Discuss the novel’s shifts in narrative perspective. What is the effect of presenting different characters’ viewpoints, especially those of Victor and the monster? Narrative in Frankenstein shifts from Robert Walton to Victor Frankenstein to the monster and finally back to Walton. With each shift of perspective, the reader gains new information about both the facts of the story and the personalities of the respective narrators.
Each narrator adds pieces of information that only he knows: Walton explains the circumstances of Victor’s last days; Victor explains his creation of the monster; the monster explains his turn to evil. The differences in perspective between the narrators are sometimes stark, especially since Victor and the monster stand in opposition to each other for much of the novel.
From Victor’s point of view, the monster is nothing but a hideous and evil creature; from the monster’s account, on the other hand, it becomes clear that he is a thinking, feeling, emotional being. The recounting of the murder of William Frankenstein is a prime example of the impact of perspective: while Victor’s description, colored by the emotional letter from his father, focuses on the absolute evil of the act, the monster’s version of events centers on the emotional circumstances surrounding it. Even if one cannot sympathize with the monster, one can at least understand his actions. This kind of dual narration is one of the more interesting consequences of the complicated narrative structure that Shelley implements.
Trace and discuss the role of letters and written communication throughout the novel. The entirety of Frankenstein is contained within Robert Walton’s letters, which record the narratives of both Frankenstein and the monster, to his sister (even Shelley’s preface to the book can be read as an introductory letter). Walton’s epistolary efforts frame Victor’s narrative, which includes letters from Alphonse and Elizabeth. Like Walton’s, these letters convey important information that serves to advance the plot and offer some sense of authenticity to an implausible story. Additionally, Victor’s inclusion of these personal letters in his narrative allows Alphonse and Elizabeth to express themselves, shedding light on their respective concerns and attitudes, and thus rendering them more human. Shelley’s use of letters enables the shift of narrative from one character to another while remaining within the bounds of the standard novel. Letters also serve as a means of social interaction, as characters are frequently out of immediate contact with one another.
Walton never encounters his sister in the novel; his relationship with her is based wholly on correspondence. Likewise, Victor often isolates himself from his loved ones; the letters from Alphonse and Elizabeth mark attempts to connect with him. Even the monster uses written communication to develop a relationship with Victor when, at the end of the novel, he leads him ever northward by means of notes on the trees and rocks he passes. Discuss the presentation of women in the novel. Do Victor and the monster differ in their view of women, and if so, how? Women in Frankenstein are generally pure, innocent, and passive.
Though there are a few exceptions, such as Caroline Beaufort, who works to support her impoverished father, women are generally seen as kind but powerless. For example, Elizabeth stands up for Justine’s innocence but cannot prevent her execution. For both Victor and the monster, woman is the ultimate companion, providing comfort and acceptance. For Victor, Elizabeth proves the sole joy that can alleviate his guilty conscience; similarly, the monster seeks a female of his kind to commiserate with his awful existence. Each eventually destroys the other’s love interest, transferring woman’s status from object of desire to object of revenge; women thus are never given the opportunity to act on their own.
In the context of passive female characters, it is interesting to note that Mary Shelley’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was the author of the strongly feminist A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. One can argue that Frankenstein represents a rejection of the male attempt to usurp (by unnatural means) what is properly a female endeavor—birth. One can also interpret the novel as a broader rejection of the aggressive, rational, and male-dominated science of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Though it was long met with mistrust, this science increasingly shaped European society. In this light, Frankenstein can be seen as prioritizing traditional female domesticity with its emphasis on family and interpersonal relationships.
. Frankenstein Study Guide.
FRANKENSTEIN Study Guide Letters 1-4 1. Who is writing Letter 1 (and all the letters)?
To whom is he writing? What is their relationship? Where is Robert Walton when he writes Letter 1? Why is he there?
What are his plans? What does Robert Walton tell us about himself? Where is Walton now? What do you think of Walton's question 'What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man'? How much time has elapsed between Letter 3 and Letter 4? What 'strange accident' has happened to the sailors?
Why does the man picked up by the ship say he is there? What shape is he in? What sort of person does he seem to be? How does Walton respond to this man?
How much time has elapsed when Walton begins writing again? What has happened in the meantime? How does the man respond to Walton's project? How is Walton responding to the man? How much time has elapsed when Walton begins writing again? What has happened in the meantime? How does the man respond to Walton's project? L180 new holland repair manual.
Why does the man agree to tell his story? What is the man's background? (Do we know his name yet?) Where is he from?
What is the story of the man's mother, Caroline Beaufort? How does the man feel toward his parents, and what responsibilities does he feel they had toward him?
Who is Elizabeth Lavenza and what is her story? What gift does the man's mother give him? Do we know the man's name yet? Do we know his family name?
Who is Henry Clerval and what is his relation to Victor? How does Victor characterize the interests and characters of Clerval, Elizabeth, and himself? Who is Cornelius Agrippa and how does Victor find out about him?
How does Victor's father respond, and how does Victor comment on that response? What sort of science ('Natural Philosophy') is Victor learning from Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus?
How would a modern scientist respond to this sort of thinking? What happens when Victor sees an oak tree destroyed by lightning and hears an explanation? What does Victor then begin to study? Who or what does he credit for this change in direction? Who or what does he blame for his 'utter and terrible destruction'?
What happens to Elizabeth and to Victor's mother as a result of Elizabeth's scarlet fever? How does this compare with the mother's early history? Why does Victor's father send him to the university of Ingolstadt? How old is Victor then? (Ingolstadt is in southern Germany, in Bavaria, on the Danube, 43 miles north of Munich.
The university founded there in 1472 moved to Landshut in 1802 and to Munich in 1826.) 22. What does Victor learn from M. How does Victor respond to him, and on what grounds?
Is this a good basis for making such a decision? What does Victor learn from M. How does Victor respond to him? How does Victor think of his older science as opposed to modern science?
Waldman say in describing modern chemistry that changes Victor's mind? What does Victor say he will now do? How well does Victor progress during the next two years? What does he then become interested in, and what ultimately does he discover?
Frankenstein Study Questions
Will he share that knowledge with Walton? (Note the 'present' of the telling breaking through the narration here.) 26. How does he go about creating a human being, and what does he expect as a result of this creation? How long does the task take? What happens to Victor in the process?
Do you recognize the opening words of this chapter? Remember that Shelley gave them as the starting point of her story? Given all the mad doctor and monster movies we've seen, including perhaps versions of Frankenstein, what is unexpected about the description of the actual creation of life here? How much do we learn of the actual procedure?
How does Victor respond to the actual creation of life? What surprises him about the way the creature he has brought to life looks? What does that do to Victor's response? What does Victor dream? How does the dream grow out of, comment on, even explain what Victor has done and been through?
What does the creature do? How does Victor respond? Whom does Victor meet arriving in a coach the next morning? How does Victor respond? What does Victor discover when they go to Victor's apartment? How does Victor respond? What happens to him, and for how long?
Is there any more news of the creature? What is waiting for Victor when he finally recovers? Who has nursed him during his illness? Who is Justine Moritz and what is her story? What comments does Elizabeth make about her position in Swiss society? What religion is Justine?
Who is William and how old is he? Have we heard of him before?
What does Victor do after his recovery? What is Clerval's 'plan of life'? When does Victor finally plan to return home? What do he and Clerval do while waiting for his father's directions?
What is waiting for Victor when he returns to his apartment? What news does his father have for him? And what is his father's name? How does Victor respond? How long has Victor been away from home? What happens the night he returns to Geneva?
How does he respond? Whom does Victor see that night? When was the last time they saw each other?
How long ago was that? What does Victor now believe happened to William?
What does Victor assume about the nature of the creature? Who has been identified as the murderer, and on what evidence? How does Victor respond to this news? Why doesn't he say anything about the real murderer? What happens at Justine's trial? How does Victor respond?
The next day, why does Justine say she has confessed to the murder of William? How does Victor respond to Justine's situation and to Elizabeth's.