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Literature Study Guides 쇴 Frankenstein 쇴 Plot Summary

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley

Study Guide Videos Documents Q&As Discussions

Contents
Frankenstein … Plot Summary
Overview Professor Regina Buccola of Roosevelt University explains the
plot summary in Mary Shelley's book Frankenstein (1818).
Assistir no
Infographic

Context
Frankenstein | Plot Summary Share

Characters

쇽 See Plot Diagram


Plot Summary
Summary
Chapter Summaries Frankenstein takes place in the 1790s. It's a wild scenic ride, beginning in St. Petersburgh
- Chapter 1 (spelling later changed to St. Petersburg), Russia, and then shifting to the Archangel, Russia;
the waters of the Arctic Ocean; Geneva, Switzerland; Ingolstadt, Germany; Mont Blanc,
- Chapter 2 between Italy and France; Germany; the Netherlands; London; the Orkney Islands oc the
coast of Scotland; and dnally back to the Arctic Ocean.
- Chapter 3
Robert Walton, an explorer headed for the North Pole, opens the story by relating his
- Chapter 4 adventures in letters to his sister Margaret Saville. Walton and his crew see a manlike giant
driving a dogsled in the distance. Soon after, they see another man, skeletal and nearly frozen
- Chapter 5
to death, also driving a dogsled. They rescue the latter dgure and learn that he is Victor
- Chapter 6 Frankenstein and has been chasing the huge creature. As Victor regains his strength, he tells
Walton his story.
- Chapter 7
Victor takes up the narration. He and his younger brothers, Ernest and William, enjoyed a
Quotes
happy childhood in Geneva, Switzerland, thanks to their loving and wealthy parents, Alphonse
and Caroline, who adopted Alphonse's sister's daughter, Elizabeth Lavenza. Elizabeth and
Symbols Victor were both dve years old at the time. They became close friends. Victor's other close
companion was Henry Clerval, a classmate who enjoyed stories of knights in shining armor, a
contrast to Victor's obsession with science.
Themes
The family's happiness dimmed when Elizabeth became ill with scarlet fever and Caroline
The 1818 and 1831 contracted the illness while nursing her. Before dying she communicated her great wish: that
Editions Victor and Elizabeth marry. After recovering from the loss of his mother, Victor left home to
study science at the University of Ingolstadt in Germany. The top chemistry student, he was
determined to discover "the principle of life." Victor studied day and night, dug up corpses
Author Biography from cemeteries, and set up his own laboratory. Stitching together body parts from various
corpses, he made a creature 8 feet tall. Using electricity, he gave the Monster life, but it was
Discussion Questions terridcally strong and grotesquely hideous. Repelled by his gruesome creation, Victor rejected
the Monster.
Questions 11 - 20
Later, Victor was relieved to dnd that the Monster has disappeared. Exhausted from two years
of nonstop work and the horrid results, Victor collapsed. Henry nursed Victor back to health.
Questions 21 - 30
Returning home more than a year later, Victor was shocked to learn of the murder of his
Questions 31 - 40
brother William. A servant, Justine Moritz, was blamed for the crime after a locket belonging
Questions 41 - 50 to William was found in her pocket. Although Justine was hanged for the crime, Victor was
sure that the Monster committed the murder, seeking revenge for Victor's rejection. Victor did
Questions 51 - 56 not reveal his suspicions, because he did not think that anyone would believe him.

Things You Didn't Know Victor went hiking at Montanvert to help deal with his guilt and grief, but the Monster found
him and recounted his own history. The Monster explained that he had found refuge in an
abandoned cottage. There he spied on a family in a neighboring cottage, the De Laceys,
Suggested Reading learning to speak and to read by observing them through a window. The Monster grew very
fond of the family for their kindness to each other. Finally he got up the courage to approach
Cite This Study Guide the family, but they rejected him and ked from their home. Furious, the Monster burned their
home to the ground and both murdered Victor's brother William and framed Justine for the
crime. Bitterly lonely and isolated, the Monster told Victor that he would leave his creator in
peace only if Victor created a mate for him. Victor reluctantly agreed.

Victor resumes his narration of events. Victor and Henry traveled together to England, where
they parted ways. Suspecting that the Monster was shadowing him to make sure that he kept
his word, Victor set up a new laboratory in the isolated Orkney Islands. There he began
building the female monster, but just before he gave her life, he tore the body apart, fearful
that she and the male would mate and create a race of monsters. The Monster, watching
through the window, became enraged and threatened that he would be with Victor on his
wedding night. The Monster then strangled Henry, leaving evidence (through witness
sightings) that Victor was responsible. Victor was found innocent after a trial, but his health
became shattered. He returned to Geneva, recovered, and made plans to marry Elizabeth.

On Elizabeth and Victor's wedding night, the Monster killed Elizabeth. The shock proved too
much for Victor's father, who died soon after. Determined to get revenge, Victor tracked the
Monster around the world, ending near the North Pole.

The story ends where it began, with Walton listening to Victor's story. Walton's voyage is
brutally hard, and the sailors want to turn back, but Victor wants them to push on so that he
can continue to track the Monster, reminding them of their goals for the voyage. With the
voyage endangering their lives, Walton agrees with the men to turn around, and Victor dies
soon after. Walton is shocked to see the Monster appear and mourn over Victor's corpse. The
Monster explains that he killed Victor's family and Henry because of his rage at being
shunned by all humans—even his creator. The Monster has found no comfort in his actions,
however, and promises to kill himself. At the conclusion Walton watches the Monster spring
"from the cabin-window ... upon the ice-raft" that lies close to the vessel. He is "soon borne
away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance."

Frankenstein Plot Diagram

Climax

9
Fal
n

8
io
t

li
Ac

10
ng

7
g
in

Ac
is

6
R

tio

11
n

5
4 12
3 Resolution
2
1

Introduction

Introduction Climax

1 Robert Walton meets Victor, who 9 Victor sets oc to dnd the


tells his tale. Monster and kill him.

Rising Action Falling Action

2 Victor builds the Monster, brings 10 Victor is rescued by Walton.


it to life, and kees.
11 Victor dies.
3 The Monster kills William;
Justine is blamed and executed. Resolution
4 Victor meets the Monster, who
12 The Monster mourns Victor and
tells his history.
jumps oc Walton's ship.
5 Victor builds the Monster a mate,
then destroys it.

6 The Monster vows to return on


Victor's wedding night.

7 The Monster kills Henry.

8 Victor marries Elizabeth, whom


the Monster kills.

쇶 Character Map Chapter Summaries 쇴

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