Unit Two: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818)

Question 1

Who wrote Frankenstein and when?

Answer 1

Mary Shelley in 1818

Question 2

Victor Frankenstein

Answer 2

The doomed protagonist and narrator of the main portion of the story. Studying in Ingolstadt, Victor discovers the secret of life and creates an intelligent but grotesque monster, from whom he recoils in horror. Victor keeps his creation of the monster a secret, feeling increasingly guilty and ashamed as he realizes how helpless he is to prevent the monster from ruining his life and the lives of others.

Question 3

The monster

Answer 3

The eight-foot-tall, hideously ugly creation of Victor Frankenstein. Intelligent, eloquent, and sensitive, the Monster attempts to integrate himself into human social patterns, but all who see him shun him. His feeling of abandonment compels him to seek revenge against his creator.

Question 4

Robert Walton

Answer 4

The Arctic seafarer whose letters open and close Frankenstein. Walton picks the bedraggled Victor Frankenstein up off the ice, helps nurse him back to health, and hears Victor’s story. He records the incredible tale in a series of letters addressed to his sister, Margaret Saville, in England.

Question 5

Elizabeth Lavenza

Answer 5

An orphan, four to five years younger than Victor, whom the Frankensteins adopt. In the 1818 edition of the novel, Elizabeth is Victor’s cousin, the child of Alphonse Frankenstein’s sister. In the 1831 edition, Victor’s mother rescues Elizabeth from a destitute peasant cottage in Italy. Elizabeth embodies the novel’s motif of passive women, as she waits patiently for Victor’s attention.

Question 6

Henry Clerval

Answer 6

Victor’s boyhood friend, who nurses Victor back to health in Ingolstadt. After working unhappily for his father, Henry begins to follow in Victor’s footsteps as a scientist. His cheerfulness counters Victor’s moroseness.

Question 7

Alphonse Frankenstein

Answer 7

Victor’s father, very sympathetic toward his son. Alphonse consoles Victor in moments of pain and encourages him to remember the importance of family.

Question 8

William Frankenstein

Answer 8

Victor’s youngest brother and the darling of the Frankenstein family. The monster strangles William in the woods outside Geneva in order to hurt Victor for abandoning him. William’s death deeply saddens Victor and burdens him with tremendous guilt about having created the monster.

Question 9

Justine Moritz

Answer 9

A young girl adopted into the Frankenstein household while Victor is growing up. Justine is blamed and executed for William’s murder, which is actually committed by the monster.

Question 10

Beaufort

Answer 10

A merchant and friend of Victor’s father; the father of Caroline Beaufort.

Question 11

The De Lacey Family

Answer 11

A family of peasants, including a blind old man, De Lacey; his son and daughter, Felix and Agatha; and a foreign woman named Safie. The monster learns how to speak and interact by observing them. When he reveals himself to them, hoping for friendship, they beat him and chase him away.

Question 12

M. Waldman

Answer 12

The professor of chemistry who sparks Victor’s interest in science. He dismisses the alchemists’ conclusions as unfounded but sympathizes with Victor’s interest in a science that can explain the “big questions,” such as the origin of life.

Question 13

M. Krempe

Answer 13

A professor of natural philosophy at Ingolstadt. He dismisses Victor’s study of the alchemists as wasted time and encourages him to begin his studies anew.

Question 14

Mr. Kirwin

Answer 14

The magistrate who accuses Victor of Henry’s murder.

Question 15

Theme: Dangerous Knowledge

Answer 15

The pursuit of knowledge is at the heart of Frankenstein, as Victor attempts to surge beyond accepted human limits and access the secret of life. Likewise, Robert Walton attempts to surpass previous human explorations by endeavoring to reach the North Pole. This ruthless pursuit of knowledge, of the light (see “Light and Fire”), proves dangerous, as Victor’s act of creation eventually results in the destruction of everyone dear to him, and Walton finds himself perilously trapped between sheets of ice. Whereas Victor’s obsessive hatred of the monster drives him to his death, Walton ultimately pulls back from his treacherous mission, having learned from Victor’s example how destructive the thirst for knowledge can be.

Question 16

Theme: Alienation

Answer 16

The novel “Frankenstein” explores the theme of social alienation as both the cause of evil and its punishment. The Monster explicitly attributes his murderous actions to his alienation from mankind, which stemmed from being abandoned by his creator. However, these actions only deepen his isolation. Similarly, Victor Frankenstein’s solitary pursuit of his ambition leads to his alienation from society, and his creation further isolates him as he cannot share his secret. Both characters liken themselves to Satan in “Paradise Lost,” where alienation from God is both a crime and punishment.

The narrative suggests that alienation from others is rooted in alienation from oneself. Frankenstein’s father highlights the connection between self-worth and maintaining relationships. The Monster’s self-perception as monstrous fuels his alienation from society. Ultimately, both characters face self-destruction due to their profound alienation. Frankenstein dies in pursuit of his creation, while the Monster expresses intent to end his own life, consumed by self-hatred and isolation.

Question 17

Theme: Ambition

Answer 17

Frankenstein suggests that ambition is dangerous because it has the potential to become evil. Frankenstein’s ambition motivates him to create the Monster, and he compares his own ambition to a list of other destructive ambitions: “If no man allowed any pursuit whatsoever to interfere with the tranquility of his domestic affections, Greece had not been enslaved; Caesar would have spared his country; America would have been discovered more gradually; and the empires of Mexico and Peru had not been destroyed.” The fact that Frankenstein compares his own work to the destruction of entire civilizations underscores just how huge his ambition is. His suggestion that his ambition makes him like Satan, “the archangel who aspired to omnipotence,” also points to the grandiosity of Frankenstein’s ideas. Frankenstein imagines himself as nothing less than the devil incarnate. However, the novel also suggests that ambition alone is not enough to cause evil and suffering. Walton is introduced as a character every bit as ambitious as Frankenstein, but Walton chooses to abandon his ambition out of duty to his crew. Frankenstein’s real mistake (and crime) is that he places his ambition above his responsibilities to other people.

Question 18

Symbol: Light and Fire

Answer 18

“What could not be expected in the country of eternal light?” asks Walton, displaying a faith in, and optimism about, science. In Frankenstein, light symbolizes knowledge, discovery, and enlightenment. The natural world is a place of dark secrets, hidden passages, and unknown mechanisms; the goal of the scientist is then to reach light. The dangerous and more powerful cousin of light is fire. The monster’s first experience with a still-smoldering flame reveals the dual nature of fire: he discovers excitedly that it creates light in the darkness of the night, but also that it harms him when he touches it. The presence of fire in the text also brings to mind the full title of Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus. The Greek god Prometheus gave the knowledge of fire to humanity and was then severely punished for it. Victor, attempting to become a modern Prometheus, is certainly punished, but unlike fire, his “gift” to humanity—knowledge of the secret of life—remains a secret.

Question 19

Symbol: Ice

Answer 19

Ice frames Frankenstein, representing isolation and alienation. Ice carries with it connotations of emotional coldness, or lacking the warmth of human companionship. Victor’s fate—to pursue the monster across the frozen north—represents how his dangerous experiments have led to his complete alienation from society. Victor’s pursuit of knowledge has taken him outside the boundaries of the scientific community, cost him his family, and murdered his wife. Notably, the monster states that he cannot feel the effects of the cold and snow because of his nature. According to the monster’s view of himself, an inherent part of his nature is his alienation, the fact that he is the only one of his kind, which is why he feels at home in the land of ice. Victor, however, has lost companionship, and the cold lack of humanity is an excruciating fate. This symbolic dimension of ice adds a chill meaning to Walton’s encounter with Victor. When Victor appears, Walton’s ship is trapped on a sheet of ice, isolated from civilization, as if Victor brings with him a physical manifestation of his fate. When the ice dissipates, Walton decides to listen to his crew and return home, choosing humanity over alienation.