- 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
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