frankenstein test volume 1

1818

frankenstein (a Modern Prometheus) was published, both Gothic and Romantic styles

Percy B. Shelley

friend of William Godwin, writer, fell in love with Mary Shelley while married to someone else, they eloped

William Godwin

(1756-1836) Mary Shelley's father, political activist, writer, had radical ideas, was a champion of cause of underpriviliged

Mary Wollstonecraft

(1759-1797) pioneer feminist writer, wrote the Vindication of the Rights of Women

Elizabeth Lavenza

- An orphan, four to five years younger than Victor, whom the Frankensteins adopt. In the 1818 edition of the novel, she 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, mother of victor wants them to marry

Justine Moritz

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

summer of 1816

Frankenstein was written, Percy (son of Mary and Percy) was born

Age of Romanticism

Love of nature, freedom from rules, exotic foreign setting, belief that imagination is superior to reason (favors intuition or emotion over intellect)

Age of Gothic Novel

Suspenseful and mysterious, Wild landscapes, Authentic experiences of horror, Unknown family ties, Ghosts/apparitions/supernatural, Haunted castles, Dead that won't stay dead, Trembling female maiden

Robert Walton

The Arctic seafarer whose letters open and close Frankenstein. He 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.

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.

Victor Frankenstein

The doomed protagonist and narrator of the main portion of the story. Studying in Ingolstadt, He discovers the secret of life and creates an intelligent but grotesque monster, from whom he recoils in horror. He 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.

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 William in the woods outside Geneva in order to hurt Victor for abandoning him. William's death deeply saddens Victor and burdens him with tremendous guilt about having created the monster.