FRANKENSTEIN Flashcards
What are the main characters in Frankenstein (5 listed)
- Victor Frankenstein
- The creature/monster
- Robert Walton (North Pole explorer)
- Elizabeth Lavenza (adopted wife)
- Henry Clerval (victors best friend)
What are the minor/supporting characters in Frankenstein (there is 14 of them listed)
- De Lacy (old man in cabin)
- Alphonse Frankenstein (victors dad)
- Justine Moritz (adopted by frankensteins- blamed and killed for Williams F. Death)
- William Frankenstein (youngest Frankenstein brother - monster strangled him in forest near Geneva)
- Ernest Frankenstein (Frankenstein other younger brother - last Frankenstein family survivor at novel end)
- Caroline Beaufort (Beauforts daughter - victors mom…idealized womanhood)
- Beaufort (Caroline’s dad - Alphonse’s close friend…merchant that fell into poverty. Dead)
- Felix (cabin boy don of De lacy - fell in love with Safie)
- Agatha (de Lacy’s daughter - ideal womanliness)
- Safie (young Turkish “Arabian” - Felix’s lover - Muslim love Christian)
- Margaret Saville (Robert Walton’s sister - letter recipient)
- W. Waldman (victors supportive chem. Professor and mentor… natural philosophy/alchem)
- M. Krempe (a hater and natural philosophy professor… conceited)
What are the main themes in Frankenstein
- Family, Society ISOLATION
- AMBITION and fallibility
- Prejudice
- Lost INNOCENCE (+knowledge)
- Revenge
- Romanticism and nature
What are the symbols used in Frankenstein
- Light
- Fire
- The TREE (+ being struck by lightning / detroyed)
Authors name + date published
Mary Shelly , 1818
What is Victors LITERAL CONFLICT
His isolation and THE CREATURE
What is Victors LITERARY CONFLICTS
- Man vs. Self (internal conflict -> isolation)
- Man vs. Creation (innocence, responsibility)
- Man vs. Society (ex. Creature, victors guilt)
- Man vs Nature (“to learn the secrets of life”….to become GOD)
Victors BEFORE (his conflict)
- Background:
Born in Geneva to a loving family; parents Alphonse and Caroline adore him. - Personality:
Curious, ambitious, and passionate about knowledge. - Education:
Fascinated by natural philosophy and alchemy from an early age. Reads outdated texts like Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus. - Turning Point:
Witnesses the power of electricity in a storm, which sparks his interest in scientific potential. - Key Traits:
Idealistic and driven by a desire to uncover the secrets of life and nature.
Victors DURING conflict (how he dealt w it)
- The Conflict:
His creation of the Creature leads to unintended consequences, beginning with horror and rejection of his own work. - Immediate Reaction:
Flees from the Creature in fear and disgust, abandoning his responsibility. - Emotional Struggles:
Suffers from guilt, paranoia, and self-loathing. His mental and physical health deteriorates as a result. - Avoidance:
Tries to suppress the reality of his actions by focusing on family and friends but is haunted by the Creature’s actions. - Responses to Tragedy:
Reacts to the deaths of William and Justine with grief and guilt but still avoids accountability. - Obsession with Revenge:
After the Creature demands a companion and later kills Clerval and Elizabeth, Victor becomes consumed with vengeance. - Key Traits:
Irresponsibility, hubris, and eventual obsession dominate his handling of the situation.
Victors AFTER conflict (fail or success?)
- FAILIURE ((to resolve his conflict with the Creature.))
- Emotional State:
Completely consumed by grief and despair after the deaths of his loved ones (Elizabeth, William, Justine, and Alphonse). - Obsession Continues:
Pursues the Creature across Europe and into the Arctic, driven by revenge but weakened by his physical and mental collapse. - Moral Reflection:
On his deathbed, reflects on the consequences of his ambition and the destruction caused by his unchecked pursuit of knowledge. - Key Realization:
Acknowledges his responsibility but remains conflicted about whether his quest for knowledge (ambition) was justified. - Death:
Dies aboard Walton’s ship, broken and unfulfilled, leaving his revenge incomplete. - Legacy:
Serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of hubris (excessive pride), unchecked ambition, and failing to take responsibility for one’s actions.
Why is the alternate title “the modern Prometheus”? (whats it symbolism)
- Prometheus is the god of forethought, fire, and crafty counsel. He was best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, knowledge and, more generally, civilization.
((Prometheus tortured by the eagle. - Paralells Victors ambition and defying laws of nature/science and God to create life (the creature) KNOWLEDGE & INNOCENCE
- (bonus) “Paradise lost” by John Milton
Hubris definition?
Excessive pride or self-confidence
KEY QUOTE ON AMBITION (victor)
“Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow.”
- Context:
Victor warns Walton about the dangers of unchecked ambition and knowledge. - Symbolism:
This quote encapsulates the central moral of the novel: the dangers of transgressing natural limits in the pursuit of knowledge. Victor embodies the hubris of overreaching ambition and the destructive consequences it can have on oneself and others.
Possible key context/examples to use for text (by theme)
BEFORE: Frankenstein wished to “pioneer a new way”… he was ambitious and innocent wishing to attain knowledge
DURING:
This card isn’t that useful nvm
KEY QUOTE on HATRED FOR CREATION/RESPONISBILITY victor
”for this I have deprived myself of rest and health……but now I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart”
