PH Playmates
Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg
Prof. Dr. Mechthild Hesse
Kunzenweg 21
79117 Freiburg
hessegm@t-online.de
Freiburg, den 8.12.2012
Summary Frankenstein
Due to his mother’s death Frankenstein decides to defeat death by creating a human
being. In Ingolstadt – after a long and nerve-wrecking experimenting process he
succeeds: the human being is alive. But the Monster has needs like other human
beings: he wants to enjoy the world, he wants friends, and above all, he wants a
female companion. At first Frankenstein agrees to create a woman for him but then
he changes his mind. From that day on the monster vows revenge and he starts
killing Victor’s friends and family members.
Excerpt from the shortened and simplified novel (Easy Reader, p.
23, chapter 5) for Mittelstufe classes: The Monster has been
created. Victor sees the result of his work:
Chapter 5
It was a 1dreary night in November that I first saw the result of my work. Anxiously, I
collected the instruments around me and was ready to give life to the lifeless thing at
my feet. It was already one o’clock in the morning, and I heard the rain falling against
my window. My candle was nearly burnt out. In the dim light I saw the dull yellow
eyes of the Monster open. It breathed and began moving its arms and legs.
How can I describe my feelings at this disaster? I thought I had made him beautiful.
Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin could hardly cover the muscles and blood veins
underneath. His hair was long and black, and his teeth were perfectly white. But they
looked even more horrible together with his watery eyes, his wrinkled face and his
black lips.
I had worked hard for nearly two years, and had not rested or taken care of my
health. Now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream disappeared, and horror and
2disgust filled my heart. I could not bear to look at the Monster, and I rushed out of
the laboratory and into my bedroom. I threw myself on my bed and tried to forget
what had happened. I had the wildest dreams. I dreamt I saw Elizabeth walking in the
streets of Ingolstadt. 3Delighted and surprised, I put my arms around her and wanted
to kiss her lips. But then her face became the colour of death and I was holding my
dead mother in my arms. I looked down and saw the worms crawling around her
clothes.
1
dull
Ekel
3
happy
2
1
I woke up. In the dim, yellow moonlight, I saw the monster I had created come in
through my open window. He stood by my bed, and his yellow eyes stared at me.
There was a terrible grin on his wrinkled face. His mouth opened and he made some
strange sounds. He might have spoken, but I did not hear it. He stretched out his
hand towards me, and I rushed down the stairs and ran outside.
Here I stood the rest of the night, afraid of the demon to which I had given life. I felt a
mixture of horror and bitter disappointment. My wonderful dreams had now become
hell for me.
Excerpt from the Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for Oberstufe
classes.
The Monster has been created. Victor sees the result of his work:
Chapter 5
It was on a 4dreary night of November that I 5beheld the 6accomplishment of my
7toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of
life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my
feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered 8dismally against the panes,
and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished
light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the Monster open; it breathed hard, and a
convulsive motion agitated its limbs.
How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how 9delineate the wretch
whom with such infinite pains and care I had 10endeavoured to form? His limbs were
in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His
yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was
of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances
only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the
same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled
complexion and straight black lips.
The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature.
I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an
inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with
an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of
the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to
endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room and continued
a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind to sleep. At
length 11lassitude succeeded to the tumult I had before endured, and I threw myself
4
dull
to see
6
success
7
hard work
8
grim, bleak
9
to describe
10
to try very hard
11
determination
5
2
on the bed in my clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness. But
it was in vain; I slept, indeed, but I was disturbed by the wildest dreams. I thought I
saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted
and surprised, I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they
became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought
that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form,
and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel. I started from my sleep
with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb
became convulsed; when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its
way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch—the miserable monster whom
I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be
called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate
sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear;
one hand was stretched out, seemingly to 12detain me, but I escaped and rushed
downstairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited,
where I remained during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest
agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing each sound as if it were to
announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given
life.
…
I continued walking in this manner for some time, endeavouring by bodily exercise to
ease the load that weighed upon my mind. I traversed the streets without any clear
conception of where I was or what I was doing. My heart 13palpitated in the sickness
of fear, and I hurried on with irregular steps, not daring to look about me:
Like one who, on a lonely road,
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And, having once turned round, walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows a frightful 14fiend
Doth close behind him tread.
[Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner."]
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to catch
to pulse, to beat
14
beast, monster
13
3
Excerpt 1 from the script written by the PH Playmates
Scene 5: The couple leaves for town
Setting: Cottage
Characters: Agatha, Felix, De Lacey
Father is setting the table while Agatha is singing, cooking in the kitchen, Felix is
outside looking for firewood.
Felix: Agatha, my darling. Where are you? Are you cooking lunch for Father?
Agatha: Yes I am, Felix. But we need more logs. Could you get some more?
Felix: Sure, I will bring you the biggest pile you’ve ever seen. Do you need anything
else?
Agatha: No thanks; I am fine. .
Felix brings the pile of logs inside- in a clumsy way
Agatha: I’m leaving your food on the table. And there’s some milk, too.
De Lacey: Thank you my dear. You treat me well.
Felix: We’re going into town, Father. We’ll be back at nightfall.
Agatha (to De Lacey): And you behave yourself while we’re gone.
De Lacey: I’ll try to but-(chuckles) you’d better strike the right notes so that you bring
some more money home this time.
Agatha: Haha, we’ll try.
De Lacey: And no drinks afterwards please. We need every coin.
Agatha: I know, my dear father. We won’t go to a pub tonight.
Pause
We had lots of poor days recently. I’m just hoping for better times to come.
De Lacey is humming while Agatha kisses De Lacey affectionately.
De Lacey: I hope so too. Good luck then and take care. Felix, you married such a
lovely girl.
Felix: Father, I promise to look after Agatha. We won’t be back home so late. Bye
now.
Agatha: Bye, old man!
4
Agatha and Felix exit. The Monster watches, touched by their love. Felix and Agatha
are walking into town. Felix carries his guitar on his back. They seem both happy and
are fooling around, jumping, dancing and laughing on the way.
Felix shows Agatha his affections towards her by checking her hand and putting his
arms around her.
Agatha: I hope we will be better this time.
Felix: We weren’t too bad, at least I wasn´t.
Agatha: Maybe they didn’t like your Irish folk song.
Felix: Haha. I love that song. And I believe we are doing pretty well. Let´s change our
location. What about right in front of the fountain?
Agatha: Are you serious? There are no people there. Let’s rather play by the town
hall.
Felix: You and me in front of the fountain - so romantic
Agatha: Felix. Winter is near. We need the money to stay warm and safe.
Felix: You are right, darling.
Agatha is humming and dancing around.
Felix: Hold on, Agatha. Just a moment! I prepared something for you
Suddenly Felix starts to sing and is falling on his knees in front of Agatha.
.
5
Excerpt 2 from the script written by the PH Playmates
Scene 9: Victor and the monster meet
Characters: Victor, Monster
Victor climbs Mont Blanc. A snowy wasteland, high in the Alps.
Victor: Where are you? Show yourself, monster
Monster appears,  music
My God! What an achievement! God, the madness of that night – the heat, the sweat,
the moment when I saw it crawl towards me, and I – and I –
Monster: You ran away.
Victor: What?
Monster: You abandoned me.
Victor: (stunned) It speaks!
Monster: Yes, Frankenstein. It speaks.
Victor: You know my name?
Monster: Why did you abandon me?
Victor: I was terrified. But now I have come to kill you.
Monster: To kill me? Why then did you create me?
Victor: To prove that I could! You were my greatest experiment – but an experiment
that has gone wrong. An experiment that must be destroyed!
Victor runs towards him and attacks him with a knife, but the Monster swiftly disarms
him and throws him to the ground.
Monster: Be still, genius! I have a request.
Victor: Damn you, you can’t have requests!
Monster: Oh, I can! Listen to me. It’s your duty.
Victor: I’ve no duty to a murderer.
Monster: If I’m a murderer, you made me one.
Victor: You killed my brother! You did it, not me!
Monster: I did not do it on purpose! I was the one being hunted like a rat, I was the
one being beaten and whipped.
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Victor: I’m sorry, I –
Monster: Sorry? You’re sorry? You caused this! This is your universe! (Pause) Here
is my request. I need to have someone by my side. But one of my own kind.
Victor: What, I –
Monster: I want a wife. Built like me.
Victor: A female?
Monster: You alone have the power to –
Victor: Create another brute – another monster? No, I will not, I –
Monster: It is my right!
Victor: You have no rights! I am still your master
Monster: A master has duties – Every Monster has a partner, even the birds in the
sky! If you deny my request, I will make you my enemy. I will kill your whole family. I
won’t rest until you’re as miserable as I am.
Victor: If you promised that you’d disappear for ever
Monster: I promise!
Victor: (yelling) You must understand – the work is hard – I alone – in the whole
world – A woman… I have never considered that. My God, what a challenge! But if I
do it this time… …it has to be perfection!
Tasks: Make a character profile of the characters before you play the scenes. How
do you imagine them? What do they look like? What do they wear? Are they
happy, melancholy, angry? How do they speak? In a loud, low voice? Do they
shout, cry, scream? How is the atmosphere of the scenes? ….
Discuss the consequences of Victor’s creating a female for the Monster. Or finish
the last scene, for example an interior monologue of either Victor or the Monster.
Predict: Will Victor create a female for the Monster after all?
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Useful vocabulary to be able to speak about Frankenstein
Feelings
looks
and Humans & relationships
Body and soul
+
human, male, female, man & wife, man
& woman, bride & bridegroom, couple,
self-confident,
human
being,
animated
being,
accepted,
loved, assimilation (Anpassung)
loving,
excited,
thrilled,
longing,
fascinated
(with),
handsome
=
beautiful, gorgeous,
precious (wertvoll)
o
surprised,
astonished,
stunned,
lonely, sad, angry =
furious, humiliated,
obsessed, arrogant,
full of fear, worried,
shocked, horrified,
terrible,
horrible,
awful,
shocking,
shocked,
scary,
frightening, creepy,
ugly, disadvantaged
(benachteiligt),
repulsive
(abstoßend)
barely = kaum
presumably
womöglich
to bring to life, to form, to build, to
shape, to create a human being, to
animate a dead body, to conceive
(zeugen), to couple = to have sex, to be
capable of love = to be able to love, to
adore (anbeten), to pursue = to follow,
to abandon = to leave, to give up
bone,
muscles,
skin, hair, tissue
(Gewebe),
veins,
arteries,
inner
organ,
nervous
system,
nervous
chords,
spine,
hand-eye
coordination,
movement,
flesh
and blood, scars,
brain
to challenge (herausfordern), to do
research (forschen), to complain = to
have a grievance (klagen), to destroy to express, show,
(zerstören), to take responsibility feelings/ emotions,
language,
soul,
(Verantwortung übernehmen)
facial
expression,
body
language,
to relate to, to connect, to contact, to
posture
communicate, to accompany, to take
revenge on, to deny a request (eine (Körperhaltung)
Forderung nicht erfüllen),
to horrify
(erschrecken), to reject (zurückweisen),
=
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Creative writing
Make a kenning about a character: a kenning is a two-word line ending on the
syllable pronounced as -er.
Example: Monster
Add the first word to this list. Here’s my example. Words in red have added to the
second word.
company lover
people
hater
energy
taker
thought
giver
trouble
maker
meat
eater
cruel
Monster
revengeful fellow (pronounced like fella)
Now make a kenning for Frankenstein (and any other character).
________________ lover
________________ hater
________________ taker
________________ giver
________________ maker
________________ eater
________________ Monster
________________ fellow
You can write any kenning with a compound (two words) that ends on -er
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Pre- and/or post-viewing task: Right of wrong?
Tick the correct statements and correct the wrong ones. Add something to the right
statements that you think important or just finish beginning sentences. For people
who don’t know anything about Frankenstein the Worksheet should be used as a
post-viewing task.
Yes
No
Victor Frankenstein is a scientist.
He makes nuclear experiments.
Prof. Waldmann thinks Victor is a rival and does not
welcome him.
Frankenstein animates a man.
Victor has a nervous breakdown.
Victor leaves the Monster because he is unhappy
about the result.
People like the man Frankenstein has created.
Felix and Agatha are siblings (brother and sister).
De Lacey becomes a friend and teacher.
Felix and Agatha chase the Monster away from their
hut because they have no food to feed another person.
The Monster kills William on purpose.
The Monster asks Frankenstein to create a female for
him because he needs a helper for his revenge plans.
Victor agrees to create a woman for the Monster.
Elizabeth wants to create a human being by having
sex, and not with scientific experiments.
Ivy prepares Elizabeth for the wedding night.
The wedding night proves to be a great success.
The Monster vows revenge when ….
The Monster and Frankenstein chase each other, but
……
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Post-viewing tasks for more advanced students
Go into groups of four. Each student draws one card. He/she has to answer
the question of his/her card.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------How does the Describe Victor’s
Monster change and
Elizabeth’s
throughout
the relationship.
story?
Say how you
understand the
ending. Was it
appropriate? If
not, invent a new
ending.
Who is evil? The
Monster or
Frankenstein? Or
somebody else,
or nobody?
Support your
opinion.
Is
Frankenstein
responsible
for
the Monster? If
yes, what should
he do/have done?
Would it be a
good idea for
humans to create
other human
beings
artificially?
Everybody runs
away in shock
when they see the
Monster. Could
they have
behaved
differently?
Would you
behave
differently?
How does Victor
Frankenstein
change
throughout the
story?
Would the story
be the same if
Victor’s
mother
hadn’t died?
Why does the
Monster kill
Elizabeth,
Frankenstein’s
bride?
If
people
had
been kinder to the
Monster,
would
he have turned
out differently?
Why, why not?
Describe the
Monster’s
relationship to the
DeLacey family.
Why does
Frankenstein long
to create an
animated being?
Why is he so
obsessed with
this idea?
Why does
Frankenstein go
from Geneva to
Ingolstadt? Was it
a good move?
Why do the
Monster and
Frankenstein
chase each
other? What
might be the
result?
Would the story
be different if
DeLacey was not
blind?
11
Personal evaluation of the play
Story
What I liked most about the play was ………………………………………………..
What I didn’t like about the play was………………….……………………………....
For
me
the
most
important
scene
/statement/sentence
was
when…………………………………………………………………………………………….
It showed that ………………………..………………...……………………………………..
Another good scene was …………………………………………………………………
because …………………………………………………………………………..…………
I didn’t like the scene when ………………………………………………………………
Acting
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
The character I liked best on stage was ……………………………. because
…………..
Music
The music matched the play well. The atmosphere was best represented when
……………….
The music piece I liked best was ……………
I didn’t like the music played in scene when ………………………..
I didn’t like any music piece because ……….
Choose words from the box below! (You can use each word more than once)
To me the music in the play was_____________,___________,______________
The music made the play _________________
beautiful
dramatic
disturbing
interesting
lovely
sad happy crazy annoying
quiet
joyful
nice
soft
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