| Who wrote Frankenstein? | Mary Shelley |
| Why did victor make the monster? | Frankenstein made the monster for no main good purpose, victor claims to be making the monster in order to improve mankind and for the betterment of mankind, but it is possibly that he did it out of vanity in order to become god-like or much like a deity. Alongside this he had always been interested in science, he possibly became obsessed with the power of knowledge, linking with the peoples therefore he would’ve wanted to become like them, know for their knowledge, and knowledge is power. |
| Why did Mary Shelley decide to write Frankenstein? | Mary Shelley decided to write Frankenstein in order to address the things in which her and her family were going through, her family influenced her, she enjoyed writing Gothic literature for fun. |
| What does the monster symbolise to victor? | The monster symbolises a microcosm of all victors bad qualities, professors and words coming to one thing, when he sees the monster later on, showing neglect and lack of parental figure to victor. |
| How does Victor feel after making The Monster? | Victor feels upset about the monster, as he is mortified as he was very scared because of the ugliness of the monsters nature, ashamed of his creation, fearful he wanted to run away from his creation, alongside this he was very scared and deeply regretful for creating the monster. |
| Letters 1-4 summaries | Walton writes to his sister, Margaret about the voyage to the North Pole he is undertakingHe wants to explore where no man has gone beforeHe laments over his loneliness and longing for a friendTo acquires crew members which help him on his expeditionWalton and his crew find Frankenstein on their journey and begin to listen to his story |
| Chapter 1- 10 (Victor Frankenstein’s Narration) | Frankenstein tells Walton about his childhood/ familyHis mother dies from scarlet fever We learn about his thirst for knowledge and his dissatisfaction with university/ teachersHe leaves Geneva at the age of 17 to go to University in IngolstadtHe makes The Monster then instantly regrets itVictor falls ill and Clerval nurses him back to healthThe Monster murders William and Justine is sentenced to deathFrankenstein escapes in nature and seeks solace Victor and The Monster meet |
| Chapter 11- 17 (The Monster’s Narration) | The Monster tells his story about how he learnt through nature; sights, sounds, people etc…He tells about his experiences with the De Lacey family and how they helped him to experience new emotions; they taught him without realisingHe learns about the evils of mankind (war, money, revenge- The Turk/ Safie)We learn of the parallels between Victor and The MonsterThe Monster finds ‘Paradise Lose’ and other books to learn fromHe strangles William and places the picture of his mother, Caroline, on Justine (who is sleeping in a nearby barn)The Monster asks Frankenstein to make him a companionVictor seeks The Alps for comfort as he is unsure of what to do and needs time alone |
| Chapter 18- 23 (Victor Frankenstein’s Narration) | Alphonse writes, asking Frankenstein to marry Elizabeth but he wants to get rid of The Monster firstIn Scotland, Victor sets to make a new monster and then destroys it, The Monster sees thisHe sets sail and dumps the parts in the ocean. He falls asleep and is pushed out into the Atlantic. He waked up in a small town, accused of murderMr Kirwin (magistrate) tests Frankenstein’s innocence by showing him the body of the victim; it is Henry Clerval with the black hands of The Monster around his neckFrankenstein falls ill again and is declared innocent of murderWorried The Monster will be with him on his wedding night, he marries Elizabeth and they go on honeymoonThe Monster kills ELizabeth and then Alphonse Frankenstein dies (probably from heartache/ illness)Victor declares he will devote his life to finding and killing The Monster Shelley shows that The Monster haunts Frankenstein from every angle ; Victor is almost claustrophobic; he cannot escape the truth of past events. |
| Chapter 24 and Walton in Continuation | With his whole family destroyed, Victor leaves Geneva because it’s too painfulHe tries to track The Monster down and comes across Robert WaltonOne morning, Walton’s crewmen enter his cabin and beg him to promise that they will return to England if they break out of the ice in which they have been trapped ever since the night they first saw the monster’s sledge.Just before the ship is set back to sail to England, Victor diesWalton finds The Monster weeping over Victor’s dead body and he admits his wrongs/ feels guilty for his evil natureThe Monster takes up the narrative again, before leaving to go to the North to die |
| Victor Frankenstein character summary | The creator of the monster, Victor spends most of the novel trying to defeat the monster. Victor is the oldest son of Alphonse and Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein.Victor’s childhood is a good one. His doting parents lavish him with attention |
| The monster | Shelley described Frankenstein’s monster as an 8-foot-tall (2.4 m), hideously ugly creation, with translucent yellowish skin pulled so taut over the body that it “barely disguised the workings of the arteries and muscles underneath”; watery, glowing eyes, flowing black hair, black lips, and prominent white teeth. |
| Henry Clerval | 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. |
| Alphonse Frankenstein | Victor’s father, very sympathetic toward his son. Alphonse consoles Victor in moments of pain and encourages him to remember the importance of family. |
| Elizabeth Lavenza | 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. |
| Justine Moritz | A young girl adopted into the Frankenstein household while Victor is growing up. Justine is blamed and executed for William’s murder, which is actually committed by the monster. |
| Caroline Beaufort | The daughter of Beaufort. After her father’s death, Caroline 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. (Beaufort is a turkish merchant, and caroline’s father.) |
| The De Lacey Family | A family of peasants, 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. |
| M Waldman/ M Krempe | The Arctic seafarer whose letters open and close Frankenstein. Walton 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.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. |
| Elixir of Life (medicinal/ magical): | The theme of Elixir of life is present throughout the novel, especially since victor makes a massive breakthrough between life and death, which currently seems like magic- “The innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me.” (1.6) |
| Loneliness | The theme of loneliness is current throughout the whole novel, through various perspectives, firstly it is paramount that victor is lonely, especially when creating the monster as he isolates himself from everyone, over than Henry Clerval when he falls ill. Alongside this The monster secondly is the best example of someone who is lonely, mainly because he constantly tried to take vengeance against victor for abandoned him, and because of the way he looks he is ignored by society. “And what was I? Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man.” |
| Power of Knowledge | The power of knowledge is extremely important throughout also, mainly because victor uses his influences to create the monster, this is clear power of knowledge, then there is a theme of knowledge as the monster learns, alongside this arguably there is a denial of knowledge, especially when justine get condemned and victor thinks it could’ve been the monster. |
| Secrecy | The theme of secrecy is paramount throughout, in several ways, when victor creates the first monster and secondly when he travels to england to create the second one, “he world was to me a secret which I desired to divine” |
| Paternal Figure/parental role | There is obviously the theme of parental/paternal figures between alphonse and victor, but also the monsters hate against victor is purely fueled by the lack of paternal love victor has towards the monster. “Cursed, Cursed creator!” |
| Evolution | The idea of evolution can be looked at in various ways, one being the evolution of victor frankenstein’s thoughts, as the start the world was a “secret that i desired to divine” but once he made a breakthrough he was desperate to get away from his creation. Secondly |The evolution of the monster in general, the way he teaches himself to read and communicate and the way he learns to travel and how people view him “If I cannot inspire love I will cause fear!” |
| Radical science | Obviously the novel is all about radical science “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; ” The book is all about victors discovery of the monster. |
| Social exclusion | Frankenstein is the issue of social acceptance and belongingness. In the novel, Frankenstein’s creature is created and immediately after, left alone to fend for himself. He alone learns how to control and understand his senses, impact his environment, and skills such as reading. It is also around this time that the creature begins to observe human behavior and social structure, made possible by a tiny hole in the wall of the De Lacey house that allowed the creature to watch the family engage in their daily routines. During the time the creature spent watching the De Lacey family, he learns from them and also analyzes his own situation in life: “Fatherless and motherless, the monster struggles to find his place in human society, struggles with the most fundamental questions of identity and personal history. The creature does not belong to any group and has no family. It is later through the realization that the creature will never be accepted among humans that prompts him to demand a female counterpart from Victor. Throughout the novel, the creature continues to lash out against Victor and human society because he is not accepted by humanity and has no other means of satisfying his belongingness needs that he so desires “satan has his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but i am solitary and abhorred |
| Ambition/passion | Passion plays a large role in this story. Almost every major character had an obsession that he or she allowed to drive their existence. Caroline Frankenstein thrived from visiting those less fortunate than herself. Henry Clerval obsessed with things of the romantic realm such as the arts and literature. Elizabeth had a zeal for life itself. What drove the title character, Victor Frankenstein, was a desire and craving for knowledge of the unknown. The creature’s one driving desire was to be loved and accepted. The story of Frankenstein revolves around the thirst to have more, the need to fill the void within oneself. “Elizabeth was of a calmer and more concentrated disposition; but with all my ardour, I was capable of a more intense application, and was more deeply smitten with the thirst for knowledge.” |
| Neglect/abandonment | “Teeth of pearly whiteness” he themes of neglect and abandonment is paramount throughout frankenstein, mainly as at the start victor abandons the monster, which creates the initial feud between the two. “had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” |
| Fear | “Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep” Frankenstein was scared of the monsters, alongside the De laceys. |
Frankenstein quizlet
February 19, 2020