Frankenstein

C l a s s D i s c u s s i o n
 Letters 1-4
1. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein opens with a series of letters written by a ship
captain named Robert Walton to his sister Margaret Saville, in England. A novel that
consists primarily of letters is called an epistolary novel. Why might Shelley have
decided to endow her novel with an epistolary frame? How might the medium of the
letter — written on a particular day and addressed to a close acquaintance — contribute
to the tense, tone, and atmosphere of the novel?

2. Does the setting of Shelley’s novel have symbolic significance?

3. Lured by the prospect of scientific discovery, Robert Walton embarks upon a polar
expedition that he hopes will culminate in his “discovering a passage near the pole” or
“ascertaining the secret of the magnet” (16). Why might Mary Shelley have decided to
include Robert Walton’s story in the novel? Do you see any parallels between the
conditions of Walton’s life and the conditions of Victor Frankenstein’s life?

4. In the moment before Frankenstein begins his own narrative, he asks Walton an
important question: “Unhappy man! Do you share my madness?” (29). What does the
word “madness” mean in this context? Do you think Frankenstein is correct to suggest
that Walton shares his madness? Why or why not? As always, please support your 2
answer with textual evidence!
 Chapters 1-4
1. One of the most interesting and odd moments in Shelley’s novel is found when Victor
Frankenstein’s mother announces to her son, “I have a pretty present for my Victor —
tomorrow he shall have it’” (37). Frankenstein relates that on the next day, when his
mother “presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift,” he responded by
“interpret[ing] her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as mine — mine to protect,
love, and cherish” (37). What is the significance of this scene? What does it reveal about
the personality of protagonist Victor Frankenstein? How does the scene shed light on
the novel’s central themes: for example, on the moral complexity of conception, on the
responsibilities of parents to their children, on the treatment of humans as objects, or
on another theme?

2. When Victor Frankenstein talks about his foster-sister Elizabeth, he frequently

traffics in gender stereotypes. For example, he distinguishes himself from Elizabeth by
making the following comparison: “While my companion contemplated with a serious
and satisfied spirit the magnificent appearances of things, I delighted in investigating
their causes” (38). Did you notice any other gender stereotypes?

3. How does Victor Frankenstein’s father respond when he realizes that his son is
reading Agrippa (40)? How does Victor respond to his father’s response (41)? Why 3
might Mary Shelley have included these details in her novel?
 Chapters 5-6
1. In her Introduction written in 1831, Mary Shelley would recall the words
with which she began her ghost story: “On the morrow I announced that I
had thought of a story. I began that day with the words, ‘It was on a dreary
night on November’” (10). What are the first words of Chapter 5? If Shelley
were to have begun Frankenstein with this chapter, how would the novel be
different?

2. How does Frankenstein respond to the actual life that he has created (58)?
If Frankenstein enjoyed exclusive control over the process of producing the
creature, why would he be surprised and appalled by the finished product?
Why is he filled with disgust almost immediately after his creation is finished?

3. While immersed in the project of creating life, Frankenstein refers to himself

as having “pursued nature to her hiding-places” (55). By referring to nature as
“her,” Frankenstein participates in a gendered discourse that has constructed
science as a masculine discipline which attempts to penetrate and exploit the
resources of a feminine natural world. One literary scholar has observed that
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this gendered construction of science and nature is “one dimension of a more
 Chapters 6-8
1. When Victor Frankenstein attempts to return to his hometown of Geneva,
Switzerland, he finds that he cannot enter the city because “the gates of the town
were already shut” (77). How might Victor’s inability to return home be symbolic? Is
it significant that what Victor thought would be a homecoming and joyful reunion
turns out to be an experience of separation and grief? On that same night, Victor
attempts to visit the location where William was murdered only to find himself
caught outside as a “the darkness and storm increased every minute” (77). How
might the weather in this chapter be symbolic? And what might Victor’s response to
the lightning storm reveal about his personality?

2. Before William was killed, he had been wearing a necklace with a miniature painting
of the deceased mother of Victor and William. A couple days later, that same
miniature picture is found in the pocket of Justine Moritz — and it becomes the
primary piece of evidence used to wrongly convict her. Why might Mary Shelley have
chosen to use an image of the mother in this way? How does Shelley’s use of this
miniature portrait contribute to the theme of mothers?

3. Although Frankenstein is initially unsure of who could have killed William, the mere
sight of the creature convinces him of the culprit. “He was the murderer! I could not 5
Scientific finding
doubt it. The mere presence of the idea was an irresistible proof of the fact” (78). Do
 Chapters 6-9
4. With Justine’s situation and trial, what is Shelley
suggesting about the justice system? About religion?

5. On the last page of the novel’s first volume,

Frankenstein says to himself, “This also was my doing!”
(90). Do you agree with Frankenstein’s verdict that he is
at least partially responsible for the deaths of William
and Justine? Why or why not? Finally, why doesn’t
Frankenstein tell anyone — not even his father or
Elizabeth — why he blames himself for the deaths of
William and Justine Moritz?
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 Ch 10-17: the Creature’s story
1. When Frankenstein meets with his creation, readers hear the creature speak for the
first time (102). What does he say? What does his speech reveal about his
personality? Does his speech resemble what you had expected from the creature? Do
the monster’s eloquence and persuasiveness make it easier for the reader to
sympathize with him? Why do you think most film versions of the story present the
monster as mute or inarticulate?

2. One of the first things that the creature says to Frankenstein is, “Do your duty
towards me, and I will do mine towards you and the rest of mankind” (102). What kind
of “duty” does a parent have toward his or her offspring? In your opinion, what do
parents owe to their children?

3. The creature begins his tale by recalling a time of primordial innocence when — like
Adam in the Eden myth — he ate berries in the forest, took pleasure from the sounds of
birdsong, and lived free from the burden of self-conscious. Yet after the creature’s
innocence is abruptly shattered, he begins to feel ashamed and hides inside a hut
attached to the De Lacey cottage. What experiences shatter the creature’s innocence?
Why might Shelley have established these parallels with the Eden myth?
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4. When he first approaches Frankenstein in the mountains, the creature asserts, “I was
 Creature’s Story cont.
1. After he is abandoned by the cottagers, the creature comes to perceive the natural
world as malevolent or evil. “Nature decayed around me, and the sun became heatless;
rain and snow poured around me; mighty rivers were frozen; the surface of the earth
was hard and chill, and bare, and I found no shelter” (141-142). Why does the creature
come to perceive nature as malevolent? Is the author suggesting that nature is
inherently malevolent? Why or why not?

2. When the creature finds himself immersed in a “deep wood” while traveling to
Switzerland, the natural world seems to exert a benevolent or medicinal effect on his
spirit: “One morning, however, finding that my path lay through a deep wood, I
ventured to continue my journey after the sun had risen; the day, which was one of the
first of spring, cheered even me by the loveliness of its sunshine and the balminess of
the air” (142). Is the author suggesting that nature is inherently benevolent? Why or
why not?
3. After the De Lacey family departs from their cottage, the creature places “a variety of
combustibles around the cottage” and then “lighted the dry branch of a tree” (140).
The creature then looks on with glee as “the cottage was quickly enveloped by the
flames” (141). How does this scene amount to a re-writing of the Prometheus myth?
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 Chapters 17-20
1. Mary Shelley clearly establishes a parallel between the creature’s desire for a female
companion and Victor’s desire to marry Elizabeth. Why might Shelley establish a
parallel between the two characters and their hopes for companionship?

2. Victor is aware that the process of creating a new life form causes him — perhaps
ironically — to lose his self-control or self-possession: “I was aware also that I should
often lose all self-command, all capacity of hiding the harrowing sensations that would
possess me during the progress of my unearthly occupation” (157). Moreover, during
the period when he has promised to make a female companion, Victor repeatedly refers
to himself as being enslaved to the creature: “I was the slave of my creature” (159). In
what sense is Victor a “slave” to his creature?

3. How would you characterize Victor Frankenstein’s attitude towards the task of
creating a female companion for the creature? Does Frankenstein seem focused
primarily on fulfilling the promise that he has made to the creature? Or does he seem
focused on emancipating himself from what he perceives as a form of involuntary
captivity? What evidence supports your answer? And what might this reveal about
Frankenstein’s character?

4.
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After leaving his friend Henry Clerval in the city of Edinburgh, Victor Frankenstein
9
 Chapters 17-20
1. When Frankenstein refuses to make a female companion for the creature, the latter
responds by reminding Frankenstein that humans are social animals whose happiness
depends upon their establishment of meaningful bonds with others: “Shall each man
find [. . .] a wife for his bosom, and each beast have his mate, and I be alone?” (172).
When Frankenstein declines to create a female companion, the creature threatens, “I
shall be with you on your wedding night” (173). Why does the creature respond to
Frankenstein’s refusal to create a companion by announcing that he will be with
Frankenstein on his “wedding night”? What does Frankenstein think the creature is
planning to do? What lesson does the creature wish to impart by choosing
Frankenstein’s wedding night to exact his revenge? Does Frankenstein ever learn the
lesson that the creature seeks to impart?

2. After Frankenstein breaks his solemn promise, the creature takes revenge by taking
the life of Henry Clerval. Somehow, it had not occurred to Frankenstein that any harm
would come to the friend with whom he had been traveling for the past few months.
Frankenstein takes responsibility for Henry’s death: “I called myself the murderer of
William, of Justine, and of Clerval” (181). Can Frankenstein rightfully be called the
“murderer” of Clerval? Why or why not?
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3. After the lifeless body of Henry Clerval is found in a coastal town of Ireland,
 Chapters 21-24
1. Frankenstein reports that during his three-month illness, he frequently asserted that
“William, Justine, and Henry — they all died by my hands.” In fact, Frankenstein
observes that these words “would burst uncontrollably from me”; and he admits the
involuntary expression of such “truth” helped to “reliev[e] the burden of my mysterious
woe” (190). Why can’t Frankenstein tell anyone — not even his father or Elizabeth —
why he blames himself for the deaths of his brother William, Justine Moritz, and Henry
Clerval? Why does Frankenstein censor the truths that he keeps buried inside himself?
Why can’t he voluntarily give expression to those truths? Why must the truths “burst”
forth “uncontrollably”?

2. Because Frankenstein has been away from Geneva for several months and would
seem to be avoiding her at all cost, Elizabeth writes a letter to Frankenstein in which
she asks, “Do you not love another?” (192). What do you make of Mary Shelley’s
repeated suggestion that Frankenstein’s primary attachment may not be to Elizabeth
but rather to the creature? How does Shelley depict vindictive emotions like resentment
and revenge? Can those emotions cause people to become fixated upon and obsessed
with — perhaps even captivated by — their perpetrators?

3. findings
Scientific What
do you make of how Frankenstein describes the wedding ceremony in which he 11
gets married to Elizabeth? Does he describe it at all? What might that reveal about
 Chapters 21-24
1. Although Victor Frankenstein makes a “solemn vow” to assemble a female companion
for the creature, he ends up tearing his second creation “to pieces” (171). Witnessing
the destruction of his female companion, the creature vows to avenge himself on
Frankenstein’s “wedding night” (173). Throughout the long months during which
Frankenstein broods over this threat, it never occurs to him that Elizabeth — and not he
himself — may be the intended victim. What does this say about Frankenstein’s
personality?

2. After Frankenstein discovers the lifeless body of his wife, he looks toward the window
and finds the creature laughing with glee: “I felt a kind of panic on seeing the pale
yellow light of the moon illuminate the chamber. The shutters had been thrown back;
and, with a sensation of horror not to be described, I saw at the open window a figure
the most hideous and abhorred. A grin was on the face of the monster; he seemed to
jeer as with his fiendish finger he pointed towards the corpse of my wife” (200). After
killing William, the creature fled the scene and seemed to feel some remorse for his
actions. Does the creature act any differently after killing Elizabeth? Why does he
appear at the window and point at Elizabeth’s dead body?

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 Ending Letters
1. Captain Robert Walton is clearly a double for Victor Frankenstein. Both characters
have embarked on a journey of scientific discovery in which they don’t hesitate to put
others at risk while pursuing their own fame. Both characters are depicted as being
obsessed with glory even as they are desperately lonely. Why might Mary Shelley
construct these two characters as doubles?

2. Do Victor Frankenstein and the creature become more similar as the novel goes on?
How does their relationship develop? Why, by the end of the novel, do both
Frankenstein and the creature seem to be miserable, bereft of human companionship,
and obsessed with revenge? Why might Mary Shelley depict the two main characters —
each of whom would like to live his own independent life — as coming to resemble,
depend upon, and pursue one another?

3. Mary Shelley is considered a Romantic writer. The Romantics were renowned for
depicting the beauty of nature and magnificent landscapes as a source of inspiration
and rejuvenation for humans. Yet Shelley begins and ends her novel by having
Frankenstein pursue his creature to the frigid and inhospitable terrain of the North
Pole. Does the author suggest that the natural world can also be fatal to human beings?
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Why might Shelley end her novel in such a desolate location?