FRANKENSTEIN LITERARY ANALYSIS OUTLINE I. Plot and Other Mechanics A. Setting 1. The novel is set in the 18th century. The novel takes place in various places; those places are Geneva, Ingostal, the North Pole, England, and Scotland. 2. The actual geographic location is in Western Europe 3. The novel is set in the 18th century, the book is mainly in the winter even though is it set around the season. 4. A. Victor Frankenstein- Victor Frankenstein comes from a rich family that deeply cares about him. He lives in a time where discovery and exploration are highly sought after. Because, of this, he secludes himself from the rest of society and focuses mainly in the discovery of the elixir of life. He achieves this goal by creating “the creature”. Ironically, he is ashamed of this discovery because he played god and went against the laws of nature. The consequence of creating the creature and then shunning it torments Victor’s life. B. Alphonse Frankenstein- Alphonse is Victor’s father. Alphonse is compassionate towards others. He didn’t approve of Victor’s choice of study but still cared about him. C. Creature- The creature is created from Victor’s curiosity and scientific pioneering; however, he is abandoned and forced to discover life on his own. This leads the creature to feeling neglected. As the creature tries to seek refuge and find companionship, he finds that he is not human like the rest of the people he meets and is unaccepted no matter where he goes. This leads him to seek feel distanced from society and seek revenge on his creator for abandoning him and leaving him destined to loneliness. Regardless of his vengeful disposition, he is a compassionate being who does not seek to harm anyone who will not help him get revenge on Victor. D. Elizabeth Frankenstein- Elizabeth Frankenstein is the adopted sister of Victor Frankenstein. She is precious to the Frankenstein family; so precious, that her mother sacrificed herself to save Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s beautiful physical features reflect upon her characterization because she is compassionate and caring to others. Sadly, the creature kills her because of the envy that the creature has towards her. The creature envies her because of the compassion that Victor has for her. 1 B. Characters 1. Conflicts ❖ Victor Frankenstein is motivated by the security of his family and the destruction of the creature, he believes that by killing the creature he will relieve himself of the sin and harm he committed and caused throughout the entire ordeal. He constantly attempts to fight the creature and engage him in “mortal combat” without taking in to consideration the nature of the creature showing the conflict he faces with the resentment of the creature. He is also stalked by the creature which adds on to the internal conflict and turmoil associated by the initial creation of the monster. The constant remembrance of his evil actions and cause him to fall into a state of hysteria and dementia that he struggles to control and relieve himself of and this lack of control also causes him to make irrational decisions and stubborn arguments towards the monster, further adding on to his constant cycle of conflicts. His first conflict is to destroy the creature but this conflict leads to even more devastating mental conflicts that cause a loss in rational judgement and the addition of new conflicts. ❖ The monster constantly struggles with his physical appearance and state of life, he is often attacked and hated for his resemblance to a corpse and is banished to live in the most rugged environments on earth, the highest summits and the coldest forests are his home which provide very little food sources for him as well. These external conflicts cause the creature to be very resentful and violent towards nature and humans which is evident in the murders he commits and the curses he makes towards the heavens. The monster also struggles with his sense of identity and belonging in the world, he has no one to relate to, share his alienation with, or comfort him during his every experience which leads him to be bitter. The creature’s struggles with alienation motivates him to kill Victors family members in order to share his struggle with Victor, also, the monster's external struggle with nature cause him to travel to the North Pole to share his turmoil in nature. Victor is not accustomed to the harshness of nature because he benefits from being a human with resources to prevent such turmoil but the creature strips that from Victor by fleeing to the land that no man has conquered. The sense of alienation caused by the creature's appearance also motivates the monster to torment Victor and alienate him by causing him to go mad. The creature's sense of alienation and suffering also shape him to become more educated. Due to his difference in appearance the creature hopes to bridge the gap between the humans and himself using language and literature. The creature's experiences cause him to torment Victor in the same manner he suffered while also motivating it to learn as much as he can about humankind to make a connection with humankind. These conflicts function to explain the creature's thought process and justification for his actions, however, these external experiences are very closely related to the creature's internal suffering as well. 2 C. Point of View Robert: first person ● Tells the story of Victor and his creature to his sister. ● Robert admires Victor & considers him as his friend ● In need of a friend ● Ambitious & determined to discover the North Pole Robert's character is told in first person to highlight Victor's flaw. Victor: first person ● Tells his story to Robert to prevent him from suffering like he did ● Ambitious and greedy ● Victor hates himself for creating the creature. ● Losses all his family ● Wants to discover the unknown and help mankind ● Wants to be glorified by man ● Finds consolation in nature yet he also suffers in nature as a punishment for defying Mother Nature Victor's character is told in first person to emphasize the consequences in exceeding human expectations. The creature: first person ● Tells his story to Victor with the purpose to find compassion ● Able to educate himself ● Questions the reasons for hatred towards him ● He is abandoned and lonely. He desires to seek love and care from his creator. ● He feels resentment towards Victor. ● Wants to be part of a family. However, he is never part of one. ● He lives a miserable life in search for love The creature's character is told in first person in order to express his emotions and thoughts, to not be only seen as the monster Victor portrayed him as. Clerval: third person ● Unlike Victor, he desires to explore nature. ● Helps Victor recover. ● Is not as ambitious and greedy as Victor. ● He loves his friend and wants to protect him. Clerval's character is told by Victor to demonstrate that family can heal and provide love. Shelley highlights the significance of staying near family rather than seeking what in forbidden. Elizabeth: third person ● Beautiful in looks and actions ● Given to Victor by his mother ● Victor is obsess with her and considers himself her protector ● She adores Victor Elizabeth's character is also told by Victor to juxtapose his feelings towards his creature. 3 The cottagers: third person ● Love and compassion The cottagers' characters are told by the creature to reinforce the notion of hope within the creature that not all humans are the same. D. Plot 1. Summary In pursuit of historical greatness, Victor Frankenstein bestows life to a being of his own creation, yet is horrified of his crime against nature. The creature discovers that it is hated by man for its abominable condition and comes to abhor Victor, whose life is ravaged by depression. 2. Major Climax The major climax in the book is when Victor dies. Once this occurs, Robert Walton continues to recount stories of the time to his sister, also relating a story about the creature. Upon discovering Victor's death, the creature concedes that it is horridly miserable and sets out to commit suicide, relieving the duty of divine retribution bestowed upon Walton by Victor. Lamenting its crimes against humanity, the creature admits death is a suitable peace, and Robert Walton is left depressed by Victor's death and witness to the end of Victor's legacy. 3. Noticed Recurring Events Pg 72, 166: the creature and his interaction with fire Pg 35, 121: Victor in the process of creating creatures Pg 22, 35, 50: Lightning in different contexts -Victor's depression Pg 73,74, 97, 101: human reactions to the creature Pg 47, 129, 144: the creature's murders -The overall lack of friendship experienced by Robert in the beginning, the creature throughout its life, and Victor when he is away from his family and friends. 4. Ending The purpose of the ending is to express the creature's lament and its attempt having one last moment of the life it had had when Victor was alive; living, consumed by flames that scorched the being, both emotionally and physically. It is also a demonstration of how the creature is the only one capable of consoling itself, choosing to kill itself with an entity that can cause both comfort and pain, as suggested by the creature on page 72. The darkness of the environment that the creature journeys into in his final trek is meant to represent the obscurity of the truth, the fact that the abomination of the creature existed and Frankenstein was the creator. In this way, the idea that Victor's pursuit of historical greatness was his sole burden is emphasized 4 II. Commentary on Plot and Structure C. For each character identify the following. What values do they hold? What purpose do they have in the book? How does the society of the story influence each character? Justine The character Justine brings the innocence to the story. For example, she was accused for the murder of Victor’s brother; she was not the murder because later on in the story, the creature admits he killed William. The creature wanted to brainwash William so he can have a person to have a companionship. Justine shows how injustice the world for a murder that she did not commit. The only people that knew she was not the murder were Elizabeth and Victor. Victor is a complex character because he feels differently with other people. When Victor created the creature, at first he felt anxious to create something for mankind. But when the creature was made, Victor felt regretful because he made another human being of different body parts, something that it is impossible to do. Towards his father, Victor respects him. His father was always honest with him, even when he told him “not to waste time upon sad trash” (20). Because his father told Victor that the books he reads are a waste of time, Victor still followed on what he believed. This sense, Victor respects him because he saw his claim as a challenge to overcome. Victor also feels love to Elizabeth. When Victor’s mom told him that she has a present for him, Victor states “Elizabeth as mine- mine to protect, love, and cherish” (18). Victor saw Elizabeth as his possession, his possession to make her life better and loveable. Because her life was filled with love, Elizabeth was able to love others as well. One example is Elizabeth’s love for is Justine. Elizabeth describes her as caring because she took care of Victor’s mother during her sickness. Although, she was a made, Justine felt as if she was part of the Frankenstein family and because of that, Elizabeth was able to express her love. The love that Elizabeth has reveals the lack of love Victor. Victor was far away from his family and had no one to have a companionship with. Elizabeth had a companionship and eventually was able to express herself to others. Another character presented is Clerval. The purpose of Clerval in the story is for Victor to express his tranquility. After Victor created the creature, he felt regretful. When Clerval visited him, Victor “felt suddenly, and for the first time during many months, calm and serene joy” (37). This shows that Clerval’s role is for Victor to forget about despair and misery. DeLacey is another character that has a significant role in the book. DeLacey and the creature are foil characters because they are both isolated from society due to physical appearance. DeLacey is a blind man and it is settled at the cottage, a place isolated from villages. The creature lives in the mountains where he cannot have any contact with villagers. When the creature makes contact with the old man, DeLacey’s family begins to beat him and eventually run away. Because he was not accepted to people he considered his friends, the creature begins to have a feeling of anger. Because of this anger, the feeling of revenge is revealed for the first time. 5 D. Was the conclusion a satisfactory ending to the work? Why/ why not? If not, then how would you have ended the work, and why? I think that the conclusion was unsatisfactory because I thought that the creature would’ve enjoyed seeing Victor Frankenstein being death. The creature was seeking for revenge and finally he saw this he was trying to get rid of, is death. The creature could have enjoyed his victory by going back to Victor’s studies, and since he was a really knowledgeable creature, he could have gone and built himself a partner since that is what he wanted. And continue on whether the creature was really going to be content with the life he would have. It also could have ended by Victor being a fake friend to the creature. Victor Frankenstein was a threat to the creature, since he knew that the creature existed, Victor himself could’ve easily fooled and killed him by acting as a friend to him. Faking being a friend with the creature, it would have driven both of them together. And the story could have ended by Victor feeling guilty of creating the creature and throughout his lifetime just making him suffer that in the end he would be regretting faking friends with the creature and killing him, leaving Frankenstein a miserable human being and killing himself in the North Pole and setting himself on fire. E. How do each of the settings make the work more interesting? The setting of the cottage demonstrates most of the creatures personality. In this scene, he showed his benevolence and kindness. He would help out the family by collecting wood and clearing the path from snow. He also stopped stealing food after he figured out that his protectors were poor. Moreover, this is also the scene in which his humbleness ended and his evil began. After Delacey did not defend him from Felix’s attacks he realized how evil and selfish humanity is. Men rely on physical aspect and do not even give him a chance to present the kindness within him. The setting also helps illustrate the tranquility that Victor can still have. Victor was in “a painful state of mind”, yet the “calm and heavenly scene restored [him]”(48-49). This illustrates that even though he was going through a rough time something can still bring him peace of mind. This contributes to the work as a whole because nature, the thing that allowed the creature to survive and hide, brought him peace. This reveals their similarity: they were both one with nature. Finally, the surroundings that Victor, or the creature, seem to be in seem to relate back to the overall theme of the book: you cannot outplay nature and create something unnatural without nature destroying it. For example, as Victor is walking by the “immense mountains ...the sound of the river raging...and the dashing of the waterfall around” (64) , he feels great energy within this scenery. However, as he keeps walking he suddenly sees “ruined castles” , revealing that while nature itself is great and mighty, the manmade castles deteriorated and no longer serve a purpose. Shelley uses this setting to reveal how nature prevails what man has made. Though man creates things, they are only temporary and in no way signify the same strength than what comes naturally on this earth. This can be tied back to Frankenstein's creature. Though Victor decided to play the role of god and create life, because he is not god, the creature seems to be more of a concrete creation rather than something that comes naturally in this earth. This then foreshadows the creature’s death, for just like the ruined castles, nature will take over and abolish mankinds creations. 6 F: Describe the society of the book (the fictional one created by the author): The setting as a whole is describes as a place where the amount of love is the same as the amount of hate. Between Victors family, much gratitude and joy exists, but in the beings life their is just rancor. The family is being presented as a happy and perfect family; For example, the relationship between father and son is very peaceful and can even be considered a friendship. Females in the book are portrayed as females of virtues. Humbleness, kindness , and love are expressed through them. For example, Elizabeth's love for Victor was what led her to withstand his problems, but when he lost her, he no longer had that serenity that he gave her. She was his medicine and was able to calm him down. III. Themes and Other Abstract Ideas A. What are the major themes (short phrases for each) of the work? 1. Defying nature/intervening with nature 2. Judging appearance-> moral change/internal conflicts 3. Lack of self control may lead to regret 4. Healing power of nature 5. Nature can be both enlightening and destructive 6. Knowledge can be dangerous 7. How monstrosity is not only determined by appearances but also action 8. Lying and secrecy may lead to isolation and self-destruction 9. The importance of literacy and knowledge->may lead to comfort 10. Revenge/vengeance may motivate an individual to extremes 11. Familial influence/importance of family 12. Ignorance is bliss 13. The power of knowledge and exploration/discovery 14. Limited knowledge and power B. How is each of these themes portrayed in the work? 1. Judging based on appearance can lead to moral change and internal conflicts: This theme is seen greatly throughout the novel. The most abundant example is that of the creation of Victor Frankenstein who due to his hideous appearance is abhorred and isolated by society. Being judged by everyone because of something beyond his control causes his to hate his creator, for even he rejected him. It is this Theme that causes the twisted series of developments that occur throughout the novel. 7 2. Lack of self-control may lead to regret: The lack of self-control is seen clearly in two individuals, Victor and his creation. Victor’s lack of self-control is in the beginning of the novel when he is obsessed with discovery and knowledge. The facility with which Victor becomes obsessed leads to his creation of the creature and ultimately his never ending pain. The creature’s lack of selfcontrol is derived from the memory of his creator who abandoned him. For example, in the narration of his story, of his first years of life, He explains how he was consumed with rage from the mistreatment of humans toward him that when he heard the last name of his creator, Frankenstein, he immediately ended the life of he who was part of his family. In that case it was his younger brother William. Ultimately, the creature is able to see the error of his ways, regretting all his actions and confessing to his regret. He does this at the deathbed of his abhorred yet cherished creator: Victor. 3. Obsession with Knowledge leads to pain while family lead to happiness: The obsession with knowledge creates a parallel between Victor and Wilton. They both obsess with discovery and it leads Victor to excruciating emotional pain, for he experienced the loss of all his loved ones. For Walton it creates unbearable levels of physical pain as he tries to conquer the icy oceans. However, as seen through the family of the cottagers family is far more important. The life of these people was ravaged by poverty and hardship, but through all their struggles they managed to find happiness. Their happiness came from being together as seen when they sit around talking playing music and singing. Being with the people they love leads them to do all that is possible to keep them safe, including leaving their home after seeing the horrendous creature. 4. Parental influence/importance of family: The influence father figures have on the outcome of their children is great. In the case of Victor, his father’s leniency as well as providing everything for his son caused victor not to appreciate his new life away from Geneva. Instead of exploring he isolated himself from society. It also caused his uncontrolled obsession with discovery and understanding nature. Completely opposite was the father of Henry Clerval. The father was very strict and hardworking, they were a merchant family. Therefore, when Henry was given the freedom to travel, he enjoyed it to the fullest. Always full of joy, loving the sight of nature and exploring all he could. To him, it was privilege to be able to travel. As for the creature, his father was none other than his creator, Victor. However he was abandoned soon after his creation. Having no one to guide him through the new sensation of life, or protect him from the cruelty of society, the creature became utterly despised and isolated. His loneliness and the absence of guidance are the main reason of his hate toward Victor and lead him to commit horrendous crimes. 8 C. What are the moral and ethical problems explored in the story? Was it right or wrong for Victor to play the role of god and create his own creature? It was wrong of him to play the role of god and create a creature that not even he, his creator, could control. This is explored throughout the story because the moment Victor saw his creation he regretted it and ran away from it (35). The creature was a wretch that was brought into the world by pure ambition and was not going to accept the creature breathing the same air as him. This moral continues to be present throughout the book because towards the end of the book the creature itself admits that it’s a monster. He realizes that he is like “a blot upon the earth” (85). His creation was mistake because the creature was just made to suffer and go through a lot of misery. Not judging someone because of their looks. The creature didn't want to hurt anyone or be seen as a threat, but the constant rejection of people, including his own creator, caused him to feel hatred towards humans and hurt them. Not knowing what it was or where it came from alerted on one of the human instincts, danger. Not knowing what the creature was and where it cam from brought fear into humans and if it could hurt them or not. Abandoning his creation was wrong of Victor to do because it was something that he really wanted and he left it at the last minute. Victor really wanted to discover the unknown, but not knowing what to expect at all cause him great fear within himself and that also caused him to leave his creation behind. If he was willing to do anything to discover something new he should have seen the result and stayed with the creature. IV. Style A. Describe the author’s overall style and pick several examples that illustrate it. Mary Shelley starts with Robert Walton’s Perspective with the letters then changes it to Victor’s perspective then the creature then Victor then Walton’s all over again. In some of the book Elizabeth and Victor’s father are part of the story through their letters. Walton is only describing what he is being told by the creature and Victor. These characters describes scenes and feeling they would only know. They add more details to Walton’s letter describing their journeys and their experiences. Victor describes this creature as heartless, vicious, and hideous. While the creature describes the reason for him to become evil, he wants Walton to understand that he has feelings and can think on his own. The characters shift throughout the story to provide an extra detail, to describe ideas that Walton could not describe on his own. Without the creature and Victor’s story Walton would not have a story for his letters. And if he only had either the creatures or Victor’s story the story would be incomplete because he would only have one side of the story and would be bias on behave the characters. 9 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is an epistolary novel, meaning that it’s a novel written as a series of document, in particular, letters. This is prevalent in the first four letters written to Mrs. Saville from Robert Walton and also the letters that Frankenstein and his family communicated with. Through the use of the epistolary novel form, Mary Shelley added greater realism to the story by mimicking the workings of real life. These letters are used to reveal different points of view without an omniscient narrator. In the beginning of the novel, we are presented with four letters of Robert Walton’s to his sister, in which, he demonstrates his immense amount of ambition and gives his direct location. In these letters, we can see that his goal is to discover what has never been discovered – the North Pole. In these letters we are also come to find how Frankenstein and Walton crossed paths and thus the actual gruesome story begins. Throughout the book, there are a series of letters that Frankenstein receives from his family after he’s left to Germany to study. These letters show great love, admiration and curiosity as the family had not heard back from Frankenstein in a long time. There was one letter, from Elizabeth, that shows a deep sorrow after the death of young William, which causes Frankenstein to head back home. The final letters we are presented with are sent to Mrs. Saville by Robert Walton where he no longer presents his ego, but admirations for Frankenstein, especially after he came in contact with the Being. At the end of the novel, Frankenstein died of disease while the Being set himself on fire, leaving no proof of Frankenstein’s work, except for the letters, which will help in achieve the glory and legacy he aimed for. In addition, Mary Shelley uses Romanticism in order to demonstrate the emotions of the character. Shelley was only one of the few authors that used romanticism as part of their style. She uses the monster as part of romanticism; the being is created and is abandon just because he was not able to reach Victor’s expectations of perfection. The creature was rejected tons of times throughout the novel, by Victor, the cottagers, and some of the villagers. Therefore, the creature had to live on his own, and learn to love without human contact. There isn’t anyone he is able to sympathize with; there isn't anyone that understands him as a person. The creature must face isolation because he does not meet social norms in humanity as a whole. Therefore, he must find some comfort, and he finds it through nature. Nature, another romantic concept, does not judge and cannot speak, so it can’t judge the monster. He is able to related to it through the fact that they were both created, and it’s beauty is able to bring it comfort. B. How do the author’s diction, grammar, sentence structure, organization, point of view, detail, syntax and irony enhance the meaning of the work and show his attitudes? Shelley uses aggressive diction to emphasize that humanity is filled with violence. When Victor met the monster for the first time, he was filled with shock to know that he was still alive. His initial response was “Devil… do you dare approach me?... Begone, vile insect” (68). Without hesitation, Victor immediately calls him a devil because he has killed his son; he wants to get rid of him as soon as possible and wants to eliminate out of his life by telling him to begone. The creature has ruined Victor’s life and has nothing else to live for, so his response is full of vengeance towards his being. Not only is Victor show hatred towards the being, but so do the cottagers, the people who he believes would have a heart towards him. Once he had a hint of hope when talking with DeLacey, Felix immediately “struck [him] violently with a stick”(97). Because the creature is unknown to humans, they all treated him with such violence. The dictions emphasize the mistreatment of humans even to the kindest thing even though it doesn’t look familiar or appeal to humanity’s eyes. 10 In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, through the use of detail and irony, emphasizes the theme that nature has dominance over everything. In order to describe the settings of the novel, Shelley uses an abundance of detail, thus emphasizing the theme of nature being a dominant entity. After young William and Justine’s death, Frankenstein vows to kill their murderer – the Being. Frankenstein finds himself in the midst of a mountain trail where, “the immense mountains and precipices that overhung [him] on every side – the sound of the river raging among the rocks, and the dashing of the waterfall around, spoke of a power mighty as Omnipotence,” (64) provided him with comfort. We know that Frankenstein “selected [the Being’s] features as beautiful,” (35) but obviously resulted in horrid qualities. Frankenstein intended to create something perfect – something natural – but failed miserably and thus would find condolence in nature where everything is perfect because everything is natural, unlike his hideous creation, which in itself is laughable to the gods and nature. The irony of the novel stems from Victor Frankenstein’s creation. He broke all laws of nature, in order to prove himself to the world that he deserved a rightful place with the gods. But, his entire creation backfired. At the first sight of the Being, instead of taming the beast, Victor ran off like a coward. After disturbing nature, he ironically sought comfort in it. Instead of staying home in mourning with the rest of his family at home, with the gates locked protecting them from any danger, Victor would climb the fence and seek refuge in the lake. But, he had already disrespected nature and it no longer welcomed him. Victor was “often tempted, when all was in peace around [him], and [he] was the only unquiet thing that wandered restless in a scene so beautiful and heavily,” to “plunge into the silent lake,” (62). The lake was gorgeous and provided him with tranquility, but not for long, as he soon desired to drown himself. The lake so heavenly, mocked Victor as it reflected perfection because everything was completely natural and not man-made opposed to the Being who was hideous. Thus Frankenstein’s peace only lasted for mere moments. The use of detail and irony correlate to emphasize that nature, itself like a god-like entity, would dominate everyone and eliminate everything un-natural, which can be seen in the Being and Frankenstein’s death. "Day after day, week after week, passed away on my return to Geneva; and I could not collect the courage to recommence my work." Chapter 18 The author uses a long sentence to describe the victor’s lengthy journey back home. Mary Shelley used long sentences throughout the book to emphasize Victor’s misery after he created this creature that after being creating him he right away resented his decisions unlike in the beginning he describes that his “winter, Spring, and summer passed away during [his] labours.” Chapter 4. The sentence is still a long sentence however, as he describes the seasons he shows that before he created the creature his time went faster and the seasons went fast that he didn’t notice the time going by. The author uses long sentences to show the character’s emotion whether it is joyful or horrible. Shelley also uses questions to express the character’s hatred towards their superior. After Victor created the monster, he was not perfect. It was nothing to what his imagination had imagined. It was ugly (34). As he acted as God by trying to create perfection, he asked himself if God created perfection to “mock at [his] unhappiness?”(49). Victor believes that he did, yet its beauty is the only thing that is able to bring him back to health. Because he cannot be an almighty superior, Victor reveals his frustration through his question. The creature also blames his creator for creating him because he is living a life of misery. He is alone in the woods trying to learn everything on his own, without any help from anyone. He too cries out why he was cursed by being created. 11