Chapter 1-3

Parents

Alphonse and Caroline

Parents of Victor

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.

Caroline's original last name is

Beaufort

when he was fifteen he lived in

Belrive

The book that started it all

Cornelius Agrippa, a sixteenth-century scholar of the occult sciences, and becomes interested in natural philosophy.

Who had Scarlett fever first?

Elizabeth

Chapter 3 Shmoop

Elizabeth catches scarlet fever. She recovers, but Victor's mother catches the illness while nursing her back to health and dies herself. This is where the bad things begin, if you hadn't already picked up on that. On her deathbed, she tells Victor and Elizabeth she wants them to get married. Way to lay on the guilt trip, mom. A few weeks later, Victor goes away to study at a university called Ingolstadt. He's only seventeen. Once he gets there, he finds a place to live and starts chatting up professors. Some guy named M. Krempe teaches natural philosophy and basically discredits alchemy entirely, to Victor's dismay. Imagine studying all through high school only to get to college and have your teachers tell you that everything you know is wrong and stupid. Luckily, Victor meets a nice chemistry professor named Waldman and decides to study science. The real kind.

Science and teacher of childhood

Field of alchemy. Albertus Magnus.

Victors family lives in

Geneva

Bestfriends of Victors Childhood

Henry Clerval and Elizabeth

Victor was born in

Naples

Victors mother dies of

Scarlett fever

Chapter 1 shmoop

The new guy's name is Victor Frankenstein. He's just about on his deathbed from starvation, exhaustion, and illness. Even though he's half-dead, he still likes to talk, a lot. Instead of just saying, "Hey, my name is Victor. I created a monster, and now I'm trying to kill him because he killed everyone I know," he has to start with the beginning of his childhood: "To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born" style. Get ready. He's got parents. They are named Alphonse and Caroline. Then there is Elizabeth. Elizabeth Lavenza. Mary Shelley couldn't really make up her mind about how she became part of Victor's family, but we're guessing you're probably reading the 1831 edition of this novel, so we'll say she was adopted from some Italian family by Caroline when Victor was all of five years old. Victor's parents thought it would be a good idea to adopt a girl to be Victor's future wife. So Elizabeth comes back to Geneva to live with Victor's family. Victor accepts this fate. In general, if something is fate, Victor is ready to give in to it. And, as you are about to see, he seems to think an awful lot of things are fate. (This is a major difference between the 1818 edition and the 1831 edition; 1818 Victor takes a little more responsibility for his actions.)

Chapter 2 Shmoop

Unlike Walton, Victor has friends. Two of them. Or at least, he did during his childhood. First, there's Elizabeth. Victor also has a friend named Henry Clerval. Victor describes his idyllic childhood, which is a cue for us to begin use of the historical present. As a brooding teenager, Victor develops an interest in science. Especially interesting to him is the old, not to mention discredited, field of alchemy. He's especially into some guy named Albertus Magnus. This is like some kid getting into music and really liking old ragtime records from the 1900s. Wait, scratch that, some hipster is probably starting a ragtime tumblr right now. Victor realizes that science is very powerful, but possibly also destructive, when he sees a tree get struck by lightning. Hmm!

At 17 he..

Victor goes away to study at a university called Ingolstadt.

Caroline is

Victors fathers best friends daughter

Victor meets a nice chemistry professor named

Waldman and decides to study science. The real kind.

Lightning struck

a tree beside his house, he is in awe

Henry tried to make them

act in plays

Elizabeth was found

in Italy, by the beach, with a poor family, she had blonde hair, had to talk to person, waited until dad came back from Milan.

books =

knowledge

M. Krempe teaches

natural philosophy and basically discredits alchemy entirely

"Old familiar faces"

old childhood friends

Henry liked books of

romance and chivalry

M Waldman

took him in and showed him equipment and stuff