Frankenstein Test Questions

At the end of chapter 10, what factors motivate Victor Frankenstein to agree to listen to his creation's story?

A sense of responsibility to his creation; the creature's loneliness and despair; chance to redeem his monster's misdeeds; the monster also states the guilty are allowed to speak in their defense before being condemned; curiosity and compassion (Victor), and Victor would like to know if the monster killed his brother

What event delays Victor's departure for the university? How does it affect him?

Elizabeth catches scarlet fever and his mother dies from scarlet fever from taking care of Elizabeth. Victor was very upset but he understood that he had to continue on with his life

How do Elizabeth and Henry affect Victor's life and his studies?

Elizabeth supports him and helps him stay on track with his studies but Henry is adventurous and has a happy life that Victor admires.

At the end of chapter 13, the monster comments on his "additional love and reverence for my protectors (for so loved, in an innocent, half-painful self-deceit, to call them)." In the light of that comment, how does Felix's blow affect him?

He feels rejected by the only 'family' he has ever known, and is left without any kind of link to the human world at they depart

How does the monster learn details of his own creation? How do those details differ from the description of the creation of Adam?

He finds Victor's journal in the pocket of a jacket. He reads 'Paradise Lost.' The creature identifies with Adam, made by a creator and then shunned, but is different because Adam was a happy, perfect creature who was protected by his Creator and allowed to learn from "beings of superior nature."

What is Victor's emotional and physical reaction to the sight of his creature? What specific aspect of the monster's appearance horrifies victor?

He is horrified by it because he expected the creature to be beautiful. The eyes horrify Victor.

When the Frankenstein family moves to the country, what effect does the move have on Victor?

He is humbled, relaxed, and rejuvenated.

How does Victor end up in Ireland? What does he find there?

He is out throwing away the materials he used for his creation(s), and he is adrift at sea for a long while. He finds an angry crowd accusing him of murder (of Henry Clerval)

What are some human lessons the creature learns from observing the De Laceys surreptitiously (secretively)?

He learns of love, happiness, beauty, and a sense of belonging and family.

What factors in Victor's childhood predispose him for the kind of solitary effort he makes in his studies?

He was an only child for several years, he travelled and learned from his parents.

How does Victor manage to clear his name in the crime?

He was elsewhere when Henry's body was found

What is the material out of which Victor makes his creature?

Parts from dead bodies of humans and animals.

Who is Justine? Why does she die?

She is a close family friend. She was a suspect in the murder of William Frankenstein.

Who is Elizabeth? How does she come to be a part of Victor's family?

She is the daughter of a peasant family. She is adopted because Victor's mother wanted her.

What thoughts do you suppose are in Elizabeth's mind between Victor's visit home at the beginning of chapter 18 and her letter offering to free him of any obligation to her?

She sees that he is unhappy, but does not know the cause - she assumes, per his father's letter, that he does not love her as anything more than a sister

Why are we not surprised later to find that Henry has been murdered?

The monster swears vengeance after Victor destroys his second creation (monster has also been following Victor and knows and is envious that Clerval is his companion)

Do you see the advent of Safie as an event that may cause the creature pain? What is your reaction as you read Shelley's description of her effect on Felix?

Yes - Safie represents a female companion that the monster lacks, and inspires unfamiliar feelings of longing; Felix falls in love with Safie and Felix becomes a much happier young man

The creature's successive mistreatment by every human being he meets gradually changes his response to people. Does this personality change seem normal under the circumstance?Can you give any examples?

Yes - the monster is, in the beginning, a clean slate, much like an infant, and reacts to negative stimuli negatively from experience and necessity. Examples may vary.

What field of study does Victor Frankenstein peruse at the University in Ingolstadt? Why?

Chemistry because he wants to study the life cycle of human beings and human decomposition

How do you think the story would change if Felix, Safie, and Agatha did not interrupt the monster's conversation with the blind old man at the end of Chapter 15?

Could have presented an opportunity for humanity/redemption for the monster

What does Victor do with his second creation? Why does he make these choices?

He destroys it because he is worried that his new monster will kill.

How and why does Victor delay completing his second creation?

He does not want to create another abomination

What is wrong with Victor's lifestyle at the university?

He focuses only on his studies

To what does Victor dedicate his life to?

He vows to torture and murder his creation

Who is Henry Clerval?

Henry Clerval was the son of a merchant of Geneva. He also was a close friend of Victor and Elizabeth.

How does Henry Clerval help after Victor's ordeal begins?

Henry helps Victor recall his love of nature, and reminds him of the joys of friendship.

Does Victor ever tell anyone the secret of his creation

No - he is preparing to tell Elizabeth, but she is murdered by the creature when he mistakenly leaves her along to go in search of the creature (believing that the monster is after him, not his loved ones)

In addition to hearing from the conversation of the De Lacey's and Sadie in the past history of his beloved cottages, the creature is influenced by the discovery of some books. What are they? How does he respond to them?

Paradise Lost, Plutarch's 'Lives,' 'The Sorrows of Werter.' They thrill him and give him a sense of delight, and he reads them eagerly, forsaking all else

What first death does Victor feel responsible for, and why?

The first death Victor feels responsible for is William's death. Victor had created the monster and the monster was going after his friends and family and not him. Because of him people are dying around him.

The monster confirms Frankenstein's suspicions about the murder of his little brother. What happened?

Traveling to Geneva, he met a little boy — Victor's brother William - in the woods outside the town of Plainpalais. The monster hoped the boy was too young to fear deformity, but upon his approach, William cried out, threatening the monster with the weight of his family - the Frankensteins. The creature grabbed the boy by the throat to silence him, and strangled him. The monster took this as his first act of vengeance against his creator. He removed a locket from the boy's body and placed it in the folds of the dress of a young woman — William's nanny, Justine — who had been sleeping in a barn nearby, assuming she would be accused of the murder.

What does Walton want Victor to do?

Turn back from his quest, and return home - alive

At the end of chapter 10, whom does Victor meet? Where? What is the result?

Victor finally meets and talks with his monster on the glaciers of Mount Montanvert. The monster demands that Victor listen to his story and finally Victor agrees to listen

What ironies are involved in Victor's marriage to Elizabeth?

Victor wants a partner just like the monster does but Victor wont give it a companion

How does Victor characterize his early years?

Victor was the oldest child of the Frankenstein family. He was adored in the family at first for being their only child. Victor's life was full of happiness and he was taught patience, charity, and self-control, ever since he was an infant.

What ideals stir in Victor's mind from his early reading?

When Victor was a teenager his father introduced him to science and Victor began to study it deeper

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

it makes you want to sit at the edge of your chair and it makes you feel eager to find out what happens next