Frankenstein Study Guide

What does the creature insist Victor make for him?

A companion that is like himself.

Peasants

A family of _________________, including a blind old man, De Lacey; his son and daughter, Felix and Agatha; and a foreign woman named Safie. The monster learns how to speak and interact by observing them. When he reveals himself to them, hoping for friendship, they beat him and chase him away.

What was Henry's lot in life? In other words, what was Henry destined to grow up and become as a man?

A merchant

Beaufort

A merchant and friend of Victor's father; the father of Caroline Beaufort

M. Krempe

A professor of natural philosophy at Ingolstadt. He dismisses Victor's study of the alchemists as wasted time and encourages him to begin his studies anew.

Setting

Much of Frankenstein's story unfolds in Switzerland, the country in central Europe where Mary Shelley was staying when she began writing the novel. However, the novel ranges widely within Europe and across the globe. Frankenstein visits Germany, France, England and Scotland. Walton travels through Russia. Elizabeth is Italian and the DeLaceys are a French family living in Germany. Safie is Turkish. Clerval plans to move to India, and the Monster proposes relocating to South America. The novel's frame story, narrated by Walton, is set in the Arctic Ocean, where Walton is trying to find a new route around the world. By encompassing the whole globe in this way, Frankenstein presents itself as a universal story. The global reach of the setting also suggests one way in which Frankenstein can be read allegorically. Shelley's era saw a rapid expansion of European power across the globe, driven by the same advances in science that enable Frankenstein to create the Monster. Frankenstein's Swiss and Arctic settings support the novel's argument that the natural world should be respected for its dangers as well as its beauty. The Swiss Alps are initially a place of wonderful beauty: as Frankenstein describes, "I suddenly left my home, and, bending my steps towards the near Alpine valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such scenes, to forget myself" However, as Frankenstein climbs, the "eternity" of the Alps becomes inhospitable and foreboding, a "sea of ice" and "bare perpendicular rock." This physical journey from his comfortable home to the barren mountains reflects Frankenstein's intellectual journey. He leaves the safety of home to seek out wonderful new knowledge, but he goes further than human beings should go, and he ends up somewhere dangerous when he creates the Monster. The barren landscapes of the high Alps and the Arctic help to make one of Frankenstein's central arguments: not everything in nature is safe for humans to discover or experience.

What was Victor's INITIAL field of study/interest. Perhaps, if he had remained with this subject his life would have been very different.

Natural Philosophy

Does Victor claim any responsibility at all for the creature's actions as the novel progresses?

No

Foreshadowing:

Ubiquitous—throughout his narrative, Victor uses words such as "fate" and "omen" to hint at the tragedy that has befallen him; additionally, he occasionally pauses in his recounting to collect himself in the face of frightening memories.

To whom is Robert Walton writing?

They were written to Walton's sister, Mrs. Margaret Saville, in England.

To whom is Victor recounting (telling) his story throughout the novel?

To walton

T or F: Early in the novel, it appears Victor believes fate may have played some role in his life's events.

True

T or F: Romantic writers saw great healing and restorative power in nature.

True

T or F: Romantics believed nature held restorative, healing power.

True

T or F: the creature helps the members of the De Lacey accomplish small, daily chores.

True

Justine Moritz

A young girl who helps the Frankenstein household while Victor is growing up. She is blamed and executed for William's murder, which is actually committed by the monster.

To put emphasis on science, data, experimentation, and anything quantifiable is to explain one's world in what manner?

Empiricism

Language:

English

novel

Epistolary - "letters" or document Three stories - frame story/novel Robert Walton to Mrs. Margaret Saville (sister) Victor Frankenstein to Robert Walton - cautionary Creature to Victor (creator)

In terms of Organization structure and framework, what type of novel is Frankensten?

Epistolary Novel

What type of novel, such as Frankenstein, is organized as a series of letters?

Epistolary novel

Three Ways of Knowing/Explaining One's World: (Bring Order out of Chaos!)

Intuitive Empirical Rational

Date of First Publication:

January 1, 1818

Chapter 8

Justine confesses to the crime, believing that she will thereby gain salvation, but tells Elizabeth and Victor that she is innocent—and miserable. They remain convinced of her innocence, but Justine is soon executed. Victor becomes consumed with guilt, knowing that the monster he created and the cloak of secrecy within which the creation took place have now caused the deaths of two members of his family.

Publisher:

Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones

Symbols

Light and Fire

Which of her companions suggested writing a ghost story?

Lord Byron

Author:

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

What field of study was Victor initially interested in? If he had stayed with this particular interest, he believes his fate may have been different.

Mathematics and philosophy

What does "reading with a critical eye" essentially mean?

Means asking questions as you read and reading with a purpose.

A tendency to rely on science, data, and anything quantifiable means one explains his/her world through which way of "knowing"?

Empirical

Chapter 9

After Justine's execution, Victor becomes increasingly melancholy. He considers suicide but restrains himself by thinking of Elizabeth and his father. Alphonse, hoping to cheer up his son, takes his children on an excursion to the family home at Belrive. From there, Victor wanders alone toward the valley of Chamounix. The beautiful scenery cheers him somewhat, but his respite from grief is short-lived.

Chapter 21

After confronting Victor, the townspeople take him to Mr. Kirwin, the town magistrate. Victor hears witnesses testify against him, claiming that they found the body of a man along the beach the previous night and that, just before finding the body, they saw a boat in the water that resembled Victor's. Mr. Kirwin decides to bring Victor to look at the body to see what effect it has on him: if Victor is the murderer, perhaps he will react with visible emotion. When Victor sees the body, he does indeed react with horror, for the victim is Henry Clerval, with the black marks of the monster's hands around his neck. In shock, Victor falls into convulsions and suffers a long illness. Victor remains ill for two months. Upon his recovery, he finds himself still in prison. Mr. Kirwin, now compassionate and much more sympathetic than before Victor's illness, visits him in his cell. He tells him that he has a visitor, and for a moment Victor fears that the monster has come to cause him even more misery. The visitor turns out to be his father, who, upon hearing of his son's illness and the death of his friend, rushed from Geneva to see him. Victor is overjoyed to see his father, who stays with him until the court, having nothing but circumstantial evidence, finds him innocent of Henry's murder. After his release, Victor departs with his father for Geneva.

Chapter 18

After his fateful meeting with the monster on the glacier, Victor puts off the creation of a new, female creature. He begins to have doubts about the wisdom of agreeing to the monster's request. He realizes that the project will require him to travel to England to gather information. His father notices that his spirits are troubled much of the time—Victor, still racked by guilt over the deaths of William and Justine, is now newly horrified by the task in which he is about to engage—and asks him if his impending marriage to Elizabeth is the source of his melancholy. Victor assures him that the prospect of marriage to Elizabeth is the only happiness in his life. Eager to raise Victor's spirits, Alphonse suggests that they celebrate the marriage immediately. Victor refuses, unwilling to marry Elizabeth until he has completed his obligation to the monster. He asks Alphonse if he can first travel to England, and Alphonse consents. Victor and Alphonse arrange a two-year tour, on which Henry Clerval, eager to begin his studies after several years of unpleasant work for his father in Geneva, will accompany Victor. After traveling for a while, they reach London.

What does the creature do to the cottage after the De Lacey family relocates?

Burns it to the ground

Name three characteristics or actions the creatures observe from the De Lacey family

Care about each other, hardworking, loving

Chapter 14

After some time, the monster's constant eavesdropping allows him to reconstruct the history of the cottagers. The old man, De Lacey, was once an affluent and successful citizen in Paris; his children, Agatha and Felix, were well-respected members of the community. Safie's father, a Turk, was falsely accused of a crime and sentenced to death. Felix visited the Turk in prison and met his daughter, with whom he immediately fell in love. Safie sent Felix letters thanking him for his intention to help her father and recounting the circumstances of her plight (the monster tells Victor that he copied some of these letters and offers them as proof that his tale is true). The letters relate that Safie's mother was a Christian Arab who had been enslaved by the Turks before marrying her father. She inculcated in Safie an independence and intelligence that Islam prevented Turkish women from cultivating. Safie was eager to marry a European man and thereby escape the near-slavery that awaited her in Turkey. Felix successfully coordinated her father's escape from prison, but when the plot was discovered, Felix, Agatha, and De Lacey were exiled from France and stripped of their wealth. They then moved into the cottage in Germany upon which the monster has stumbled. Meanwhile, the Turk tried to force Safie to return to Constantinople with him, but she managed to escape with some money and the knowledge of Felix's whereabouts.

Falling Action:

After the murder of Elizabeth Lavenza, when Victor Frankenstein chases the monster to the northern ice, is rescued by Robert Walton, narrates his story, and dies

Who is Elizabeth?

An orphan, four to five years younger than Victor, whom the Frankensteins adopt. In the 1818 edition of the novel, Elizabeth is Victor's cousin, the child of Alphonse Frankenstein's sister. In the 1831 edition, Victor's mother rescues Elizabeth from a destitute peasant cottage in Italy. Elizabeth embodies the novel's motif of passive women, as she waits patiently for Victor's attention.

Elizabeth Lavenza

An orphan, four to five years younger than Victor, whom the Frankensteins adopt. In the 1818 edition of the novel, ______________ is Victor's cousin, the child of Alphonse Frankenstein's sister. In the 1831 edition, Victor's mother rescues her from a destitute peasant cottage in Italy. She embodies the novel's motif of passive women, as she waits patiently for Victor's attention.

Chapter 13

As winter thaws into spring, the monster notices that the cottagers, particularly Felix, seem unhappy. A beautiful woman in a dark dress and veil arrives at the cottage on horseback and asks to see Felix. Felix becomes ecstatic the moment he sees her. The woman, who does not speak the language of the cottagers, is named Safie. She moves into the cottage, and the mood of the household immediately brightens. As Safie learns the language of the cottagers, so does the monster. He also learns to read, and, since Felix uses Constantin-François de Volney's Ruins of Empires to instruct Safie, he learns a bit of world history in the process. Now able to speak and understand the language perfectly, the monster learns about human society by listening to the cottagers' conversations. Reflecting on his own situation, he realizes that he is deformed and alone. "Was I then a monster," he asks, "a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and whom all men disowned?" He also learns about the pleasures and obligations of the family and of human relations in general, which deepens the agony of his own isolation.

Chapter 3

At the age of seventeen, Victor leaves his family in Geneva to attend the university at Ingolstadt. Just before Victor departs, his mother catches scarlet fever from Elizabeth, whom she has been nursing back to health, and dies. On her deathbed, she begs Elizabeth and Victor to marry. Several weeks later, still grieving, Victor goes off to Ingolstadt. Arriving at the university, he finds quarters in the town and sets up a meeting with a professor of natural philosophy, M. Krempe. Krempe tells Victor that all the time that Victor has spent studying the alchemists has been wasted, further souring Victor on the study of natural philosophy. He then attends a lecture in chemistry by a professor named Waldman. This lecture, along with a subsequent meeting with the professor, convinces Victor to pursue his studies in the sciences.

Why does the grandfather De Lacey engage in conversation with the creature? Why is the grandfather not afraid to interact with the creature?

Because the Grandfather is blind

What is grandfather De Lacey's physical impairment?

Blindness

What field of study does Victor finally decide to pursue?

Chemistry and Anatomy

What does Mary Shelley say the central theme of the novel is in her introduction?

Creation

Themes

Dangerous Knowledge Sublime Nature Monstrosity Secrecy Texts Family Alienation Ambition

Gothic Horror - 19th century British

Darkness, evil Fear Mystery, supernatural (ghosts, apparitions) Natural phenomena Grotesque, horrible images, screams, death "Halloween"

Out of what materials does Victor make his creature?

Dead body parts

What does Victor hope to eliminate in the human experience?

Death

In general, what advice does Victor have for Robert Walton in terms of Walton's ambition?

Do not attempt to be Godlike it comes with consequences. Don't overreach.

Setting (Time):

Eighteenth century

Chapter 2

Elizabeth and Victor grow up together as best friends. Victor's friendship with Henry Clerval, a schoolmate and only child, flourishes as well, and he spends his childhood happily surrounded by this close domestic circle. As a teenager, Victor becomes increasingly fascinated by the mysteries of the natural world. He chances upon a book by Cornelius Agrippa, a sixteenth-century scholar of the occult sciences, and becomes interested in natural philosophy. He studies the outdated findings of the alchemists Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus with enthusiasm. He witnesses the destructive power of nature when, during a raging storm, lightning destroys a tree near his house. A modern natural philosopher accompanying the Frankenstein family explains to Victor the workings of electricity, making the ideas of the alchemists seem outdated and worthless. (In the 1818 version, a demonstration of electricity by his father convinces Victor of the alchemists' mistakenness.)

Chapter 6

Elizabeth's letter expresses her concern about Victor's illness and entreats him to write to his family in Geneva as soon as he can. She also tells him that Justine Moritz, a girl who used to live with the Frankenstein family, has returned to their house following her mother's death. After Victor has recovered, he introduces Henry, who is studying Oriental languages, to the professors at the university. The task is painful, however, since the sight of any chemical instrument worsens Victor's symptoms; even speaking to his professors torments him. He decides to return to Geneva and awaits a letter from his father specifying the date of his departure. Meanwhile, he and Henry take a walking tour through the country, uplifting their spirits with the beauties of nature.

In terms of literary styles and movements, Romanticism, Realism, and Naturalism were essentially the same basic approach to literature and to understanding the nature of the human condition.

False

T or F: As a result of his encounter with the DeLacey family, the creature feels infinitely better about his lot (situation in life).

False

T or F: British Romantic writers embrace and affirm many of the qualities associated with the empirical thinking of the Scientific Revolution.

False

T or F: Justine is one of Victor's wealthy cousins visiting from France.

False

T or F: Mary Shelley came from a poor, immigrant family in England.

False

T or F: Mary Shelley likes the idea of writing a ghost story and appears to come up with her ideas for the novel very quickly.

False

T or F: Mary Shelley really did not like the idea of writing a ghost story and struggled with the topic at first.

False

T or F: Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein have contempt and distrust of each other from the very beginning.

False

T or F: Victor comes to Justine's defense, but his efforts to plead her case are in vain.

False

T or F: Victor describes his early childhood as pleasant, filled with many friends and a large extended family.

False

T or F: Victor maintains close contact with Elizabeth, Henry, and his family during his time away at university?

False

T or F: Victor regularly keeps up with his family after he goes away to college.

False

T or F: the creature attacks and ultimately kills Felix.

False

What is Victor's mothers dying last wish?

For Victor and Elizabeth to marry

Antagonist:

Frankenstein's monster

Full Title:

Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus

Where was Mary Shelley when she wrote Frankenstein?

Geneva, Switzerland

Setting (Place):

Geneva; the Swiss Alps; Ingolstadt; England and Scotland; the northern ice

What was Prometheus's sin?

Giving the gift of fire to humans; and seeing great potential in humans.

In terms of plot, setting, theme, and characterization - what is the genre of Frankenstein?

Gothic Science Fiction

Genre

Gothic Science Fiction Novel

Tone:

Gothic, Romantic, emotional, tragic, fatalistic

What does Robert Walton sorely miss?

He bitterly feels the want of a friend.

Describe Victor's relationship with Professor Krempe.

He doesn't like him.

What does Victor mean when he says, "Unhappy man! Do you share my madness?"

He is asking Mr. Walton if he also shares his pain of trying to reach a goal yet never achieving it.

What is Victor's reaction to his creation when he was originally created?

He is horrified

How does the creature learn the details of his own creation?

He reads Victor's journal that contains the details of his creation.

Imagination, nature, and the power of the supernatural are all associated with what way of "knowing or "being"?

Intuitive

What was Prometheus's punishment for giving fire to humans?

He was being strapped to a rock and a vulture would come daily and rip out his liver, but then his liver would regrow and he would do it for eternity.

Describe the creature's early encounter with the villagers prior to meeting the De Lacey family.

He was rejected from society and treated terribly

What natural phenomenon does Victor witness as a child? This event leads him to have an even greater interest in science.

He watched a tree being hit by lightning during a storm. He became interested in the theories of electricity and galvanism.

What is Robert Walton's Specific ambition?

He wishes to discover parts of the world that have not been visited.

Describe Victor's mental state at university OR as he works to create his creature.

He's not in a good state and his work consumes his life

What part of the creature's physical appearance is most disturbing to Victor?

His face

Whose death delays Victor from enrolling in college? This was the first major loss in Victor's life. It grieves him greatly and moves him even more so into an interest in science.

His mom

Chapter 24

His whole family destroyed, Victor decides to leave Geneva and the painful memories it holds behind him forever. He tracks the monster for months, guided by slight clues, messages, and hints that the monster leaves for him. Angered by these taunts, Victor continues his pursuit into the ice and snow of the North. There he meets Walton and tells his story. He entreats Walton to continue his search for vengeance after he is dead.

What was Victor's reaction when he first saw his creature?

Horrified

Man's Overreach

Human desire for more than man can handle. Man trying to be God Man's attempt to avoid or conquer DEATH! Hubris - pride, ego - the greatest of the 7 Deadly Sins Effort to control beyond man's capability Attempting to operate on the "God tier"

To place great importance on mystery, nature, and the supernatural means to explain one's world in a ________ manner.

Intuitive

What literary movement values mystery, the supernatural, the affairs of common people?

Intuitive

Chapter 23

In the evening, Victor and Elizabeth walk around the grounds, but Victor can think of nothing but the monster's imminent arrival. Inside, Victor worries that Elizabeth might be upset by the monster's appearance and the battle between them. He tells her to retire for the night. He begins to search for the monster in the house, when suddenly he hears Elizabeth scream and realizes that it was never his death that the monster had been intending this night. Consumed with grief over Elizabeth's death, Victor returns home and tells his father the gruesome news. Shocked by the tragic end of what should have been a joyous day, his father dies a few days later. Victor finally breaks his secrecy and tries to convince a magistrate in Geneva that an unnatural monster is responsible for the death of Elizabeth, but the magistrate does not believe him. Victor resolves to devote the rest of his life to finding and destroying the monster.

Chapter 16

In the wake of this rejection, the monster swears to revenge himself against all human beings, his creator in particular. Journeying for months out of sight of others, he makes his way toward Geneva. On the way, he spots a young girl, seemingly alone; the girl slips into a stream and appears to be on the verge of drowning. When the monster rescues the girl from the water, the man accompanying her, suspecting him of having attacked her, shoots him. As he nears Geneva, the monster runs across Victor's younger brother, William, in the woods. When William mentions that his father is Alphonse Frankenstein, the monster erupts in a rage of vengeance and strangles the boy to death with his bare hands. He takes a picture of Caroline Frankenstein that the boy has been holding and places it in the folds of the dress of a girl sleeping in a barn—Justine Moritz, who is later executed for William's murder. Having explained to Victor the circumstances behind William's murder and Justine's conviction, the monster implores Victor to create another monster to accompany him and be his mate.

In a general way, what advice does Victor have for Robert Walton when he learns of his ambitions to explore the Arctic?

Not to explore the arctic.

Type of work:

Novel

Chapter 12

Observing his neighbors for an extended period of time, the monster notices that they often seem unhappy, though he is unsure why. He eventually realizes, however, that their despair results from their poverty, to which he has been contributing by surreptitiously stealing their food. Torn by his guilty conscience, he stops stealing their food and does what he can to reduce their hardship, gathering wood at night to leave at the door for their use. The monster becomes aware that his neighbors are able to communicate with each other using strange sounds. Vowing to learn their language, he tries to match the sounds they make with the actions they perform. He acquires a basic knowledge of the language, including the names of the young man and woman, Felix and Agatha. He admires their graceful forms and is shocked by his ugliness when he catches sight of his reflection in a pool of water. He spends the whole winter in the hovel, unobserved and well protected from the elements, and grows increasingly affectionate toward his unwitting hosts.

Chapter 7

On their return to the university, Victor finds a letter from his father telling him that Victor's youngest brother, William, has been murdered. Saddened, shocked, and apprehensive, Victor departs immediately for Geneva. By the time he arrives, night has fallen and the gates of Geneva have been shut, so he spends the evening walking in the woods around the outskirts of the town. As he walks near the spot where his brother's body was found, he spies the monster lurking and becomes convinced that his creation is responsible for killing William. The next day, however, when he returns home, Victor learns that Justine has been accused of the murder. After the discovery of the body, a servant had found in Justine's pocket a picture of Caroline Frankenstein last seen in William's possession. Victor proclaims Justine's innocence, but the evidence against her seems irrefutable, and Victor refuses to explain himself for fear that he will be labeled insane.

Chapter 22

On their way home, father and son stop in Paris, where Victor rests to recover his strength. Just before leaving again for Geneva, Victor receives a letter from Elizabeth. Worried by Victor's recurrent illnesses, she asks him if he is in love with another, to which Victor replies that she is the source of his joy. The letter reminds him of the monster's threat that he will be with Victor on his wedding night. He believes that the monster intends to attack him and resolves that he will fight back. Whichever one of them is destroyed, his misery will at last come to an end. Eventually, Victor and his father arrive home and begin planning the wedding. Elizabeth is still worried about Victor, but he assures her that all will be well after the wedding. He has a terrible secret, he tells her, that he can only reveal to her after they are married. As the wedding day approaches, Victor grows more and more nervous about his impending confrontation with the monster. Finally, the wedding takes place, and Victor and Elizabeth depart for a family cottage to spend the night.

Chapter 10

One rainy day, Victor wakes to find his old feelings of despair resurfacing. He decides to travel to the summit of Montanvert, hoping that the view of a pure, eternal, beautiful natural scene will revive his spirits. When he reaches the glacier at the top, he is momentarily consoled by the sublime spectacle. As he crosses to the opposite side of the glacier, however, he spots a creature loping toward him at incredible speed. At a closer range, he clearly recognizes the grotesque shape of the monster. He issues futile threats of attack to the monster, whose enormous strength and speed allow him to elude Victor easily. Victor curses him and tells him to go away, but the monster, speaking eloquently, persuades him to accompany him to a fire in a cave of ice. Inside the cave, the monster begins to narrate the events of his life.

In a word(s) or phrases(s) what do Oedipus, Prometheus, and Victor Frankenstein have in common?

They all try to reach the God Tier

Chapter 5

One stormy night, after months of labor, Victor completes his creation. But when he brings it to life, its awful appearance horrifies him. He rushes to the next room and tries to sleep, but he is troubled by nightmares about Elizabeth and his mother's corpse. He wakes to discover the monster looming over his bed with a grotesque smile and rushes out of the house. He spends the night pacing in his courtyard. The next morning, he goes walking in the town of Ingolstadt, frantically avoiding a return to his now-haunted apartment. As he walks by the town inn, Victor comes across his friend Henry Clerval, who has just arrived to begin studying at the university. Delighted to see Henry—a breath of fresh air and a reminder of his family after so many months of isolation and ill health—he brings him back to his apartment. Victor enters first and is relieved to find no sign of the monster. But, weakened by months of work and shock at the horrific being he has created, he immediately falls ill with a nervous fever that lasts several months. Henry nurses him back to health and, when Victor has recovered, gives him a l

What does OVid credit Prometheus with doing initially in the story of humanity?

Ovid credit's Prometheus as the god who made human kind in godlike form from clay.

From what literary text does the creature learn of a LOVING, CARING creator?

Paradise Lost by John Milton

Motifs

Passive Women Abortion

Tense:

Past

Another way of stating "man's overreach" is to name it which of the seven deadly sins?

Pride

What is the impact of the last sentence in Chapter 3?

Prof. Waldman exposed Victor to what he wanted to do. He then changes his major to Chemistry

Reason, philosophy, and human thinking are associated with which way of "knowing" or "being"?

Rationalism

Name on way of "knowing" or "being" that Romantic writers would have opposed.

Rationalism and Imperialism

Plot Overview

Robert's story - explorer; hopes to find passage across the North Pole How Robert and Victor meet Why Victor tells Robert his story Victor's childhood Caroline and Alphonsus Frankenstein Isolated, affluent, only child, studious Adoption Elizabeth Victor's experience at university Prof Kempe (one who teaches philosophy..... Frankenstein finds him off-putting) and Prof Waldman First field of study mathematics and philosophy Changes to natural philosophy (science, chemistry) Victor is self-reflective; realizes that decisions he makes impact his future Victor also sees the hand of fate/destiny at work Victor's years at university - compulsive; doesn't come back home Desires to do something great Reanimate dead body parts (overcoming DEATH) GALVINISM?

What are Agatha and Felix's reactions as they enter the cottage in the woods?

Scared

What event delays Victor's departure for university?

Scarlet fever breaks out which kills his mother.

Where did Mary Shelley get the idea for her novel?

She got the idea for her novel from a dream; but also on how Byron and her husband were talking about Darwin and preserving a piece of vermicelli.

Chapter 11

Sitting by the fire in his hut, the monster tells Victor of the confusion that he experienced upon being created. He describes his flight from Victor's apartment into the wilderness and his gradual acclimation to the world through his discovery of the sensations of light, dark, hunger, thirst, and cold. According to his story, one day he finds a fire and is pleased at the warmth it creates, but he becomes dismayed when he burns himself on the hot embers. He realizes that he can keep the fire alive by adding wood, and that the fire is good not only for heat and warmth but also for making food more palatable. In search of food, the monster finds a hut and enters it. His presence causes an old man inside to shriek and run away in fear. The monster proceeds to a village, where more people flee at the sight of him. As a result of these incidents, he resolves to stay away from humans. One night he takes refuge in a small hovel adjacent to a cottage. In the morning, he discovers that he can see into the cottage through a crack in the wall and observes that the occupants are a young man, a young woman, and an old man.

Where was Frankenstein written?

Switzerland

Time and Place Written:

Switzerland, 1816, and London, 1816-1817

Robert Walton

The Arctic seafarer whose letters open and close Frankenstein. ______________ picks the bedraggled Victor Frankenstein up off the ice, helps nurse him back to health, and hears Victor's story. He records the incredible tale in a series of letters addressed to his sister, Margaret Saville, in England.

Who pressures Justine to confess to a murder she did not commit?

The Priest

Caroline Beaufort

The daughter of Beaufort. After her father's death, She is taken in by, and later marries, Alphonse Frankenstein. She dies of scarlet fever, which she contracts from Elizabeth, just before Victor leaves for Ingolstadt at age seventeen.

What event delays Victor's departure for college?

The death of his mother.

Victor Frankenstein

The doomed protagonist and narrator of the main portion of the story. Studying in Ingolstadt, ____________ discovers the secret of life and creates an intelligent but grotesque monster, from whom he recoils in horror. _____________ keeps his creation of the monster a secret, feeling increasingly guilty and ashamed as he realizes how helpless he is to prevent the monster from ruining his life and the lives of others.

The Creature

The eight-foot-tall, hideously ugly creation of Victor Frankenstein. Intelligent and sensitive, the monster attempts to integrate himself into human social patterns, but all who see him shun him. His feeling of abandonment compels him to seek revenge against his creator.

Mr. Kirwin

The magistrate who accuses Victor of Henry's murder.

Chapter 17

The monster tells Victor that it is his right to have a female monster companion. Victor refuses at first, but the monster appeals to Victor's sense of responsibility as his creator. He tells Victor that all of his evil actions have been the result of a desperate loneliness. He promises to take his new mate to South America to hide in the jungle far from human contact. With the sympathy of a fellow monster, he argues, he will no longer be compelled to kill. Convinced by these arguments, Victor finally agrees to create a female monster. Overjoyed but still skeptical, the monster tells Victor that he will monitor Victor's progress and that Victor need not worry about contacting him when his work is done.

Climax:

The murder of Elizabeth Lavenza on the night of her wedding to Victor Frankenstein in Chapter 23

Letter 1

The novel itself begins with a series of letters from the explorer Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret Saville. Walton, a well-to-do Englishman with a passion for seafaring, is the captain of a ship headed on a dangerous voyage to the North Pole. In the first letter, he tells his sister of the preparations leading up to his departure and of the desire burning in him to accomplish "some great purpose"—discovering a northern passage to the Pacific, revealing the source of the Earth's magnetism, or simply setting foot on undiscovered territory.

Narrator:

The primary narrator is Robert Walton, who, in his letters, quotes Victor Frankenstein's first-person narrative at length; Victor, in turn, quotes the monster's first-person narrative; in addition, the lesser characters Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein narrate parts of the story through their letters to Victor.

M. Waldman

The professor of chemistry who sparks Victor's interest in science. He dismisses the alchemists' conclusions as unfounded but sympathizes with Victor's interest in a science that can explain the "big questions," such as the origin of life.

Who are Alphonsus and Caroline Frankenstein?

Victor's parents

Chapter 1

The stranger, who the reader soon learns is Victor Frankenstein, begins his narration. He starts with his family background, birth, and early childhood, telling Walton about his father, Alphonse, and his mother, Caroline. Alphonse became Caroline's protector when her father, Alphonse's longtime friend Beaufort, died in poverty. They married two years later, and Victor was born soon after. Frankenstein then describes how his childhood companion, Elizabeth Lavenza, entered his family. At this point in the narrative, the original (1818) and revised (1831) versions of Frankenstein diverge. In the original version, Elizabeth is Victor's cousin, the daughter of Alphonse's sister; when Victor is four years old, Elizabeth's mother dies and Elizabeth is adopted into the Frankenstein family. In the revised version, Elizabeth is discovered by Caroline, on a trip to Italy, when Victor is about five years old. While visiting a poor Italian family, Caroline notices a beautiful blonde girl among the dark-haired Italian children; upon discovering that Elizabeth is the orphaned daughter of a Milanese nobleman and a German woman and that the Italian family can barely afford to feed her, Caroline adopts Elizabeth and brings her back to Geneva. Victor's mother decides at the moment of the adoption that Elizabeth and Victor should someday marry.

Protagonist:

Victor Frankenstein

What are the two figures Walton sees in the fourth letter?

Victor Frankenstein and the Creature

Chapter 19

Victor and Henry journey through England and Scotland, but Victor grows impatient to begin his work and free himself of his bond to the monster. Victor has an acquaintance in a Scottish town, with whom he urges Henry to stay while he goes alone on a tour of Scotland. Henry consents reluctantly, and Victor departs for a remote, desolate island in the Orkneys to complete his project. Quickly setting up a laboratory in a small shack, Victor devotes many hours to working on his new creature. He often has trouble continuing his work, however, knowing how unsatisfying, even grotesque, the product of his labor will be.

Chapter 4

Victor attacks his studies with enthusiasm and, ignoring his social life and his family far away in Geneva, makes rapid progress. Fascinated by the mystery of the creation of life, he begins to study how the human body is built (anatomy) and how it falls apart (death and decay). After several years of tireless work, he masters all that his professors have to teach him, and he goes one step further: discovering the secret of life. Privately, hidden away in his apartment where no one can see him work, he decides to begin the construction of an animate creature, envisioning the creation of a new race of wonderful beings. Zealously devoting himself to this labor, he neglects everything else—family, friends, studies, and social life—and grows increasingly pale, lonely, and obsessed.

Who was Henry?

Victor's boyhood friend, who nurses Victor back to health in Ingolstadt. After working unhappily for his father, Henry begins to follow in Victor's footsteps as a scientist. His cheerfulness counters Victor's moroseness.

Henry Clerval

Victor's boyhood friend, who nurses Victor back to health in Ingolstadt. After working unhappily for his father, he begins to follow in Victor's footsteps as a scientist. His cheerfulness counters Victor's moroseness.

Alphonse Frankenstein

Victor's father, very sympathetic toward his son. He consoles Victor in moments of pain and encourages him to remember the importance of family.

William Frankenstein

Victor's youngest brother and the darling of the Frankenstein family. The monster strangles him in the woods outside Geneva in order to hurt Victor for abandoning him. His death deeply saddens Victor and burdens him with tremendous guilt about having created the monster.

In literary terms, what would the opposite of a Romantic writer be considered?

Victorianian

Which of Victor's professors encourages him to study NATURAL PHILOSOPHY (or science) at university?

Waldman

Who rescues Victor early in the novel?

Walton

Describe the two strangers Robert Walton sees in his fourth letter.

Walton and his men notices a gigantic creature. The other stranger he sees is emaciated, weak, and starving.

Letters 2-3

Walton bemoans his lack of friends. He feels lonely and isolated, too sophisticated to find comfort in his shipmates and too uneducated to find a sensitive soul with whom to share his dreams. He shows himself a Romantic, with his "love for the marvellous, a belief in the marvellous," which pushes him along the perilous, lonely pathway he has chosen. Walton tells his sister that his ship has set sail and that he has full confidence that he will achieve his aim.

Chapter 15

While foraging for food in the woods around the cottage one night, the monster finds an abandoned leather satchel containing some clothes and books. Eager to learn more about the world than he can discover through the chink in the cottage wall, he brings the books back to his hovel and begins to read. The books include Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Sorrows of Werter, a volume of Plutarch's Lives, and John Milton's Paradise Lost, the last of which has the most profound effect on the monster. Unaware that Paradise Lost is a work of imagination, he reads it as a factual history and finds much similarity between the story and his own situation. Rifling through the pockets of his own clothes, stolen long ago from Victor's apartment, he finds some papers from Victor's journal. With his newfound ability to read, he soon understands the horrific manner of his own creation and the disgust with which his creator regarded him. Dismayed by these discoveries, the monster wishes to reveal himself to the cottagers in the hope that they will see past his hideous exterior and befriend him. He decides to approach the blind De Lacey first, hoping to win him over while Felix, Agatha, and Safie are away. He believes that De Lacey, unprejudiced against his hideous exterior, may be able to convince the others of his gentle nature.The perfect opportunity soon presents itself, as Felix, Agatha, and Safie depart one day for a long walk. The monster nervously enters the cottage and begins to speak to the old man. Just as he begins to explain his situation, however, the other three return unexpectedly. Felix drives the monster away, horrified by his appearance.

T or F: Romantic writers attempted to give a very realistic portrayal of life; therefore, many of their writing show the sufferings of the working-class poor.

true

Romantic writers tended to _________ intuitive ways of knowing.

use

Chapter 20

While working one night, Victor begins to think about what might happen after he finishes his creation. He imagines that his new creature might not want to seclude herself, as the monster had promised, or that the two creatures might have children, creating "a race of devils . . . on the earth." In the midst of these reflections and growing concern, Victor looks up to see the monster grinning at him through the window. Overcome by the monster's hideousness and the possibility of a second creature like him, he destroys his work in progress. The monster becomes enraged at Victor for breaking his promise, and at the prospect of his own continued solitude. He curses and vows revenge, then departs, swearing that he will be with Victor on his wedding night. The following night, Victor receives a letter from Henry, who, tired of Scotland, suggests that they continue their travels. Before he leaves his shack, Victor cleans and packs his chemical instruments and collects the remains of his second creature. Late that evening, he rows out onto the ocean and throws the remains into the water, allowing himself to rest in the boat for a while. When he wakes, he finds that the winds will not permit him to return to shore. Panicking, in fear for his life, he contemplates the possibility of dying at sea, blown far out into the Atlantic. Soon the winds change, however, and he reaches shore near a town. When he lands, a group of townspeople greet him rudely, telling him that he is under suspicion for a murder discovered the previous night.

Which of Victor's relatives does the creature murder first?

William; victor's youngest brother

The words an author uses is known as the ____________of the literary work.

diction

Characters who change quite a bit over the course of a novel are known as ______________ characters.

dynamic

Pride, also known as ________ (mature, sophisticated, literary term we have discussed numerous times), could be said to be the downfall of Prometheus, Oedipus, and Frankenstein.

hubris

As he observes the DeLacey family, what does the creature regarded as a "godlike science" among them?

language

Romanticism

literary movement of which Mary Shelley is a part. All about INTUITIVE ways of knowing! Nature, supernatural, feelings and emotions over reason and logic Reacting against or to EMPIRICISM (Sci Rev) and RATIONALISM (Age of Reason)

A recurring image throughout a literary work is known as ________.

motif

Point of View:

shifts with the narration, from Robert Walton to Victor Frankenstein to Frankenstein's monster, then back to Walton, with a few digressions in the form of letters from Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein.

What is Felix teaching Safie?

teaching her their language

Letter 4

the ship stalls between huge sheets of ice, and Walton and his men spot a sledge guided by a gigantic creature about half a mile away. The next morning, they encounter another sledge stranded on an ice floe. All but one of the dogs drawing the sledge is dead, and the man on the sledge—not the man seen the night before—is emaciated, weak, and starving. Despite his condition, the man refuses to board the ship until Walton tells him that it is heading north. The stranger spends two days recovering, nursed by the crew, before he can speak. The crew is burning with curiosity, but Walton, aware of the man's still-fragile state, prevents his men from burdening the stranger with questions. As time passes, Walton and the stranger become friends, and the stranger eventually consents to tell Walton his story. At the end of the fourth letter, Walton states that the visitor will commence his narrative the next day; Walton's framing narrative ends and the stranger's begins.

Describe Mary Shelley's friends and family in three to four words.

writers, intelligent, had money