Mary Shelley

Robert Walton Victor Frankenstein The Monster Robert Walton tells of his life and Victor Frankenstein’s story in Letters 1-4 written to his sister. POV: Robert Walton is “I”. Victor Frankenstein tells of his fixation with science and the Monster’s story in the chapters. POV: Victor Frankenstein is “I”. It’s A Story Within A Story Within A Story. The Monster tells his story in Chapters POV: The Monster is “I”.

Nature Vs. Nurture Is the Monster evil because he is inherently bad, or did he turn bad because of the way he was treated?

Man vs. Nature Should man attempt to create life or leave creation to nature?

 Victor Frankenstein represents Obsession.  The Monster represents Evil.  Robert Walton represents Curiosity.  Elizabeth and Young William represent Innocence. Endangers Innocence CuriosityObsessionEvil

 Frankenstein is a story told in a series of flashbacks.  A flashback is an account of a conversation, an episode, or an event that happened before the beginning of a story.

Victor Frankenstein & Henry Clerval  Victor and Henry are character foils. Henry is the reminder of Victor’s beginnings, making Victor’s instability more obvious. Robert Walton & Victor Frankenstein  Robert idolizes Victor because they share similar interests. Victor becomes Robert’s mentor to prevent Robert from making the same mistakes.

 The Romantic time period of the 19 th century in Britain and Europe.  Writers looked to nature for their inspiration.  The distant past was idealized.  Literature of this period celebrated the individual.  Characters were often emotional and imaginative instead of rational and analytical. Frankenstein is a classic example of Romanticism.

 Who is the real monster in the story?  What is the rising action, conflict, climax, falling action, and resolution of the novel?  How is the setting an example of Romanticism?  How did Mary Shelley create a new genre with this novel?