One of the big examples of irony in Frankenstein is that Victor set out to artificially create life, and in doing so successfully, the monster which he brought to life reigned death upon his family, systematically killing each of Victor's loved ones one at a time. In learning how to "create" life, Victor causes a domino effect of death.
Also, the "monster" is not born a monster. Rather (after being abandoned by Victor), it's interested in, first, taking care of its basic needs (food, warmth, shelter), and then it's interested in human connection. This last need drives the monster to reach out to several groups of people from which it's constantly rejected, attacked, and driven away. Even after the monster saves a little girl from drowning, the crowd attacks the monster and forces it away. The "monster" only grows bitter, angry, evil, and "monstrous" when society treats it with cruelty. So, Victor did not create a monster outright, but his initial abandonment and a string of cruelty created the monster.
Finally, if you consider Frankenstein to be a Gothic novel, Gothic literature sort of showed the "dark side" of Romanticism. So, Romantic literature had sweeping landscapes and epic adventures and quests fulfilling the broad and sweeping desires of human progress. The Gothic movement included the sweeping landscapes and grand adventures in Romanticism, but it also showed the consequences of unchecked ambition. Despite making great strides and progress in science, Victor fails to predict the terrible consequences not considering whether his quest was moral in the first place. So, Victor achieves a great scientific achievement which also causes the deaths of all of his loved ones and the downfall of his career and life. To put it simply, Victor's story shows that just because we CAN do something doesn't mean we SHOULD do something.
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