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Discuss how idealism is portrayed in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein without including quotations.

Hamlet is an idealistic character, as he believes that people should act in a moral way and is crushed when they don't. He is disappointed that his mother, Gertrude, has married Claudius shortly after her husband, Hamlet's father, dies. In addition, he considers Claudius's murder of his brother (Hamlet's father) to be so amoral as to be sickening. Hamlet also expects constancy and dedication from his former beloved, Ophelia, and is distraught when he finds that she is wavering between allegiance to him and allegiance to her father, Polonius. Hamlet is destined to be upset because he expects constancy and morality and finds only evil motivations and corruption in the real world.


Victor Frankenstein is also idealistic because he believes that science and scientific creations will only lead to perfection and good outcomes. When Victor creates a monster from dead bodies, he expects the being to be perfect. When the being is far from perfect, Victor despairs of his creation. The monster is also idealistic, as he dreams of finding happiness with another beloved creature, but Victor, crushed by the reality of what he has created and the discrepancy between the reality of the monster and his dream, abandons his commitment to the creature and never creates a companion for him. 

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