Study questions for Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN

1. Who was Prometheus? Why is the novel subtitled "the Modern Prometheus"

2. Why is the novel initially set aboard a ship? Can you think of any other famous works which are set aboard ships? Why did Mary Shelley choose to use that particular setting here? Does it mean anything beyond the immediately apparent physical setting?

3. Note the various narrative "frames" Mary Shelley employs in her novel. What is the purpose of these various frames? What, specifically, does she wish to accomplish by employing these multiple frames?

4. What sort of man is Walton? Does he serve any thematic function in the novel, or is he included largely as a "storyteller"--that is, is he included simply as a mechanical narrative device?

5. In what ways do Walton's letters prepare us for the tale he tells? What difference (if any) do these letters make in the way we react to the rest of the novel?

6. Work out a character sketch of Victor Frankenstein, concentrating on his values and psychological makeup. What does he value? What motivates him? What appear to be his "moral standards"?

7. The first three chapters tell us about Victor Frankenstein's childhood and youth; the fourth, about his "discovery" of the principle of life. For movie fans these chapters may seem irrelevant: after all, we want to see the Creature being created and--amid bursts of smoke and flashes of lightning--"born." Why, then, does Mary Shelley devote so much space to Victor's childhood environment and his education? Why do we need this stuff, anyway?

8. Volume I, Chapter iv (Chapter 5): the Creature is created. Where is the focus in this section? On the process of creation? On the Creature? Somewhere else?

9. Why does Victor work so diligently to bring the Creature to life and then become so abhorrent when he succeeds? Is Mary Shelley working with any "prototype" or "pattern" here? Has this sort of experience or behavior occurred anywhere else that you can think of, in literature, art, or elsewhere?

10. Chapters II, ii through II, ix (chapters 10-17): the Creature tells his story. Notice the place Victor Frankenstein meets his Creature. Why is this setting particularly appropriate? The novel now begins to zero in on its major themes. Of what does the Creature accuse Victor?

11. What do Chapters II, iii - II, vii (Chapters 11-15) reveal about the Creature's "natural instincts"? What gives him pleasure? What does he value? (Consider, for instance, how he describes the DeLaceys and their cottage.) Of what does the Creature's education consist?

12. Volume II, Chapter viii (Chapter 16): What does the Creature finally decide he must do, and why?

13. Volume II, Chapter ix: (Chapter 17): What argument does the Creature offer in support of his demand? Why? Is it a reasonable argument?

14. Volume III, Chapter iii (Chapter 20): Why does Victor Frankenstein decide to discontinue his efforts to create a "bride" for the Creature?

15. By the time we pass the midpoint of the novel we begin to see most clearly in Frankenstein's isolation from his fellow creatures a parallel to the Creature's own situation. In what other ways are Victor and the Creature beginning to be strikingly similar? Have you encountered this sort of "parallel-making" anywhere else in literature or the arts? If so, where? Does the device have a formal name?

16. Book III, Chapter vii (Chapter 24): Note the surrealistic environment of the "chase" scenes. Are we getting into a different sort of novel than we were originally led to expect? If so, what is the nature of the difference?

17. Look carefully at Victor Frankenstein's final words--any significance? What about the Creature's final words? As "last words," these statements should carry special dramatic -- and presumably philosophical, spiritual, or moral -- significance for us as readers, because they give us a last (and therefore a lasting) impression of how each character concludes his part in the novel's events. So read carefully.

18. Who is the novel's protagonist? Antagonist? "Hero"?

19. In an influential essay, the Romantic scholar and critic Harold Bloom wrote that the reader's sympathy lies with the Creature, but in his book The Romantic Conflict (1963) Allan Rodway says the reader's sympathy lies with Victor Frankenstein. Who is right?

20. What is a "monster"?

21. In 1823 a performing version of Frankenstein was created for the stage by Richard Brinsley Peake. You may find it interesting to compare this version to the novel, as well as to the twentieth-century filmed versions. One thing to consider is the ways in which the author went about trying to adapt this very literary work to the physical performing space of the stage. Another is the characters he added (and subtracted), and what might have prompted him to do so. Mary Shelley actually saw a performance in 1823 and found it "interesting."

You can find a copy of the performing script here, along with background materials on the playwright, the production, and the actors who performed in it in 1823.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Some Internet Resources

Electronic critical edition of Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein. Richard Brinsley Peake's 1823 production was the first stage adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel, and it included some very important changes to the novel that have had a considerable influence on subsequent literary and cinematic responses to Frankenstein. This website includes the edited text of the play, plus extensive background information on the author, the actors, the theatres of 1823, and the relationship of Presumption both to Frankenstein and to other stage and cinematic adaptations of Frankenstein.

My Hideous Progeny: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. On this site, you will find everything you have ever wanted to know about Mary Shelley. There are pages dealing with Mary's life, her family, her friends and her novels. A large section of this web site is specifically devoted to her most famous novel, Frankenstein, offering a summary, a title explanation, character descriptions and information about the genre of Gothic literature. The text of Frankenstein is available in a fully annotated HTML format.

A Frankenstein filmography, listing virtually all cinematic versions of Frankenstein beginning with the 1931 James Whale film (which was not the first film version. This site includes foreign films and gives their titles as released in other countries and languages. There are also some listings of Frankenstein-related television materials and even some video games.

The Gothic Literature Page. The Gothic Literature Page, a website devoted to study of Gothic fiction in England from 1764 to 1840, is intended to provide students and scholars of the Gothic novel access to the growing number of resources available on the web. An introduction to the Gothic novel, collected summaries, papers, critical and bibliographical information and related sites are assembled together to expedite research. This site is designed to be a clearinghouse of current information on the fundamental movements and trends within the Gothic Literature community, as well as an online interactive classroom. It is the principal aim of this page to give insight into the changing form of Gothic fiction, in its first phase, particularly into such 'disreputable' aspects as the Gothic bluebook and the Gothic short story.

Stephen C. Behrendt, 8/17/11