 Frankenstein , like much Gothic fiction of the period , mixes a visceral and alienating subject matter with speculative and thought @-@ provoking themes . Rather than focusing on the twists and turns of the plot , however , the novel foregrounds the mental and moral struggles of the protagonist , Victor Frankenstein , and Shelley imbues the text with her own brand of politicised Romanticism , one that criticised the individualism and egotism of traditional Romanticism . Victor Frankenstein is like Satan in Paradise Lost , and Prometheus : he rebels against tradition ; he creates life ; and he shapes his own destiny . These traits are not portrayed positively ; as Blumberg writes , " his relentless ambition is a self @-@ delusion , clothed as quest for truth " . He must abandon his family to fulfill his ambition . 
