1. “Walton’s narrative distracts from the
central narrative; it is simply a page filler.”
How does Shelley use the role of Walton in
‘Frankenstein’.
2. Literary context/Women:
Look at/Find a few quotes for: Travels
in West Africa by Mary Kingsley
• 75 years after Frankenstein – what has
changed?
• Does Shelley’s criticism of being too ambitious
derive from a perception of gender inequality?
Or is Walton simply a typical explorer of her
era? (way of maintaining realism?)
What is a frame narrative? Why might Shelley
choose to use it in terms of controlling the
reader’s response?
3. Theme:
Walton: Challenging God (and order)
• Find quotations that challenge man’s place in
the world (and relationship to God)
The Homer/Shakespeare quote from letter 1
would be a good starting place…
Hint: p13,p14,p18,p23 (but different
publications…)
4. Theme:
Walton: Challenging God (and order)
God rewards those who are ambitious, creative,
and, therefore, powerful.
W hopes to secure position in heaven by ,making
a valuable and memorable contribution to
society – become powerful in this way.
Reflects the obsessive pursuit of knowledge and
achievement in the Enlightenment era (18th C -
1685-1815)
5. Literary Context:
In what way do Walton’s references to
‘imagination’ and ‘The Ancient
Mariner’ allude to Romanticism?
6. Literary Context:
In what way do Walton’s references to
‘imagination’ and ‘The Ancient
Mariner’ allude to Romanticism?
individual imagination = more
powerful than empirical (evidence
based) understanding
8. Women:
What does the character of Margaret,
Walton’s sister, represent?
• The reader?
• Woman – home/passive/mute
9. Form:
Shelley uses an epistolary form when
writing as Captain Walton. Why is this
effective?
• Outsider’s perspective in F
• Narrative suspense = unreliable narration
(omitting certain details found out later)
10. Find 5 (from the list below)
• Metaphor
• Allusion – brief direct reference to a person, place, idea without saying it
directly (a passing comment) eg. “Chocolate was her Achilles’ heel.” This
means that her weakness was her love of chocolate. Achilles is a character in
Greek mythology who was invincible. His mother dipped him in magical
water when he was a baby, and she held him by the heel. The magic
protected him all over, except for his heel.
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Rhetorical Question
• Anaphora - deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to
achieve an artistic effect
• Religious Language
• Antithesis (opposite) “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
• Personification
11. “Walton’s narrative distracts from the
central narrative; it is simply a page filler.”
How does Shelley use the role of Walton in
‘Frankenstein’.
