Topics for Frankenstein Research Paper
1. Advances in medicine during the 1800s. What were some of the latest techniques
and discoveries?
2. Scarlet fever. (Some of the people closest to Victor suffered from this illness.
What is it? How is it treated? What was its status during the 1800s?)
3. Cloning or stem cell research. (Just how weird WAS Victor’s idea that he could
make a human being?)
4. Tambora Volcano. (This volcano erupted near the time Shelley was writing the
novel. What impact did it have on her?)
5. Polidori and The Vampyre. (This is one of the other works created on the retreat
during which Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein.)
6-10 were all scientists whose work Victor Frankenstein is said to have admired. What
were their discoveries or areas of study? What influence did they have on Victor?
6. Luigi Galvani
7. Allesandro Volta
8. Cornelius Agrippa
9. Albertus Magnus
10. Paracelsus
11. How has Frankenstein has been depicted in artwork and film over the years?
How do these depictions relate to Shelley’s original work?
12. Grave robbing. (You probably know that Victor stole body parts to make his
creation. How much of a problem was grave robbing? Why? What were the
punishments?)
13. Crime and punishment during the 1800s. (Various characters in the book are
accused of murder. What kind of trial and punishment could they expect? Were
accused women treated differently than men?)
14-17 are all novels said to have been read by Victor’s creation. Explain what he learns
from them or how he relates them to his own situation.
14. Paradise Lost by Milton
15.Plutarch’s Lives
16. The Sorrows of Werter by Goethe
17. Volney's Ruins of Empires
18. The myth of Prometheus. (The subtitle of the novel is “The Modern
Prometheus.” Why?)
19. Theories of language acquisition. (Is it reasonable to believe that the creature
could learn to speak by listening to others and reading without any real human
interaction?)
20. Role of women in society of the day. (What were the expectations placed upon
them? What were their goals and pursuits? What jobs were open to them? Were
Jutsine, Elizabeth, and Caroline “typical”?)
21. Freud’s theories of the id/ego/superego. (Some read the creature as an alter-ego
of his creator. What do they mean when they say this?)
22. Gothic literature. (Frankenstein is a classic example. So, what was it?)
23. The influence of the author’s life on the story.
24. Importance of letters and letter-writing to this society.
25. What is the nature/nurture debate all about? (What causes the creature’s
personality to develop the way it does?)
26. What was it like to “go to university” back then? (Was Victor really lucky to be
able to go, or did everyone expect to? What percentage of people went?)
27. The Grand Tour. (Just about every wealthy person went on one. Why? What
was it?)
28. Studies of “wild children.” (Wolf Boy, Wild Peter. Feral Children. What
happens to children who are completely isolated from human society?)