Frankenstein

Mary Shelley´s Frankenstein. An Overview
Mary Shelley´s
Frankenstein. An
Overview
Index
Introduction................................................................................................................................Pg. 1
The Author..................................................................................................................................Pg. 1
Plot...............................................................................................................................................Pg. 2
Characters...................................................................................................................................Pg. 4
Activity.........................................................................................................................................Pg. 5
Further Information...................................................................................................................Pg. 5
1. Introduction
Frankenstein is one of the most remarkable novels in the English Literature. It was
published in 1818 in London anonymously, although later on it was discovered that Mary Shelley
was the author. The novel became quite popular and reached the homes of a wide range of British
citizens and even spread all over the world.
Frankenstein is a Gothic novel. In short, a Gothic novel is characterized by the aim to stir
and create terror in the reader by means of murders, haunted castles, dead heroines and blood. For
further information on his genre, consult the links at the end of this document.
Innovación Docente . MUFPES 2014-2015

Frankenstein deals with ethical issues such as the need for a companion in life, the
prejudices of society as regards to beauty and appearance and revenge among other issues.
It is written with a precise and compelling vocabulary that immerse the reader into the story.
Therefore, this classic novel should be in your reading list.
2. The Author
Mary Shelley is Frankenstein´s author. She is Mary Wollstonecraft´s daughter. Her mother
was a liberal feminist whose ideas were adopted by her daughter.
Mary Shelley is the wife of another relevant figure in British Literature: Percy Shelly. The
couple had a literate group of friends including Lord Byron and John Polidori. On a journey to
Geneva, Lord Byron encouraged the rest of the group to create an original and terror story.
Surprisingly, it was Mary Shelly with the most outstanding story. She told her friends about a
nightmare that she had the night before when a doctor, Frankenstein, bring a monster to life. The
group was frightened to listen the story and that was the beginning of the novel Frankenstein.
3. Plot
Frankenstein is divided in two parts: Volume I and Volume II.
• Volume I centres on the story of Robert Walton. This character writes several letters to her
sister Margaret Saville in order to inform her of his advances in his enterprise. Walton went
on a journey to the North Pole with the purpose of revealing an unspoilt and unknown part
of the Earth. The weather conditions, however, were quite dreadful and he and his crew got
stuck. It is then when they encountered a stranger in a sledge. Walton offers then man to join
them until he recovers because the man looks like he is about to die.
Some days later, the stranger, Victor Frankenstein, and Robert Walton become friends.
Frankenstein turned out to be the friend that Walton was so long looking for. They shared
they experiences and Frankenstein advised Walton that his life was very traumatic, and that
there were many evils watching him closely as he dies. Nonetheless, Walton encouraged him
to share his story and thus ends Volume I.
• Volume II centres on Frankenstein´s story. Now the narrator is him rather than Walton.
Victor begins by giving an accurate and long description of his background: how his father
met and married his mother, how he was raised, how they welcomed her cousin Elizabeth
into the family, and several other details of his upbringing.

▪ After introducing Walton and readers to his origins and early life,
Frankenstein proceeds to recount the moment in which he brought the monster to life. He
was horrified to discover that he looked like an evil creature and run away. Then, he became
quite ill and his friend Henry visits and nurses him back to health. Frankenstein returns to
Geneva to find out that his little brother William has been killed.
▪ Victor thinks that the monster is to blame for William´s assassination. One
they, taking a stroll, Victor believes to encounter the monster in Geneva and seeks to find
him and confront him. Finally, the get together.
▪ When they met, the monster tells his creator about his own story. It is a
poignant moment in the novel since for the first time the reader accesses the monster´s
mind. Surprisingly, he is not an evil creature. Rather, he is found alone in the world, with no
one to talk to, no one to live with. Therefore, he hides himself in a forest near a small
cottage where an old, blind man lives with his daughter and son. The monster learns to
speak, write and even History, Mathematics and Geography by listening to them every day.
Encouraged by the family´s kindness and love to each other, the monster tried to introduce
himself and become a member of the family. However, when he entered the house, the
family did not let him explain, they just hated and feared him because he was a monster in
appearance. After that incident, the monster wandered trying to find friends and people who
do not judge him by his appearance, but he only found hatred and fear in people´s eyes. That
is why the monster asks Frankenstein to create a female monster to be his companion in life.
▪ Victor at first agrees to bring a female friend to life, but then changes his
mind and decides not to do it. When the monster realizes that his creator will not give him
the companion he asked for, he warns Victor that he will regret it.
▪ Victor marries Elizabeth. However in the honeymoon, the monster kills
Elizabeth. Victor feels more than miserable: his brother, father and wife have died because
of he. At this point, he decides to chase the monster, find him and kill him.
▪ Frankenstein, chasing the monster, encounters Walton´s ship, which it´s the
beginning of the story. Walton takes care of Victor and when he ends with his story he dies.
▪ Finally, the monster appears to say goodbye to his creator and tells his own
story to Walton, who listens attentively to him. Once the monster has described his feelings
and what happened to him, he decides to end with his forlorn life.

4. Characters
Characters Robert Walton Doctor Frankenstein The Monster Elizabeth Henry Clerval
Description Robert Walton is a
down-to-earth man
who is in search of a
companion, a friend
in life with whom to
share his concerns,
his ideas and his life.
Victor Frankenstein
stands as a prototype
of an educated man
who loved reading
science papers and
books by famous
alchemists in order to
be able to bring life to
dead matter.
Even though he is a
monster in
appearance, he it is
not in soul. He´s born
noble and gentle. It is
only as a result of
how he is treated that
has a change of heart
and becomes evil
Elizabeth is a
very cheerful,
responsible lady.
She is
Frankenstein´s
best friend,
cousin and wife.
She always
stood by his
side.
Henry is an
ordinary man.
Friends with
Victor
Frankenstein
since they were
children.
Role in the
Novel
Robert Walton is a
secondary character.
He is the one to open
the story by writing
to his sister.
Walton encourages
Frankenstein to tell
him his whole story
and, until the doctor
´s last days, Walton
remains loyal to him.
Together with the
monster he created,
Doctor Frankenstein is
the protagonist of the
novel.
The novel centers on
the arduous
relationship between
the monster and his
creator. His role is
essential since this
character offers a
new outlook on how
disabled, ugly and
strange people may
feel.
In the novel,
Elizabeth has a
secondary role.
She is the one
that marries
Frankenstein
and that is killed
by the monster.
Henry has a
secondary role.
It has a
relevant
function in the
novel when he
visists
Frankenstein.
Develpment
throughtout
the novel
Robert Walton
remains loyal,
comprehensible and
tactful in his ways
towards not only
Frankenstein but also
the rest of his crew.
At the beginning,
Victor is a very down-
to-earth man, innocent
and hard-working. Yet
as the story goes on
and on, his
experiments with
Science and the
monster´s revenge
makes him a miserable
man. He only seeks to
end with the monster
but he dies on the way.
At the beginning of
his creation, the
monster is a gentle
soul who longs for a
family and friends to
spend his solitary life
with.
Later on, because of
the misfortunes that
accompany his life,
the monster becomes
wicker and wicker.
His purpose in life is
to
In terms of the
development of
Elizabeth, there
is not much to
point out since
there is not a
change in her
character as in
the case of
Frankenstein or
the monster
Throughout the
story, Henry
does not
change.

Activity
Reflect on Frankenstein´s story. Do you still consider him a Monster? Read the following
extract from the novel, in which he recounts moments of his life:
“Be calm! I entreat you to hear me before you give vent
to your hatred on my devoted head. Have I not suffered
enough, that you seek to increase my misery? Life,
although itmay only bean accumulation of anguish, is
dear to me, and I will defend it. Remember, thou hast
made me more powerful than thyself; my height is
superior to thine, my joints more supple. But I will not be
tempted to set myself inoppositionto thee. I am thy
creature, and I will be even mild and docile to my natural
lord and king if thou wilt also perform thy part, the which
thou owest me. Oh, Frankenstein, be not equitable to
every other and trample upon me alone, to whom thy
justice, and even thy clemencyand affection, ismost due.
Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy
Adam, but Iam rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest
from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from
which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent
and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I
shall again be virtuous”. (Frankenstein, Chapter 10)
Further Information
http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/239776/Gothic-novel
http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/novel.htm
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/

Frankenstein

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Frankenstein