Aaron Yong, Alex Chou, Jeffrey Chu Period 5., Lyons April 15, 2016 Frankenstein​
Giant RRS Title: ​
Frankenstein Publication Date: ​
January 1, 1818 Author: ​
Mary Shelley Nationality: ​
British Author’s Birth/Death Dates: ​
August 30, 1797 – February 1, 1851 Distinguishing Traits of Author Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in the Gothic and Romanticism styles, which she greatly admired during the English Renaissance. Shelley’s parents, William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, were both philosophers, but her mother passed away when she was only eleven days old. Shelley, like her mother, believed in women’s rights and rejected most stereotypes that were given to women, and decided to venture out into the world. By sixteen she got together with Percy Shelley, and together, they traveled throughout Europe, which later helped he become a travel writer. At age eighteen, Shelley wrote a story for a ghost story contest, which later became the novel, ​
Frankenstein​
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Work The story takes ultimately takes place on Captain Walton’s ship in the frozen waters of the artic. He is on an expedition with “the prospect of arriving at the North Pacific Ocean through the seas which surround the pole.” (3) He begins the story writing to his sister on “Dec. th​
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, 17–” (2), which is the eighteenth century. On his journey through the waters, he passes the time as his ship gets “surrounded by ice” and in every direction, there are “vast and irregular plains of ice.” (9) He meets with Victor Frankenstein, whose story takes place predominantly across Europe. Victor Frankenstein is “by birth a Genovese”, and was raised in Geneva, a French­speaking city in Switzerland along with his parents and sister. (15) At the age of seventeen, he “[became] a student at the university of Ingolstadt” (25), a city in Germany that he attended to study natural philosophy and chemistry. He creates the monster in Germany, but is horrified then leaves “instantly to Geneva” (49). Upon arranging the creation of another monster, he travels to “visit England for [that] purpose” (108) and London becomes his “present point of rest.” (116) He can’t work with his friend around then goes to Scotland’s “Orkneys [for] the scene of [his] labours.” (120) He then “return[ed] to Geneva” to marry Elizabeth, who is killed by the monster. (141) He then vows to spend rest of his life in the “Frozen Ocean” (154) and dies between the “mountains of ice” (159) to track down the monster and eventually dies from illness, exhaustion, and starvation on Walton’s ship. Brief Plot Synopsis Exposition The story starts off with a young Victor Frankenstein living his childhood life in Geneva with his loving parents, Alphonse and Caroline, his sister­in­law and bride­to­be Elizabeth, and his best friend Henry Clerval. At an early age, Victor has developed a fascination with with natural and philosophy and began to study the works of Cornelius Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Paracelsus. When he reaches seventeen, he goes to Ingolstadt as a university student. There he learns his instructors’ theories have long been debunked and is now learning modern natural philosophy and real science. Throughout the exposition, Victor continuously foreshadows his inevitable doom and pins the blame on destiny. Rising action Before Victor leaves for Ingolstadt, Elizabeth has caught scarlet fever. Their mother nurses her back to health but she catches the affliction herself and dies, wishing for Victor and Elizabeth to one day get married. In Ingolstadt, Victor develops an unhealthy obsession to the answers of life and death. Pursuing his ambitions, Victor discovers the answer and for two years sought to instill life into an inanimate body. When he finally succeeds he discovered the beautiful parts, put together, combined into a horrid eight foot tall monstrosity. Appalled by this, Victor flees and abandons the monster and later falls ill. The monster reappears later in the story, confessing to be the murderer of William and Justine, to demand Victor to construct a companion for him; however Victor destroys any prospect of the monster having a mate out of fear that more monsters will be created or the second monster won’t accept the monster as a mate. The monster swears revenge on Victor and promises to be with him on his wedding day. Victor finds that Henry Clerval had been choked to death after the monster declares his vendetta. Climax The climax of this story occurs during Victor and Elizabeth’s wedding day. Victor is constantly worrying about the monster’s words, thinking that the monster is going to come after him. Victor tells Elizabeth that he has a horrible secret he needs to tell her, but only after the wedding is over. Elizabeth is undisturbed by the news and wishes to go forward with the proceedings. Victor steels himself to face the monster and sends Elizabeth away to retire. As Victor searches for the monster, the monster kills Elizabeth, who lets a out a shriek that alerts Victor the true meaning of the monster’s words. Victor passes out, and when he comes to, he finds the monster pointing at his dead wife, as if mocking him. The monster escapes Victor’s attempts. Falling action When Victor broke the news to his father in Geneva, Alphonse fell into depression and quite literally died of grief a few days later. Victor goes insane or is treated as insane and spends many months in solitary confinement. When he is released, he swears revenge on the monster for taking everything he had away from him. Victor pursues the monster, but never finds him. The monster leaves clues behind to give Victor false hope that one day he might finally catch him. Resolution The story comes to close as the narrative shifts back into Walton’s perspective. Victor, spent and exhausted, dies without exacting his vengeance. Before he dies, he asks Walton that should he ever come comes across the monster, he carry out Frankenstein’s vengeance for him. After Victor dies, Walton finds the monster grieving his creator’s death and tells Walton of his own suffering and pain. The monster then leaves to find a suitable place to die. Brief Description of Characters Victor Frankenstein​
­ The main character of most of the story. Frankenstein can be described as a curious fellow, who was simply too curious for his own good. Since birth, Victor’s main characteristic has been ​
"curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature … are among the earliest sensations I can remember"( Chapter 2 pg 30­31). Victor has a thirst for knowledge and tends to get carried away with whatever captures his interest. When he became interested in the equation of life. He would, in the middle of the night, steal corpses from the churchyard and watch them rot and decompose. When constructing the monster his physical health drastically declined forgoing both food and rest in the span of two years to the point where his physical appearance was more comparable to “one doomed by slavery to toil in the mines, or any other unwholesome trade, than an artist occupied by his favorite employment” (Ch 4 pg 56). This same obsession took over him when he pursued the monster through the world. He has a tendency to avert the blame of his actions towards other people or at destiny being “too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction” (Ch 2 pg 37). The Monster​
­ The monster is an eight­foot tall abomination sorted together by Victor Frankenstein who had taken parts from various human corpses and put them together in such a way he thought would be beautiful. However, “his yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath. His hair was a lustrous black, and flowing. His teeth of a pearly whiteness. But these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same color as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips” (Ch5 pg 57­58). The monster was so hideous that it was enough to drive Victor ill the first time he saw his face and abandons him. The monster, alone in the world, is rejected at every turn and every door is closed to him. He learns how to read and write through the unintentional help of a family of peasants. He becomes literate and learned. A truly intelligent and compassionate being trapped in an ugly frame. He attempts to help those around him but is pushed away and driven off due to his hulking figure and hideous countenance. The monster eventually grows bitter and develops a hatred of all mankind, which, first spawns when he was shot for saving a young girl, and is shown when he places the miniature inside Justine’s clothing after killing William, framing her of the crime when he had no reason to. The monster longs for companionship and to be loved but is easily carried away by his emotions, which is shown when he takes everything away from Victor out of anger and jealousy. When crying over Victor’s death bed he tells Walton that he understands that he is “a wretch...murdered the lovely and the helpless” but believes a great injustice was done upon him asking that why was he the only “criminal when all humankind sinned against” him (Ch 24 pg 269­270). William, Felix, De Lacey, and the rustic with the small girl­ ​
These characters are Victor’s brother, the peasants who taught the monster how to read, and the character who shot the monster, respectively. All characters appear briefly and are never to be seen again, but are important in the fact that they played major roles in shaping the monster’s psyche or show the values that the society in the novel valued. All of them take the monster at face value and assume he’s some sort of hellspawn come to feast on their flesh or commit some other demonic act. Even after announcing he meant no harm to William, the boy still struggled, screaming “Monster! Ugly wretch! You wish to eat me and tear me to pieces” (Ch 16 pg 168). Prior to that event, his benefactors who, unknowingly taught him how to read and speak, casted him out the moment he revealed his face to Felix. De Lacey, who is blind and supposed to be unprejudiced, hesitated in helping the master, even after speaking so cordially with each other a few moments ago. After his escape, the monster saves a child from drowning, but the rustic accompanying her assumes the monster was evil and shoots the monster in the shoulder. This is when the monster first swears vengeance on mankind. These characters represent the shallowness of the society that exists in the book, and each rejection had made him turn benevolent to bitter. Elizabeth­ ​
Elizabeth is Victor’s sister­in­law and his bride­to­be. She is portrayed as a symbol of perfection and purity, “fairer than a pictured cherub”, out of all the characters, from her looks to her moral fiber (Ch 2 pg28). She is trusting, patient, and compassionate. However, she only seems to exist for Victor’s sake. She was adopted for the purpose of marrying Victor and she waits many years for Victor to come claim her. She was given to Victor as a “pretty present” (Ch 2 pg 28). Not once does she seem to think for herself and concerns herself with the well­beings of others. Henry Clerval​
­ Clerval is Victor’s best friend. Clerval is unlike Victor in almost every way, serving as a foil to Victor’s character. First of all, Clerval was more interested in the “moral relations of things” than the craft Victor dealt in (Ch 2 pg 32). Henry is interested in literary pursuits rather than scientific ones, preferring to study the dialects of foreign countries. He was aspirations to become “one among those whose name are recorded in history, as the gallant and adventurous benefactors of our species” (Ch2 pg 32). Caroline­ ​
Caroline is Victor’s mother. She is portrayed by Victor to be a loving parent. She goes against all advice to nurse Elizabeth, who was afflicted with a severe case of scarlet fever, back to health at the cost of her own life. Even on her deathbed, “the fortitude and benignity of this best of women did not desert her” and she “died calmly and her countenance expressed affection even in death” (Ch 3 pg 39). She may have possibly influenced Victor in his pursuit in the secrets of life and death. Walton​
­ In many ways, Walton is very similar to Frankenstein. He possesses an “ardent curiosity” in the North Pole. He greatly desires a worthy companion to accompany with through this journey, some who “would have sense enough not to despise me as a romantic, and affection enough for me to endeavor to regulate my mind” (Prologue Lett 2 pg 10). His great curiosity also leads him to badger Victor as to how he came to the frozen north. One aspect, that separates Victor and Walton is that Walton has some level of restraint. By traveling to the North Pole, he wants to be remembered in history as a hero. At first, he is optimistic and believes he will succeed. However, those hopes were soon dashed as his ship becomes surrounded and stuck in a vast sea of ice. Thus making it impossible to tread further, and after much debate, he is convinced that it would be better to return to England should the chance arise. He also seems to be the most tolerant of all the characters in the book, being able to tolerate the monster’s presence even after witnessing the monster’s grotesqueness and hold a conversation with him. He was even able the sympathize with the monster’s misery and loneliness to an extent. Alphonse­ ​
Alphonse is Victor’s father. He values the importance of family and is constantly wishing for Victor to come back home to Geneva to be with his family. He often consoles Victor in times of loss and suffering, showing great sympathy. When William is killed, Alphonse tells Victor to “enter the house of mourning, my friend, but with kindness and affection for those who love you” (Ch7 pg 78). He also grieves with Victor when Clerval was also taken by the monster. An admirable and benevolent man who suffers greatly from the loss of his family. He despaired when William was murdered and fell into a depression when Elizabeth met the same fate. Unable or unwilling to rouse from his bed, he dies in Victor’s arms a few days after Elizabeth’s death. Justine­ ​
Justine is a servant of the Frankenstein family. Elizabeth describes her as “the most grateful little creature in the world” (Ch6 pg 68). She was accused for the murder of William when a miniature he had was found on her person, planted by the monster. She is shown to be rather superstitious confesses to the crime when a priest “threatened excommunication and hellfire” she she continued to to profess that she was innocent. Her death, and William’s, put a great deal of guilt on Victor. Symbols Light is a symbol used throughout the book. In the letters, Walton believes that he will be able to discover the secrets the cosmos held in a “a country of eternal light”(Prologue Lett 1). When Victor realizes the secrets of nature, he states that he witnessed a “light so brilliant and wondrous” (Ch 4 pg 51). However, both those discoveries or attempts at discoveries ultimately ended in varying degrees of disaster. The monster also experiences this light when he was born and describes it to be too bright and “more and more oppressive” (Ch 11 pg 116). Light, in this book, symbolizes knowledge and understanding or promises of it, but too much of said light may blind an individual and end up being harmful. Motifs A motif in the novel, is the passivity of women. Most of the women in the book are dominated by the men in their lives. They have very little control over their own livelihood and must rely on their male counterpart for pretty much everything. This is shown in both Elizabeth and the female monster. Elizabeth has to wait in Geneva, leading an uneventful life for years, before Victor decides to come back from his scientific pursuits to marry her. This is because Elizabeth is Victor’s “pretty present” and “was to be mine[his] only” (Ch1 pg 29). This is shown again with the female monster. Victor destroys the female monster by tearing it “to pieces, the thing on which I was engaged” before she is even born (Ch 20 pg 200). Even if she were to be born, her autonomy would have been taken away by the monster and would be forced to live in some remote jungle in South America. Alive or not, the female monster was doomed to be in servitude to men. Archetype Throughout the novel, Victor is falls as the ‘mad scientist’ archetype. At the beginning of the monster’s creation, Frankenstein must scavenge for parts and pieces to make up the frame and body. He mentions that he is unafraid of this task, claiming that “a churchyard [is]... merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life, which… had become food for the worm” (46). Victor views the resting place of the dead not as a place of sacredness, but as a place of resource that continues to be wasted. It is important that Victor is seen under this light in order to highlight his obsession with creating life and to dispel his innocence from the incidents the monster causes. Victor is easily categorized as a mad scientist focused on the animation of dead matter, Allusion An allusion to Adam’s creation is made regarding the monster’s birth. Upon meeting Victor on Montanvert, the monster says to him, “I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam” (89). Just how God had given life and breath to Adam, Victor gives the monster the ability to live and exist. This establishes and emphasizes Victor’s responsibility with his power of creation. The allusion to Adam illustrates the importance of avoiding the supposed role of God. Themes A theme present in the beginning of the novel is that the pursuit of knowledge is dangerous. The most obvious instance of this theme is Victor’s creation of the monster. Thirsty for the knowledge of life, he creates the monster, unconcerned with the possible repercussions of his actions. His ardent curiosity ultimately led to the loss of his life and that of his loved ones. Walton’s journey to the North Pole is also the result of a great lust for knowledge. He and his crew faced danger when his ship was encased in ice, halting its movement. Knowing one’s limits is paramount in order to avoid an irreversible error. Victor does not recognize that the power of creating an abnormal human cannot be controlled, and it is this failure that ultimately leads to his demise. Accepting responsibility is a crucial aspect of maturity, and failure to do so has great consequences. Rather than making an effort to control the monster during the moment of its ‘birth’, Victor deserted it in fear and cowardice. Upon the sight of his creation, he immediately flees back to his apartment. Victor’s ignorance not only plague him with great misery, but also his family members. Elizabeth begins to worry greatly when Victor becomes ill every time he encounters the monster. Alphonse is forced to watch as nearly his whole family dies one by one. Responsibility is key in keeping the well­being of others safe, an idea that Victor fails to put into effect. Revenge is a powerful emotion that begins to eliminate all other priorities and thoughts. After facing rejection time and time again, the monster experiences this first­hand. The moment the De Lacy’s show the monster disgust and hatred when it tries to befriend them, the monster becomes bent on exacting revenge upon Victor. It becomes blind to its original dream of receiving acceptance, and its sole purpose becomes ruining Victor’s life. On the other hand, Victor seeks revenge after the monster continuously claims his loved ones. In an act of revenge and fear, he destroys the second monster that he is in process of creating. These acts of revenge disrupt the monster’s quest for affection and Victor’s family ties. It is necessary to prevent revenge from dominating thoughts, otherwise all other thoughts and objectives become clouded. Memorable Quotes ● “Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.” (37) ● “But where were my friend and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing.” (108) ● “What then became of me? I know not; I lost sensation, and chains and darkness were the only objects that pressed upon me.” (174) ● “Let the cursed and hellish monster drink deep of agony; let him feel the despair that now torments me.” (179) Distinctive Characteristics of Work ● Is a frame narrative ● Gothic horror novel ● Main character can be seen as a hero and a villain ● Subtitled ​
The Modern Prometheus​
, alluding to the myth of Greek titan Prometheus