Walton's narrative frames the central narrative and introduces Frankenstein. Through Walton's letters, Shelley examines the ambitions of 19th century scientists and expresses skepticism about the motivations driving scientific progress. Walton serves as a parallel to Victor Frankenstein and his creation of the monster.

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’.
- Intro: Yes or no? why/why not?
Eg. Walton’s narrative frame the central narrative? Walton is lie the wedding guest
in ‘Ancient mariner’… he hears Frankenstein’s story… will he learn from it? He
foreshadows the themes that the central narrative are concerned with. Introduces
Frankenstein. Intro idea of isolated and unreliable narrator. Walton’s letters parallel
Victor’s creation of the monster.
- Start with a topic sentence about Shelley's intentions, with only high level overview
of the contextual stuff e.g. Walton's letters reveal Shelley’s …
Eg. Walton’s letters reveal Shelley's admiration of the ambitions of scientists in the
nineteenth century, and her scepticism regarding the darker forces that motivated
scientific progress.
- Detailed context (e.g. Galvani, Romanticism) Responding to… ( the notion
that…/the popular belief that…/ Galvani's discovery that…)
- How this plays out in the novel, with short quotations
- Closer analysis of how the writing comments on the contextual stuff (e.g.
soaring hyperbole shows she clearly admires Walton and those pushing the
boundaries of knowledge; semantic field of evil shows that she's aware of its
his less laudable side)