Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

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Frankensteinby Mary Shelley

• Monteith
• English IV

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Mary Shelley

• Mary is born in Somers Town, Great Britain, in
  1797 to well-known parents author and feminist
  Mary Wollstonecraft and philosopher William
  Godwin. Unfortunately, Wollstonecraft dies as the
  result of Mary's birth. Mary is therefore raised
  by her father and a much resented stepmother.
• When Mary is sixteen she meets the young poet
  Percy Bysshe Shelley, a devotee of her father's
  teachings. Together with Mary's stepsister, they
  run off to continental Europe several times, not
  hindered by the fact that Shelley was already
  married.
• In 1816, they go abroad again, this time spending
  time with Byron and his friend Polidori in
  Geneva. There Byron suggests that they should all
  write a ghost story. Mary writes Frankenstein,
  the only story of the four that was ever to be
  published as a novel. Later that same year,
  Percy's wife drowns herself Percy and Mary marry
  in December 1816.
• The last years of married life are filled with
  disaster for Mary. Her half sister dies as do two
  of her children. Mary becomes depressed, a
  tendency she probably inherited from her mother.
  She is only partly relieved by the birth of
  Percy, their only surviving child.
• Mary and Percy eventually move to Italy where
  Percy drowns during a sailing trip in 1822. Mary
  is determined to keep the memory of her late
  husband alive. She publishes several editions of
  Percy's writings and adds notes and prefaces to
  them.

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Frankie Terms

• Gothic Novel characterized by a gloomy setting
  and an atmosphere or terror and mystery.
• Framework Story Story within a story
• Outside frame is told by Robert Walton p. 1-16
• Main Story begins with chp. 1- Victor
  Frankenstein
• Creatures Story chp. 11-16
• Victor narrates chp. 17-23
• Outside frame returns to captains letters chp.
  24
• Atmosphere the overall mood

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Frankenstein or the Modern
Prometheus?

• The subtitle The Modern Prometheus refers to the
  figure in Greek mythology who was responsible for
  a conflict between mankind and the gods. In order
  to help the people, Prometheus stole Zeus's fire
  from the sun. The people were thereby given an
  advantage to the animals since fire gave man the
  ability to make weapons and tools. Prometheus was
  severely punished by Zeus who chained him to a
  rock in the Caucasus. Every night, Prometheus was
  visited by an eagle who ate from his liver.
  During the day, however, his liver grew back to
  its original state.
• It also refers to the story of Prometheus
  plasticator who was to said to have created and
  animated mankind out of clay.

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Modern Prometheus

• Victor Frankenstein can indeed be seen as the
  modern Prometheus. He defies the gods by creating
  life himself. Instead of being the created,
  Victor takes God's place and becomes the creator.
  Just as Prometheus, Victor gets punished for his
  deeds. He is, however, punished by his creation
  whereas Prometheus was punished by the god who he
  stole from.

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Characters

• Victor Frankenstein  -  The doomed protagonist
  and narrator of the main portion of the story.
  Studying in Ingolstadt, Victor discovers the
  secret of life and creates an intelligent but
  grotesque monster, from whom he recoils in
  horror. Victor 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.
• The monster -  The eight-foot-tall, hideously
  ugly creation of Victor Frankenstein. Intelligent
  and sensitive, the monster attempts to integrate
  himself into human social patterns, but all who
  see him shun him. His feeling of abandonment
  compels him to seek revenge against his creator.

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More Characters

• Robert Walton  - 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
  Victors story. He records the incredible tale in
  a series of letters addressed to his sister,
  Margaret Saville, in England.
• Alphonse Frankenstein -  Victors 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 Victors cousin, the child of
  Alphonse Frankensteins sister. In the 1831
  edition, Victors mother rescues Elizabeth from a
  destitute peasant cottage in Italy. Elizabeth
  embodies the novels motif of passive women, as
  she waits patiently for Victors attention.

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More Characters

• Henry Clerval  - Victors boyhood friend, who
  nurses Victor back to health in Ingolstadt. After
  working unhappily for his father, Henry begins to
  follow in Victors footsteps as a scientist. His
  cheerfulness counters Victors moroseness.
• William Frankenstein -  Victors 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. Williams death deeply saddens Victor and
  burdens him with tremendous guilt about having
  created the monster.
• Justine Moritz -  A young girl adopted into the
  Frankenstein household while Victor is growing
  up. Justine is blamed and executed for Williams
  murder, which is actually committed by the
  monster.

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Small Characters

• Caroline Beaufort  -  The daughter of Beaufort.
  After her fathers 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 -  A merchant and friend of Victors
  father the father of -Caroline Beaufort.
• Peasants -  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 -  The professor of chemistry who
  sparks Victors interest in science. He dismisses
  the alchemists conclusions as unfounded but
  sympathizes with Victors interest in a science
  that can explain the big questions, such as the
  origin of life.