Relationships between two people in a novel can be characterized in many different ways. The term doppelgänger is defined as a double to a living person and was first introduced in 1796. Since then has been further examined as a literary technique. Doppelgangers can show how a person wants to be or not to be, but sometimes a person is not able to rid themself of their worst self. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, (Topic) Victor has two doppelgängers, one being Clerval and the other being his creation (Argument) because the monster is an embodiment of his worse self who doesn't take responsibility and Clerval is his better self who lives without guilt, which is reflected in their relationship to nature, and view of self. (Reason)

Victor Frankenstein …show more content…
(Topic) Both of their downfalls come from their infatuation of wanting to come to a resolution to their problems through an extensive knowledge, which leads their view of themselves to be distorted. (Point) This is because “Frankenstein and the monster 一 are obsessed with problem solving” and to accomplish this they “appear to be trying to understand their presence in a fallen world, and trying at the same time to define the nature of the lost paradise that must of existed before the fall” (Gilbert and Gubar 332-333). (Evidence) Both Frankenstein and his creation want to gain all this knowledge because they want to have a better understanding of the natural world, but they became so obsessed that they learned so much that they couldn't stop their obsession until a tragedy happened for both of them. Frankenstein's tragedy was him creating the monster and the creations was realizing his loneliness and letting it consume his thoughts. (Explanation 1) Their ultimate problem is that they both have an obsession with learning and it does detrimental things to how they view themself. (Explanation 2) Frankenstein and his creation are “ influenced by external circumstances that arouse and then direct their desire for knowledge, and both ardent quests lead only to the terrible realization of essential grotesqueness” (Poovey 337). …show more content…
(Topic) Although Frankenstein wishes he could always be like Clerval, he isn't able to reclaim his past and become his better self. (Point) Frankenstein feels that at a time he had the same joy as Clerval since “in Clerval [he] saw the image of [his] former self; he was inquisitive, and anxious to gain experience and instruction” (Shelley 113). (Evidence) Before Frankenstein got so obsessed with his education because he was anxious to gain experience, he was like Clerval and ignorant of the consequences that would come from his eagerness to learn. (Explanation 1) Frankenstein may wish to go back to his better self but he is so engulfed with the guilt of the monster that he created that he cannot return to his previous self, or his better self, or the same as Clerval. (Explanation 2) Frankenstein is unable to revert back to his better self because of the massive amount of guilt he feels, but is unable to own up to his guilt so he never even has the opportunity to feel without guilt, while Clerval has nothing to feel guilt for anything and is still wanting to gain more knowledge about the world. (Explanation 3) The ways that Frankenstein's doppelgangers can also be seen in both of their relationships to woman.