Plot Overview

About the Author

Robert Walton is the captain of a ship heading to the

North Pole. He writes letters to his sister in England,
telling her about his journey. Soon the voyage is
turned sour when the sea is frozen and impossible to
sail through. Along the way, Walton meets Victor
Frankenstein who has been traveling and is
weakened by the cold temperature. Walton brings
him aboard his ship and helps him regain his
strength and in the process, Victor tells him his life
story and about the monster he created. At first,
Victor describes his childhood in a place called
Geneva where he lived with his cousin Elizabeth and
his two parents. His mother sadly dies saving
Elizabeth from Scarlet Fever. Victor then goes to
Ingolstadt university to study philosophy and
chemistry. He collects body parts which he attaches
to his creation. In his apartment, Victor finally
creates his beast and later regrets doing so because
it looked horrifying. He later wakes up to find his
creature looming over him and out of fright runs to
the streets. He returns later to find his monster is
gone and falls ill. Victor plans to return to Geneva to
see his family and regain his health, however before
his departure he is informed that his younger
brother William was murdered. His monster
confronts him and pleads for him to create him a
mate. At first, he protests however after listening to
the monsters argument accepts his offer. He returns
and will marry Elizabeth and finds body parts for the
monsters mate. He begins to create the monster but
then destroys it and the monster swears he will be
with him on his wedding night. Victor dumps the
body in the lake and is later accused of murder and
when imprisoned, falls ill. When he is released he
marries Elizabeth. After they wed, Victor tells
Elizabeth to wait for him somewhere thinking that his
monster will attack him at any moment. He waits for
his monster to arrive when he hears his wife,
scream. He arrives to where she had been waiting
and finds his bride dead now knowing his monster
had meant to murder his bride to get to him. Victor
chases the monster to the pole in revenge and in the
process becomes ill and meets Walton. Walton
writes the story to his sister in his letters. Walton
later meets the monster who tells of his torment of
life and departs to die in the ice.

Mary Shelley was born to William Godwin and Mary

Wollstonecraft Godwin on August 30, 1797. William
was a philosopher and political writer while Mary
was a feminist who wrote The Vindication of thr
Rights of Women. Marys mother died shortly after
her birth , leaving William to care for Shelley and
her half-sister, who was brought into the world by
an affair her mother had with a soldier. When Mary
and Percy Bysshe Shelley fell in love, he was still
married to his first wife. Accompanied by her halfsister Jane, Mary and Percy ran off to England. In
1815 they had a child, however she only lived for a
few days. She married Percy in 1816. In 1818,
Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus debuted
as an anonymous novel, at first many people
thought that Percy had written it. Mary suffered a
tragedy in 1822 when Percy drowned in the Gulf of
Spezia. Later, she wrote several more novels like
Valperga and The Last Man. Mary Shelley died on
February 1, 1851 of brain cancer.

Historical Context
The novel takes place in the eighteenth century of
England and Scotland. In England, the English
Renaissance and Elizabethan era had begun.
Drama, inventing, music and much more things
having to do with creativity and genius flourished in
this time. In Scotland, the Scottish Enlightenment
had begun. Intellectual and scientific developments
occurred during this time. Frankenstein was most
likely written in this time period because it was the
time Mary Shelley lived in. Also she may have
chosen this time period because, Victor
Frankenstein was an alchemist, scientist, and
inventor and this era was a time where that was
highly encouraged.

Novel Notes
Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley
Michael Martinus
September 25-30, 2015

Essential Quotes
I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam, but I
am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from
joy for no misdeed (87).
I am alone and miserable: man will not associate
with me; but one as deformed and horrible as
myself would not deny herself to me. My
companion must be of the same species and have
the same defects. This being you must create
(129).

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Character Analysis

Victor Frankenstein: Victor is a scientist who was

not fully aware of the consequences of creating his
new race. He later regrets creating it and spends
the rest of his like trying to destroy his monster.
Victor must also satisfy his urge to know everything
and use it in discovering the secret of life. His life
passion ultimately destroys him

Frankensteins Monster: The monster is created

by Victor Frankenstein during his stay at Ingolstadt
university. He faces rejection and fear throughout
the whole novel from his creator and any other
human. He acquires human traits like compassion,
love, and longing. He still, however is vengeful
towards Victor for creating him and shunning

Themes

Motifs and Symbols

Dangerous Knowledge:

Motifs:

Victor obtains dangerous knowledge: the secret to

life, and creates a monster and regrets doing so.
His creation eventually results in the loss of
everyone dear to him. This results in a hatred
towards his creation and which drives him to death.

Abortion:

Monstrosity:

When Victor destroys his work on the female

monster, he is aborting his creation, preventing his
female creation from coming to life.

Frankensteins monster is a monstrosity in Victors

eyes and is hideously misshapen because he was
created with stolen body parts and different
chemicals.
The monster is not the only monstrosity in the
novel. The secret to life can be a monstrosity as
well. Victor learned the secret and created his
hideous monster. Out of fear, he resented his
creation which made it angry. It killed all of his loved
ones which made Victor vengeful and swore to kill
the monster, resulting in his death.
Secrecy:
Victor sees science as something to discover the
secrets of and not give any away once discovered.
Once he discovers the secret of life, he plans to tell
no one and creates his monster. When he realizes
that what he did might not have been the best
option, he keeps his secret out of shame and guilt.

Frankensteins Monster sees himself as an abortion

when he learns his creator disapproves of him. He
and his creator wish that he had never been
created.

Symbols:
Light and Fire:
Light symbolizes knowledge and discovery. To
Victor, the world is a place of darkness and secrets,
his goal is to unlock all of the secrets which would
be reaching the light.
Fire represents a form of light however it is also a
warning saying that knowledge and discovery isnt
always good. The monsters first experience with fire
revealed its two sides, it creates light in the dark
and when touched, harms you. Frankenstein is also
referred to as The Modern Prometheus. The Greek
god, Prometheus, gave the gift of fire to humans
and was punished for it afterwards. Victor learned
the secret of life and after creating his monster, was
punished in the form of the murder of his loved
ones. Victors gift to the world was not telling
anyone of the secret.