FREE ESSAY ON FRAKENSTEIN

FRAKENSTEIN

Author: Mary Shelley Country England 
Title Frankenstein Genre: Fiction/Horror 
1. Characters, with a brief description of each.
Victor Frankenstein: He is the main character, a paradigm of ambition and curiosity. He
does
not know when to stop, and therefore loses everything. 
Elizabeth Lavenza: She is the sweet sister-bride of Victor. With flawless personality,
she
represents the hope for escape to a good future. 
Caroline: As Victor's mother, she is as generous as can be. A bit controlling, she
desires the
marriage of Victor and Elizabeth from day one. 
Alphonse: Victor's father, a man who is kind and caring towards those in need. His
happiness
depends on the happiness of his children. If that fails, he does also. 
William: The youngest son of the Frankenstein family, he is victimized terribly and
becomes a
symbol of lost youth. 
Henry Clerval: Victor's best friend since childhood, he understands his friend better
than any
other character. He has opposite kinds of dreams and goals. 
Justine: A servant in the Frankenstein household who is more like a sister. She is
accused of
attacking William, and becomes another martyred symbol for lost youth. 
The Creature: He is the work of Frankenstein's hands, his greatest and worst passion
rolled into
one. The two have an unbreakable connection. 
Robert Walton: The stand-in for the reader, he is the person to whom Victor relates his
entire
history. He has much in common with the narrator: ambition, drive, desire for glory. 
De Lacey: He is the head of the household adopted by the creature. A blind man who is
kind
but has been robbed of his fortunes. 
Felix: The son of De Lacey, he is idealistic and not afraid to stand up for what he
believes in.
He loves his family with all his heart. 
Agatha: The daughter of De Lacey, she is a cheerful soul who lives to aid her brother and
care
for her father. She retains a level of class, even though she is poor. 
Safie: The betrothed of Felix, she is wonderfully exotic and beautiful. She also is
cheerful, and
loves to sing. 
2. Settings, with a brief description of each.
Frankenstein is set in the mountainous regions and woods surrounding the Frankenstein
home in Geneva, with the opening of the book set in the Arctic region, amidst icebergs
and
dogsleds. Some of the story is also set in the dark regions of Scotland.
3. One paragraph plot summary.
Robert Walton corresponds with his sister in a letter while on expedition to the Arctic
regions. He has taken aboard a weary passenger onto his ship. The man is Victor
Frankenstein.
Once Victor becomes more comfortable with Walton, he begins his story.Victor had a
peaceful,
almost ideal childhood in Italy. Once on one of his mother's frequent visits to the poor
of Italy,
she happens upon a foster family for the beautiful Elizabeth Lavenza. Caroline
immediately
adopts her into the Frankenstein family. Elizabeth and Victor become close, and their
parents
expect them to marry. The years fly by and two more sons, William and Ernest are born.
Victors
best friend and complete opposite is Henry Clerval. Victor's mother dies and the two are
betrothed. At school, Victor becomes obsessed with the notion of bringing dead flesh to
life. When
Victor has reanimated his creation, he looks on it with horror, and the creature
disappears. Victor
enjoys spending time with his two friends. Word then comes from Geneva that William has
been
Murdered. Upon returning, Victor comes upon his creature, and knows that he is the
murderer of
his brother. Victor learns that Justine has been accused of murdering William. She is
found
guilty and condemned to death. Victor again comes face to face with his creation. The
Monster
has been dwelling with a cottage family and has learned the ways of humans from a blind
man. He
demands of Victor that he make him a female companion. He journey to England with Henry,
who knows nothing of his plans. Victor gets about halfway through the task and rips it to
bits.
The creature vows vengeance, and kills Henry. All this makes Victor very ill. He returns
home, and on his and Elizabeth's wedding night, the creature murders Elizabeth. Victor
vows to
spend his days in pursuit of the creature. He goes to the ends of the earth to find him,
and dies in
his sleep. The creature visits the corpse, mourning and repenting the murder of his
creator. He still
contends that he has suffered most, and his reason for living is gone. He then escapes,
to suffer his
own fate.
4. Point of view (narration)
First Person 
5. Major themes, brief elaboration on each.
Mankind has moral responsibilities to each other, and there are boundaries which must
never be crossed for the good of all. 
The Role of the Creator to his Creation was that of a mother to a child. No matter how
dysfunctional the relationship is, the "child"-creation in this case is still a strong
bond between
them.
The Role of Nature in the lives of everyone should not be questioned. Nature is not to
be toyed with. Interference with the natural order of things will surely bring on the
destruction of
the one who interfered.
Scientific Advancement is a threat to Humankind. If science goes too far, there can be
no way of knowing what to expect from everyday life. If the line between life and death
is erased,
all of the natural laws that bound the earth are nothing.
6. Author's tequniques, with examples and commentary.
"I beheld the wretch - the miserable monster whom I had created ... the demoniacal
corpse to which I had so miserably given life."- This is an example of literary irony in
that
Victor had built up the image of this monster in his mind, billed the experience out to
be a glorious
birth- and a rebirth of his soul. -"A new species would bless me as its creator and
source; many
happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the
gratitude of
his child so completely as I should deserve theirs."
"It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils ...
I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into
the lifeless
thing that lay at my feet... by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the
dull yellow
eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs.
How can I
describe my emotions at this catastrophe."- This is an example of literary imagery
because
Shelley takes the time to add sight , sound, and feeling to describe a moment in time.
Justine's death and William's death are symbols of lost youth. Victor's youth was lost
along with his innocence when he created the creature.
7. Two short, quoted passages and a brief explanation of the significance of each.
This quote is the point in the novel where Victor was supposed to be living out his dream
of being
God, in a sense, and instead, he is filled with horror at the sight of this monster. He
realizes all of
this too late, of course, and he and his loved ones pay dearly for his mistake. 
8. Select and copy one sentence which expresses the author's style and commentary.
"by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the
creature
open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs."- Mary Shelley
described the
events in Frankenstein in a style that is most suggestive of that of the great
storytellers of old.
This style adds to the intimate atmosphere the reader is thrust into, where one is
allowed to delve
into the innermost desires a the human heart.