Frankenstein Chapters 11-16

Question 1

How do the villagers, who are the first humans the monster encounters, respond to him?

Answer 1

The shepherd ‘shrieked loudly’ and ran away, ‘one of the women fainted’ and ‘some attacked [him]…with many kinds of missile weapons’ (page 82)

Question 2

‘making a wretched appearance after the ____________ I had beheld in the village’ (page 82)

Answer 2

palaces

Question 3

What are some of the quotations that present the monster’s hovel in an animalistic way?

Answer 3

‘kennel’/’exposed by a pig sty’/’carpeted with clean straw’ (page 83)

Question 4

What is the significance of the monster describing the hovel as ‘my kennel’? (page 83)

Answer 4

It shows how he is reduced to the status of an animal and denied basic human dignity.

Question 5

How does the monster describe the hovel, an ‘agreeable ____________’

Answer 5

asylum

Question 6

What is significant about the monster describing the hovel as an ‘agreeable asylum’ (page 82) and even ‘paradise’? (page 83)

Answer 6

It shows how desperate he has become, in that he sees this cramped and dirty place as a desirable environment due to the abuse he has faced from humans.

Question 7

What does tabula rasa mean?

Answer 7

blank slate

Question 8

Who created the idea of tabula rasa?

Answer 8

The philosopher, John Locke.

Question 9

What is the theory of tabula rasa?

Answer 9

That all human beings are born as a ‘blank slate’ - we are al a product of the way we are treated by our environment and society as a whole.

Question 10

Which character might most obviously be seen as embodying the theory of tabula rasa?

Answer 10

The monster. He says to Victor ‘I was benevolent and good, misery made me a fiend’ (page 78). We see some evidence of this in the way he is attacked by the villagers, the Delaceys and even by the person he saves from drowning.

Question 11

To whom is the monster referring here: ‘what chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people and I longed to join them’ (page 85)?

Answer 11

The DeLacey family

Question 12

Who does the monster describe as ‘gentle beings’? (page 86)

Answer 12

The DeLaceys

Question 13

‘________________ creatures’ (page 86)

Answer 13

lovely

Question 14

‘______________cottagers’ (page 87)

Answer 14

amiable

Question 15

What are some of the quotations that describe the DeLacey family as benevolent and good?

Answer 15

lovely creatures (page 86) gentle beings (page 86) amiable cottagers (page 86)

Question 16

‘the _____________ appearance of nature’ (page 89)

Answer 16

enchanting

Question 17

What is the monster describing when he refers to ‘the enchanting appearance of nature’ (page 89)

Answer 17

The lush, fertile area around the DeLacey’s cottage

Question 18

‘_______________/________________ earth!’ (page 89)

Answer 18

happy

Question 19

What is the symbolic importance of the monster describing the area around the DeLacey’s cottage as having ‘the enchanting appearance of nature’ (page 89)

Answer 19

We might suggest that this magical, fertile area represents the Garden of Eden, which is mirrored in the way that the monster reads Paradise Lost and says to Victor, ‘I ought to be thy Adam’.

Question 20

‘this, I thought, was the moment of decision that was to rob me of, or bestow _____________ on me forever’ (page 104)

Answer 20

happiness

Question 21

What is the monster referring to here: ‘this, I thought, was the moment of decision that was to rob me of, or bestow happiness on me forever’ (page 104)?

Answer 21

The moment that he introduces himself to the DeLaceys.

Question 22

Felix darted forward and with ____________ force tore me from his father’ (page 104)

Answer 22

supernatural

Question 23

When the monster introduces himself to the DeLaceys, what are some of the quotations that present Felix as aggressive and inhuman?

Answer 23

darted forward’ ‘with supernatural force’ ‘dashed me to the ground’ ‘struck me violently with a stick’ (Page 104))

Question 24

What are some of the quotations that present the monster as frightened and vulnerable when he is attacked by Felix?

Answer 24

my heart sunk within me’ ‘overcome by pain and anguish’

Question 25

‘I could have torn him limb from limb as the ____________ rends the _____________’ (page 104)

Answer 25

lion/antelope

Question 26

What is being described here: ‘I could have torn him limb from limb as the lion rends the antelope’ (page 104)?

Answer 26

The monster describes how when Felix attacks him he could have savaged him. However, the monster chooses not to, displaying the restraint and humanity that Felix lacks.

Question 27

‘As the _________ advanced, a fierce wind arose from the woods’ (page 106)

Answer 27

night

Question 28

What technique is used here: ‘As the night advanced, a fierce wind arose from the woods’ ? (106)

Answer 28

pathetic fallacy

Question 29

Why does Shelley employ pathetic fallacy here: ‘As the night advanced, a fierce wind arose from the woods’ (106)?

Answer 29

The ‘fierce wind’ is intended to represent the monster’s rage and intense sadness after being rejected by the DeLacey family.

Question 30

‘the blast tore along like a mighty ___________’ (page 106)

Answer 30

avalanche

Question 31

What techniques is used here: ‘the blast tore along like a mighty avalanche’ (page 106)?

Answer 31

simile

Question 32

the blast tore along like a mighty avalanche’ (page 106)

Answer 32

simile

Question 33

What are the connotations of the following simile: ‘the blast tore along like a mighty avalanche’ (page 106)?

Answer 33

The blast is compared to an avalanche in order to convey that it is a sudden and destructive change - this mirrors the monster’s emotional state as he is enraged by the DeLacey’s rejection.

Question 34

‘my eyes still fixed on the western horizon, the edge of which the ___________ nearly touched’ (page 107)

Answer 34

moon

Question 35

What is the symbolic importance of the moon in the novel?

Answer 35

The moon is used as a symbol of change and transformation.

Question 36

‘their forked and destroying ____________’ (page 107)

Answer 36

tongues

Question 37

What is being described here: ‘their forked and destroying tongues’ (page 107)?

Answer 37

The fire, lit by the monster, which destroys the DeLacey’s cottage.

Question 38

What is the significance of the fire that destroys the DeLacey’s cottage having ‘forked and destroying tongues’? (page 107)

Answer 38

Shelley’s personification presents the fire as a living force, implying it represents the monster’s rage. It also has obvious devilish connotations, making clear how the monster is now the ‘fallen angel’ and not ‘Adam’.

Question 39

Whilst observing the DeLacey family, which text does the monster read that ‘excited different and far deeper emotions’ (page 99)

Answer 39

Paradise Lost

Question 40

Who wrote Paradise Lost?

Answer 40

John Milton

Question 41

When was Paradise Lost first published?

Answer 41

1667

Question 42

Noting how she was influenced by Paradise Lost, Mary Shelley wrote: ‘nothing can exceed the energy and magnificence of the character of ___________ as expressed in Paradise Lost’.

Answer 42

Satan

Question 43

Shelley uses a quotation from Paradise Lost to start the novel - what is the correct term for this?

Answer 43

an epigraph

Question 44

The monster is not the only character that relates to the fallen angel in Paradise Lost, Victor also says, ‘Like the archangel who aspired to ____________, I am chained in an eternal hell’ (page 161)

Answer 44

omnipotence