CHAPTERS I-X

Chapter I

- Narrator = Victor Frankenstein
- Born: Geneva, Switzerland
- Comes from a distinguished family
- Talks about his father, Alphonse Frankenstein - affluent, respected, political
- His father had a merchant friend - Beaufort (poor) - live in Lucerne (large city in Switzerland)
- Beaufort and his daughter, Caroline lived in poverty until Beaufort's death
- Caroline + Alphonse= go back to Geneva -->: marry 2 years later
- His parents have a May-December Marriage (May: Caroline-young; December: Alphonse: old)
-  His father adored Caroline and treated her with reverence - doted on her
- They traveled to Italy, Germany, and France
- Victor was born in Naples = eldest son
- They loved Victor incredibly - deeply affectionate towards him

"I was so guided by a silken cord that all seemed but one train of enjoyment to me." (27, Shelley)

- Silken Cord - symbolism of delicate and smooth directing 
- Caroline wants a daughter = adopts an orphan in Milan (poor area)
- Elizabeth Lavenza: thin, fair haired, blue eyed (Milanese and German)
-  Victor's "more than sister" - foreshadowing to future lovers
- Elizabeth is presented to Victor as a "present" for him

"I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally, and looked upon Elizabeth as mine - mine to protect, love, and cherish." (28, Shelley)

- Victor and Elizabeth called each other cousins

"... since till death she was to be mine only." (28, Shelley)

- Shows Victor's possessive nature even as a child
- Foreshadowing? 

Chapter II

- Elizabeth and Victor always got along well with Elizabeth being more calm and concentrated and Victor more intense and driven by knowledge
- Victor tends to talk about nature often - deeply affects him
- Caroline and Alphonse have their 2nd son (7 years apart from Victor)
- Moved back to Geneva  = lived in a home in seclusion
- Best friend - Henry Clerval (son of a merchant)
- Passed a happy childhood
- Victor was feverishly studious and sought knowledge constantly
- Had a strong interest in nature and philosophy --> possibly leads to his interest in the creations of life? Foreshadowing
- Read Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, Albertus Magnus
- Victor was 15 when he watched lightning strike a tree and split it in half = gave up philosophy
- Symbolism - Lightning (Science) splits apart the tree (Philosophy)
- Took up math and science = logical side -- changes his life

Chapter III

- 17 = Alphonse thinks to send him to Ingolstadt University (Bavaria)
-  Elizabeth catches scarlet fever = Caroline watched over her
- Caroline caught the fever = Elizabeth gets better
- Caroline is on her deathbed and she wishes for Victor and Elizabeth to marry
- Caroline dies - Victor's first brush with death
- Elizabeth devotes all her time as lady of the house
- Victor departs to Ingolstadt
- Professors at Ingolstadt

• M. Krempe - professor of natural philosophy - tells Victor alchemy is useless and outdated
• M. Waldman - chemistry and sciences - opens Victor's eyes & brought him to the laboratory where he taught him the use of instruments

  "Thus ended a day memorable to me: it decided my future destiny." (40, Shelley)

- Victor is driven by his passions and it drives him to extremes

Chapter IV

- Goes to every class he can to learn more about science
- Victor studies relentlessly - obsessive characteristic!!
- He doesn't visit Geneva for 2 years
- Becomes known for his improvement in scientific instruments = creating a name for himself at about 19-20 years old (super genius!)
- Victor becomes more interested in the study of life and bodies - begins study in physiology and anatomy
- Says as a child his father took great precautions for him never to believe in ghosts or superstitious horrors -- his fearlessness for the unknown and his insatiable mind make him a monster himself
- He studies bodies in charnel-houses in the graveyard
- After close examination of all things dead and what makes live and vice versa - Victor discovers an astonishing secret

" Remember, I am not recording the vision of a madman." (42, Shelley)

-  Victor is speaking to Walton still and he wants him to know he isn't crazy, which means the next thing he says will undoubtedly sound crazy
- Victor will not tell us the secret he found - does not want us to fall as he did
- He thinks about what to do with the information he has procured and eventually decides to make a human = makes him 8 ft tall and proportionally tall
- Sees himself as a Father = creator of a new species
- Wanted to go a step further and "renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption" - possibly thinking about his mother??
- Throws himself entirely into his work - becomes pale and emaciated
- 2 years have passed
- He becomes a recluse and gains anxiety issues - because of his obsessive nature he loses his capability to function normally

Chapter V

- Dreary night in November (around 1 in the morning) when he finished his creation
- Creature:  yellow eyes, yellow skin, black and flowing hair, pearly white teeth, straight black lips; Victor tried to make the creature beautiful, but he doesn't think it is beautiful any longer
- An ugly description is foreshadowing to its evil deeds
- Monstrous creature

"...but now that I had finished , the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart." (47, Shelley)

- Horrified, Victor rushes out of the room leaving the living creature alone
- Dreams of Elizabeth (alive and healthy) turning into Caroline (dead and decaying)
- The "wretch" has found him in bed - Victor runs away
-  
 

Frankenstein - Letters

Letter I 
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

Prometheus: Mary Shelley subtitles her novel this because of Victor's thirst for forbidden knowledge. He is able to attain the knowledge necessary to bring life to inanimate objects, but this information that is not meant for humans to learn. The consequences of attaining knowledge lead to Victor's agony.

*Epistolary Writing - using letters as information and background

- Letter To: Mrs. Margaret Saville - England
- From: Robert Walton - St. Petersburg
- Date: Dec. 11, 17--

- Saville - Walton's sister
- Walton is on a ship and plans to go all the way North to:

• Understand magnetism 
• Faster route to the Orient through the Arctic Ocean

" I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man." (10, Shelley)

- Walton seems hopeful about his trip
- He talks about his education<-- neglected but he was very fond of reading = Uncle Thomas' library

*Injunction: command, order

- It was his father's injunction that he never have a seafaring life
- He took up poetry for a year = failed at it
- Inherited his cousin's fortune
- It has been 6 years since then 
- Walton voluntarily endured cold, famine, thirst, and want of sleep = Wale fishers on several expeditions to the North Sea
- Studied - math, medicine, physical science
- Became 2nd on the ship to the Captain
- Believes in glory over wealth
- Might be months to years before he returns from his voyage
- Next stop --> Archangel: depart in a fortnight (2weeks)

Letter II
Date: March 28, 17-- (Archangel)

- Walton = 28 years old and has no friends, yet wants one
- Tells a story about his Lieutenant (wants glory too)
- Lt. is an Englishman who was aboard a whale vessel and unemployed - Walton took him in
- Dreadfully severe winter

Letter III
Date: July 7, 17--

- Safe and well advanced into the voyage
- In good spirits
- Summertime
- No incidents
- Just some leaks which are common to ships

Letter IV
Date: August 5-19, 17--

- July 31st they had an accident that had them surrounded by ice
- Saw a carriage fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs headed North

" A being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge and guided the dogs." (19, Shelley) 

- The sledge disappears
- The ice finally breaks up at night
- The next morning Walton goes on deck and sees his men talking to someone in the sea
- Another sledge has drifted and inside is a human whom the sailors are trying to persuade onto the ship
- The man on the sledge is European: Victor Frankenstein

" Before I come on board your vessel,' said he,'will you have the kindness to inform me whither you are bound?" (20, Shelley)

- Walton tells him they are due North - the man consents to come aboard the ship
- His limbs were nearly frozen and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering
- 2 days pass before he was able to speak
- Finds that Victor is benevolent and kind
- He is chasing someone
- Calls who he pursues a "daemon"
- Walton has grown to love him as a brother
- Victor is getting healthier and better - goes on deck to watch for the other sledge
- They talk about Walton's expedition and he tells Victor that:

"One man's life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which i sought; for the dominance I should acquire and transmit over the elemental foes of our race." (22, Shelley)

-  Victor tells him he will tell him his story so he will change his mind -- they are much alike
- He is a very passionate man
- Victor warns him

"You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been." (23, Shelley)

- Foreshadowing the story to come
- Victor begins his story
- Multiple frame narrative RW-->VF-->MS