General Study Guide

• What narrative structure is used in the story?

  Mise-en-abyme (story within a story)
• Who is the framing narrator in the story?

  Walton
• What type of narrator is Victor Frankenstein?

  Intra-diegetic narrator
• How is the creature classified in terms of narration?

  Meta-diegetic narrator
• What could Shelley be suggesting by placing the creature at the center of the novel?


  She may be referring to the 'monster' within all humans.
• Why might the narrators be considered unreliable?


  Each narrator provides a different and biased perspective.
• When was the first edition of the novel published?

  1818
• Who wrote the introduction for the first edition of the novel?

  Percy Shelley
• What does having three male voices narrate suggest about the text?

  It could be a satirical attack on 'authorised' perspectives.
• When did Shelley write her own introduction to the revised version of the text?


  1831
• What narrative form does the novel open with?

  Epistolary form
• What does Walton's letter writing frame in the novel?


  Victor’s tale and his own journey to the North Pole
• How does Walton act as a foil character to Victor?


  He never achieves the levels of discovery that Victor does.
• What does the opening of the novel add to its realism?


  A sense of verisimilitude
• How does Walton serve as a doppelganger to Victor?


  It allows the reader to view their similarities and character flaws.
• What is the effect of narrative distancing in the novel?


  It creates a separation between each voice.
• How does Shelley use narrative distancing to reflect her own voice?


  To distance her voice from the text in a patriarchal society.
• What does Victor's distancing reflect in the narrative?


  The geographic distances traveled in the journey.
• How does the creature's distancing signal its alterity?


  It highlights the creature's alienation from society.
• What is Walton's primary obsession in the story?


  The pursuit of knowledge
• How does Walton describe his industrious nature in Letter II?


  He describes himself as a workman executing with perseverance and labor.
• What masculine desire do Walton and Victor share?


  A desire to conquer and control nature.
• What does Walton's statement about success in Letter III reveal?


  His determination and ambition.
• What does Victor hope to achieve by creating a new species?


  He desires to be its creator and source.
• How does Walton's desire for companionship relate to the creature?


  It links him to the creature's own desire for connection.
• What does Walton overlook regarding the didactic purpose of Victor's story?


  He fails to learn from Victor's warnings.
• How does the reader first meet Victor Frankenstein?


  He is saved from icy waters by Walton.
• What does Victor's monomania lead him to neglect?


  His family and friends.
• How does Victor's childhood affect his actions towards the Monster?


  His loving childhood makes his rejection of the Monster ironic.
• Who does Victor fall in love with?


  Elizabeth Lavenza
• What is Victor's most passionate love aside from Elizabeth?


  The thirst for knowledge.
• How does Victor view the deaths that occur after the Monster's creation?


  He does not see himself as guilty.
• What is Victor's hamartia?


  His hubris and selfish ambition.
• What does the name 'Victor' symbolize?


  His hubristic wish to be victorious in science.
• What was Victor's initial aim in creating life?


  To banish disease and render man invulnerable.
• How is the Monster initially presented to the reader?


  From Victor's perspective, full of horror and disgust.
• What does the Monster's perspective reveal about its character?


  It exposes vulnerability, isolation, and misery.
• What does the Monster learn from observing the De Lacey family?

  What it is to be human.
• What action does the Monster take after being rejected by the De Lacey family?


  He burns down their house.
• What does the Monster vow to do after Victor breaks his promise?


  To take revenge on Victor.