Neil Patel
A.P. English 12- Sutton
Period 4
Frankenstein- Plot Summary
Robert Walton is a captain of a ship set sail towards North Pole and in a series of letter
recounts to his sister in England the progressions of journey. The journey is soon halted by the
presence of seas full of dangerous ice. Trapped, Walton runs into a man by the name of Victor
Frankenstein who has been traveling by dog-drawn sledge across the ice and has grown weak
due to the cold. Walton rescues the poor man and helps nurse him back to health and also hears
of the great tale of the monster Victor Frankenstein created and their conflictions.
Victor begins his story by describing parts of his earlier life and adolescence in Geneva.
After spending his blissful childhood in an affluent home with his adopted sister Elizabeth
Lavenza and best friend Henry Clerval, Victor attend the University of Ingolstadt to study
natural philosophy and chemistry. Victor goes on to marry his adopted sister Elizabeth as well
who he has fallen in love after his mother’s death during his childhood. After broadening his
horizons at the university Victor is captivated by the secret of life and after years of research has
come to believe he has the ability to create it.
Victor goes into isolation armed with his passion and knowledge to accomplish his task.
He goes on to shutout the outside world and focus solely on his creation as he spends months
fashioning a creature out of old body parts. One night while working in his apartment he brings
the creation to life. However, after seeing the monstrosity he created he is possessed by true
terror at the sight of his mistake. During that night while struggling to sleep, Victor wakes up to
the creature standing over him and leaves the apartment in a spectacle of fright and horror.
Victor runs into his good friend Henry, who has come to study at the university, and
accompanies him back to his apartment. Victor finds that the monster has vanished but can not
be fully relieved as he is struck with an illness and knowledge of the creature’s whereabouts.
Victor, consumed with guilt, returns to Geneva to be with his family and hopefully return
to his mental health. However, just before departing he receives a letter from his father informing
him that his youngest brother, William, has been murdered. Grief-stricken, Victor hurries home
to console with the rest of his family and Elizabeth. Victor learns that while pass through the
woods where his brother was strangled he catches sight of the monster and is convinced he is the
culprit of his brother’s death. Victor also soon finds out that Justine Moritz who is a kind, gentle
girl adopted by the Frankenstein household, has been accused, tried, and executed despite
pleading innocence. Victor becomes melancholy as he falls into a world of guilt for bearing
responsibility of the creation that took two lives.
Hoping to escape his state of mind, Victor takes a vacation to the mountains. While he is
alone one day, crossing an enormous glacier, the monster approaches him. The monster
confesses to the murder of William, but Victor notices that his speech has grown and improved
to near perfection. The monster tells Victor he had only killed his brother after feeling lonely,
and abandoned by his cruel creator, Victor in an attempt to seek revenge. He tells Victor he
learned how to speak properly and about society by observing a family in the woods. The
monster would acquire scraps they failed to finish and books they had. In return he would
deposit firewood to the door. However, after a long period of sole observing the monster chose to
approach the family and was hurt by the reaction. The monster soon came to realize he would
never be accepted in the society due to his hideous demeanor and begged Victor to create a mate
for him. One that was equally grotesque in appearance so they could journey the world together
as outcasts.
Victor at first defiantly refuses but the monster’s eloquent and persuasive nature guilts
Frankenstein into the process of creating a second monster. After returning to Geneva, Victor
heads for England with his friend, Henry, to gather information on creating a female monster.
Leaving Henry in Scotland, he secludes himself on a desolate island in the Orkenys and works
reluctantly at mimicking his original process. One night Victor’s thoughts consume him with
guilt as he imagines creating another horrific creature that could hurt more of the world. While
he watches the monster glaring at him with a frightening grin through the window, Victor is
convinced he is making a mistake and destroys the creation. The monster witnessing the only
chance at any companion or love in the world disappears vows revenge and swears he will be
with Victor on his wedding night.
Later that night, Victor takes a boat to dump the remains into a lake. Winds prevent him
from returning to the island and he finds himself ashore an unknown town the next morning.
Upon landing, Victor is arrested and informed that he will be tried for a murder discovered the
previous night. Victor defiantly pleads innocence but is truly shocked when he finds that the
murdered man is his friend, Henry Clerval, with the mark of the monster’s fingers on his neck.
Victor falls ill, raving and feverish and is kept in prison until his recovery, after which he is
acquitted of the crime.
Shortly upon his return home to Geneva, Victor marries Elizabeth who he loves so
dearly. He fears the monster’s warning throughout the event and suspect that he will be murdered
on his wedding night. To be cautious he sends Elizabeth away to wait for him. While he awaits
the monster, he hears Elizabeth scream and realizes that the monster has been hinting at killing
his new bride, his love, not himself. Victor returns home to his father, who dies from the pain of
the grief soon after. Victor remains alone just as the monster as those who he loved so dearly are
stripped from his life. Victor vows to devote the rest of his life to finding the monster and
exacting his revenge and soon leaves on his quest.
Victor tracks the monster northward into the ice. In a dogsled chase, Victor almost
reaches the monster, but the sea beneath them swells and the ice breaks. They are left staring at
one another amongst a giant gap of sea between them. At this point, Walton encounters Victor,
and the narrative returns to the time of Walton’s fourth letter to his sister.
Walton tells the remainder of the story in another group of letters to his sister. Victor
already ill when being taken on the boat, soon passes away from the sickness. When Walton
returns, several days later, to the room in which the body lies, he is startled to see the monster
weeping over Victor. The monster explains to Walton of his immense solitude, suffering, hatred,
and remorse. He asserts that now that his creator has died, he too can end his suffering. The
monster then leaves on a suicidal mission to the northernmost ice to die.