Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Born: August 30, 1797 Died: February 1, 1851 from a brain tumor Nationality: British; English Types of writing: Historical and gothic romance

Frankenstein
Summary Statement Using his brilliant and dark mind, Victor Frankenstein creates a monster by putting together various body parts; the monster then goes on to kill Victors beloved family, filling Victor with hatred and pain; in hopes of getting rid of the beast, he agrees to build a female companion for the monster, and later discontinues the plan, causing Victor to experience an extreme amount of hatred and revenge towards the monster.

Character Analysis

Dr. Victor Frankenstein:

Smart (I revolved these circumstances in my mind and determined thenceforth to apply myself more particularly to those branches of natural philosophy. P. 62),

Curious (I had peculiarly attracted my attention to the structure of the human frameI often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed? p. 62),
Elizabeth Lavenza: Nice ("Everyone loved Elizabeth. The passionate and almost reverential attachment with which all regarded her became, while I shared it, my pride and my delight. P. 21) Beautiful
companion of all my occupations and my pleasures. P. 56

(Elizabeth Lavenza

became the inmate of my parents house--my more than sister--the beautiful and adored

The Monster: Ugly (I entered, but I hardly placed my foot within the
door before the children shrieked, and one of the women fainted p. 129)

Smart (I discovered the names that were given to some of the most familiar objects of discourse, I learned the words applied to fire, milk, and bread. p. 136)
Strong (I suddenly beheld the figure of a man, at some distance, advancing towards me with super-human speed. He bounded over the crevices in the ice. P.120)

Historical Connection One historical connection in Frankenstein is the AED, using electrical shocks to bring someone back to life. That I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. (Frankenstein, 1818 p.43). The AED could have been invented because of this. Another connection is doing body parts. I collected bones from charnel-houses and disturbed, prophane fingers. (Frankenstein, 1818 p.42). People donning body parts also could have been developed from this, recycling of the body.

Favorite Passage (I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs.p. 43 ) I like this passage because I found it very cool and interesting how he created it and brought it to life.