Narrative Voice in F/TBC

Question 1

What is the Narrative voice in Frankenstein?

Answer 1

First person and switches between characters creating an ‘onion like’ narrative

Question 2

What is the purpose of this onion like narrative?

Answer 2

The shifts in narrator and the alternating points of view are central to the novel’s theme of looking past appearances to reflect on what may lie underneath and what truth is hidden.

( ‘peels to find the truth beneath’ )

Question 3

Why did Mary Shelley give the creature a voice?

Answer 3

The story reaches a point when the creature is given a perspective in which the readers can visualise it.

Sympathy for the creature is created and the expectation of the monster being wicked/evil is quickly changed - This has never been done before in Gothic fiction.

Serves Mary Shelley’s intention to always hold an objective view - uncommon in a prejudiced society.

Question 4

What is an epistolary form?

Answer 4

Epistolary form of writing uses letters/documents/diary entries.

Question 4

Why does Mary Shelley use an epistolary form in ‘Frankenstein’?

Answer 4

• allows the reader to feel as if they are receiving an actual account of the story

-makes the plot seem more realistic

-forces the reader to judge for themselves what is true and what is dramatised from the letters

Question 5

What is the narrative voice in The Bloody Chamber?

Answer 5

Retrospective narrative