Key points

 Frankenstein was written by Mary

Shelley and first published in 1818.
 It is a story about what can happen
when ambition gets too far.
 It also questions the responsibilities of
creators to their creations.
 In Frankenstein, Shelly explores
themes like ambition, revenge and what
it means to be an outcast.

The Plot
Robert Walton is an Arctic explorer whose ship gets trapped in Arctic ice after he
explores further than anyone has ever gone before. He rescues Victor
Frankenstein from the ice. On board Walton’s ship, Victor tells Walton his life story.
Walton listens and writes it down in letters to his sister in England.

Victor explains how, as a child, he became obsessed with science. After the death of
his mother, he tried to invent a way to bring back the dead. He wanted to create life
and his obsession with this ambition isolated him from his family and friends. He put
his ideas into practice and made a creature from dead body parts.

But when his creature did indeed come to life, Victor was repulsed and appalled.
The Monster was eight-foot tall, deformed, powerful and hideously ugly. Victor, in
horror, abandoned him and cast him out into the streets.

The Monster was driven into a forest by the horrified townspeople who attacked or
fled from him at first sight.

Through a slow and painful process, the Monster began to use his senses to see,
hear and touch and then to supply his bodily needs for food, warmth and shelter. It
was only by hiding in a hole and secretly watching the daily life of a family, that he
gradually learnt to speak and read. Here he also learnt about relationships between
families and in particular, about the love and duty of a father to his children.

The monster wanted to join the family, hoping that they would overlook his
deformities and accept him. However, when he tried to reveal himself, the family
drove him away with greater brutality than the townspeople. This feeling of
abandonment compelled him to seek revenge against his creator.

Soon after, Victor’s younger brother, William, was murdered. Although one of the
family servants was found guilty of the murder, Victor tells Walton he thinks the
Monster was responsible because he saw him nearby.

The Monster then tracked Victor down and confronted him. He told Victor the story of
what had happened to him after he was abandoned and explained how angry and
lonely he was. The Monster blamed Victor and asked him to take responsibility for
his actions. He also asked Victor to make him a female companion as deformed as
him. Only one like himself would accept him and end his loneliness. Victor reluctantly
agreed.

Victor explains how he began making the female companion but realised the
consequences of his actions and destroyed her before she was finished. The
Monster saw this and vowed to take revenge. He killed Victor’s best friend Henry
Clerval.

Victor returned home and married his adopted sister Elizabeth. The Monster killed
Elizabeth on their wedding night in revenge for Victor destroying his female
companion. Victor vowed to hunt the Monster down.

Victor says he chased the Monster to the Arctic, which is where he was rescued by
Walton.

After telling Walton his life story, Victor dies of exhaustion on the ship. The Monster
appears and grieves for Victor before heading off into the Arctic to die.

The Characters
This character is murdered by the Monster on their wedding night.
This character writes down Victor’s story in letters to their sister.
This character is hated and feared by everyone who sees them.
This character is ambitious and doesn’t take responsibility for their actions.
This character is Victor Frankenstein’s best friend.
This character is Victor’s brother.

Themes
Themes are the main ideas that appear repeatedly in a story. Some of the
important themes in Frankenstein are:

 ambition
 revenge
 what it means to be an outcast

Explore these themes, giving examples.

 Did you know?
 Mary Shelley was only 21 years old when Frankenstein was first published in
1818.
 Young women were not expected to have careers at this time, so she published
the book anonymously, hoping that people would take it more seriously.

 In 1831, when it had become a success, it was re-published under her real name.