Which Of The Conflicts In Frankenstein Drives The Story Forward?

In Mary Shelly’s thriller novel “Frankenstein” Victor, the protagonist, is torn apart between the wonder of science and the pleasure of intellectual fulfilment on one hand, and the inevitable sense of responsibility for the outcomes of discovery and invention on the other hand. To him, the world is a “secret which he desires to divine”. Since his childhood, he recalls his ardent “curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature” as one “among the earliest sensations he can remember”.
Once he follows his passion and actually creates the monster, there is regret, disgust and dread: “I had desired it with an ardor that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”. His ultimate sense of pain can be felt when he actually holds himself accountable for what he had created with his own hands: “when, …… I beheld the wretch – the miserable monster whom I had created”.