow, maintaining ties to loved ones can provide the light that keeps one from succumbing entirely to despair. Victor’s reaction underscores the danger of completely isolating oneself in times of grief.
Loss of Meaning and Purpose
Finally, Victor’s reaction also stemmed from his loss of meaning and purpose after Elizabeth’s death. He laments:
“I had begun life with benevolent intentions and thirsted for the moment when I should put them in practice. Now all was blasted: instead of that serenity of conscience which allowed me to look back upon the past with self-satisfaction, and from thence to gather promise of new hopes, I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt.”
Victor realized his scientific pursuits had amounted only to tragedy. Rather than using knowledge to help humanity as he intended, he had unleashed only misery. This erosion of Victor’s core purpose left him adrift and vulnerable to darkness and self-destruction.
The lesson is that loss of meaning can be devastating. But Victor’s reaction shows that inflicting further harm out of grief and rage only leads to more loss of self. Instead, Victor could have used his grief to find a new, altruistic purpose. But consumed by vengeance, he lost himself entirely.
Conclusion
In the end, Victor’s reaction to Elizabeth’s murder was complex, progressing through stages of grief but ultimately settling on vengeance, isolation and the loss of his humanity. Victor serves as a cautionary tale about the power of unresolved grief and rage to corrupt one’s soul, especially when detached from human connections that can temper the darkness.
Rather than address his pain in a healthy way, Victor descended into suffering, obsessed solely with destroying the monster responsible for his misery. This reaction only bred more tragedy. Victor’s response highlights the dangerous allure of revenge, and the need to maintain perspective when enduring even the greatest loss.