Frankenstein YT

• Frankenstein

  The main character in Mary Shelley's story, also the name of the novel
• A common mistake is that the creature is commonly misunderstood as being called Frankenstein, when in fact the creature has no name and Frankenstein is the name of the creator
• Victor Frankenstein


  • He is used as a cautionary tale against having excessive human ambition
  • He uses science to almost play the role of god
• During the Victorian era there were many advancements in science, with Charles Darwin refuting the idea of the creation myth and proposing the scientific idea of evolution
• Victor Frankenstein's actions


  Discounting the role of god and humans playing the role of god
• Prometheus


  A titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans, for which he was punished by being chained to a rock with an eagle eating his liver
• Victor Frankenstein's punishment


  His entire family was annihilated by his creation, similar to Prometheus' punishment
• Victor Frankenstein: 'It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn'
• Secrets of heaven and earth


  Things that are seen as the reserve of god
• Victor Frankenstein: 'Learn from me how dangerous the requirement of knowledge'
• Knowledge

  Dangerous, contrary to what people think
• Victor Frankenstein: 'A new species would bless me as its creator and source'
• Creating a new species

  Victor Frankenstein's ambition, like creating a new human race or species
• Victor Frankenstein: 'Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil as I dabbled among the unhallowed dams of the grave'
• Horrors, grave

  Semantic field of death, showing Victor Frankenstein's actions becoming closer to his own death
• Dabbled

  Verb with sexual connotations, suggesting Victor Frankenstein was 'raping' the earth to get what he wanted
• Unhallowed


  Not consecrated, not holy, showing Victor Frankenstein's actions were evil and unsacred
• Victor Frankenstein: 'The beauty of the dream had vanished'
• Beauty of the dream


  Metaphor for Victor Frankenstein's ambition, which vanished when the creature came to life
• Victor Frankenstein: 'The filthy demon to whom I had given life'
• Filthy demon


  Hellish language used by Victor Frankenstein to describe his own creation, showing his disgust
• Giving life


  Maternal language, showing Victor Frankenstein as a mother/creator who rejects his own creation
• Victor Frankenstein: 'Revenge kept me alive'
• Revenge


  Abstract noun, showing how Victor Frankenstein is now driven by anger and a desire for revenge against his creation
• Victor Frankenstein: 'Sorrow only increases with knowledge'
• Sorrow increases with knowledge

  Hyperbole, showing Victor Frankenstein cautioning against the dangers of ambition and the pursuit of knowledge
• The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is considered among one of the major classics
• Frankenstein is an incredibly wordy novel with lots of different subplots and sub-narratives and different main characters
• The primary main characters are Victor Frankenstein and the creature
• The story is written in an embedded narrative structure
• Narrative structure of Frankenstein

  1. Widest box: Captain Walton's story in letters

  2. Inside that: Victor Frankenstein's story

  3. Inside that: The creature's story
• This embedded narrative structure is one of the reasons why the story is so powerful but also complicated
• Overview of the plot

  1. Captain Walton on an expedition, discovers Victor Frankenstein near death

  2. Victor Frankenstein narrates his story to Walton

  3. Victor Frankenstein's early life and studies anatomy at university

  4. Victor creates the creature and is horrified by it, abandons it

  5. Creature learns about the world, wants a mate, Victor refuses, creature vows revenge

  6. Creature kills Victor's loved ones, Victor vows revenge on creature

  7. Victor pursues creature to the North Pole, meets his end, creature mourns him
• The story is a cautionary tale against ambition and overreaching human boundaries
• The creature is described as looking horrifying
• The creature is eloquent and able to speak clearly, learned about the world by observing the De Lacey family
• The creature is lonely, wants companionship and a mate, but is rejected by humans due to his appearance
• The creature vows revenge on Victor Frankenstein for abandoning him and refusing to create a mate for him
• The creature kills Victor's loved ones, leaving Victor alone
• Victor Frankenstein then vows revenge on the creature, pursues it to the North Pole