Frankenstein Summary Chapter 1

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein tells the tale of a man whose entire life turns to misery after creating what he calls a monster, a demon and a fiend. However, the real monster in this story is pride and the feeling of superiority. This is evident in the novel with Robert Walton’s view of himself and his expedition, Victor Frankenstein’s attitude towards himself in comparison with the creature, and mankind’s perception of the creature and their ignorance towards him.

Victor, he is mistaken. Shelley writes a classic novel that presents the reader with many themes

Victor has no ability to reason because he is so flustered which makes the reader waiting for his destined doom. There is a scene of chaos with Victor in prison and him getting ill. It is a series of unfortunate events and it seems to only be getting worse, Shelley builds up the bad events and motivates the reader to think of what else may occur. There is also a buildup of suspense, knowing that something bad is going to happen to Elizabeth. Shelley uses her writing to make it more suspenseful by having it be a conversation. An example is, “ I avoided explanation and maintained a continual silence concerning the wretch I had created. I had a persuasion that I should be supposed mad, and this in itself would forever have chained my tongue” (Shelley). Nobody knows his next mood and it is a gothic persona of

Victor has become obsessed with studying (something no one should ever be interested in) and has locked himself in his room studying for days on end. He "applied so closely, it may be easily conceived that my progress was rapid. My ardour was indeed the astonishment of the students, and my proficiency that of the masters... Two years passed in this manner, during which I paid no visit to Geneva, but was engaged, heart and soul, in the pursuit of some discoveries which I hoped to make". (7) This early application of himself is what drove him to become lonely and reclusive, shying away from all who attempted to come into contact with him. He is also inspired in this chapter to start his reanimation project. He becomes consumed in this one project spending many months alone in the top of his apartment assembling his creature. He raided slaughter houses, grave yards, and dissection rooms to furnish what he needed to create his monster. The lines between life and death became blurred

Victor begins to possess an unnatural drive in his quest for knowledge where he begins intense study and experimentation, “These thoughts supported my spirits, while I pursued my undertaking with unremitting ardour. My cheek had grown pale from study, and my person had become emaciated with confinement” eventually isolating himself from his friends and family. As the seasons passed Victor’s obsession with his studies continued to grow, “And the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom I had not seen for so long a time” highlighting how his ambition is a fatal flaw, neglecting the outside world and his loved ones. Victor’s ambition to research and attempt to create life drains him of health and sensibility, “Every night I was oppressed by a slow fever, and I became nervous to a most painful degree” which is ironic to the goal he wishes to achieve. Shelly’s use of irony illuminates how Victor’s obsessive ambition has become a fatal flaw.

Victor brought Isolation upon himself, throughout his life. Victor was deprived of “rest and health” and worked hard for nearly two years, while he isolated himself in his chamber creating the creature. After creating the creature Victor went into emotional isolation coping with the fact of creating the

During adolescence, Victor develops a fascination for the mysteries of natural science. He goes to Ingolstadt to enhance his knowledge where he engrosses himself in his studies eventually developing a deep passion for science and human anatomy. After attending the university, Victor’s thirst for more knowledge leads him to take on the project of creating a living creature. He submerges himself in his work and refuses to give up, even sacrificing his health. “After days and nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter” (Shelly 41). Victor’s obsession with learning the secret to life causes him to become isolated and unhealthy. He removed himself from his social life and never did anything else besides work on his creation. Victor’s thirst for knowledge is what urges him to make the creature, eventually leading to him

He tells of the void he feels in his soul. He tells of the bitter grief one experiences after the death of loved one and what it feels like to no longer see them and hear their voice. Mary Shelley illustrates that this life is not the end, but there is another life where loved ones will be seen. Victor’s mother is demonstrating how special Elizabeth is to her and that she wants her to take care of the family and to someday marry Victor. Later in the novel, Victor leaves for school. Victor’s father tells him, “I know that while you are pleased with yourself, you will think of us with affection, and we shall hear regularly from you. You must pardon me if I regard any interruption in your correspondence as a proof that your other duties are equally neglected”(33). After, Victor leaves for school to begin his studies he becomes self-absorbed in his work. Family is very important to Victor’s father. Victor realizes that he has become too involved in his studies and knows that it is unhealthy to behave in such a way. However, he does not want to quit and begins to justify his actions. He suggests that if others had given up, then history could have been altered. Victor feels isolated and lonely. He thinks of his family and how disappointed they are that they have not heard from him. Shelly uses this quote to emphasize the importance of human relationships and how important they are to a person’s well-being. The theme of human

This is suggested again, when Victor confides, "till death she was to be mine only” (Shelley 36). This exemplifies how Alphonse showed Victor, at an early age, how women were to be treated in society. Victor was displaced twice during his adolescence when his father allowed two nonmembers of the family into the house—first Elizabeth, then Justine. Although Victor was not outwardly agitated, these two displacements instilled within him a feeling of loneliness. In short, Alphonse’s dominating role as father led Victor to feel isolated. Alphonse did not think deeply about the impact that adding more members to the family would have on his son. This dominating role can be seen again when Victor is sent off to Ingolstadt, right after his mother, Caroline, died. Victor idolized his mother and was very attached to her. Instead of letting Victor grieve with the family, Alphonse sends him away, leaving Victor to feel more secluded than ever. Victor is isolated from his family and best friend Clerval, which fuels his obsession with creating the monster.

Like Caroline and Safie, Elizabeth Lavenza’s father causes her unhappiness. However this is drastically confounded by the egotism of Victor Frankenstein who seeks to take on the vitally female role of the creator. Elizabeth is constructed by Shelley as an extremely positive character, whose ‘saintly soul’ shines ‘like a shrine dedicated lamp’ in the Frankenstein’s ‘happy home’. She, like her foster mother Caroline, keeps the family together ‘veiling her grief’ for the benefit of the children. However, when victor attempts to take on the role of a woman and ‘create life’ Shelley shows us that it is an unfortunate masculine characteristic to doom idealism with egotism and the pursuit of glory. Despite his noble goals of ‘unfolding the mysteries of creation’, to confer ‘inesteemable benefit’ on all mankind, Victor’s masculine egotism endures

Shelley explains how Victor has a great mental turmoil after he indirectly caused the death of people who were close to him by the actions he took to create the monster. Shelley’s description of Victor’s feelings show the deprivation of hope and fear in his soul and the emphasises the pain in which he was indirectly the cause of. Victor not only caused his own mental illness, but he also caused his own physical illness. Victor makes himself physically sick by his actions during the creation of his monster. Victor’s work unintentionally causes himself to decline in health and become vulnerable to illnesses. “When Victor is working on his experiment, he cannot love: he ignores his family, even his fiance Elizabeth, and takes no pleasure in the beauties of nature. Moreover, he becomes physically… ill, subject to nervous fevers”(Weiner 83). Victor is shown to focus directly on his work, causing him to forget most of the outside world and not be influenced by forces that usually comfort and heal him. His work makes Victor subject to nervous fevers, causing himself to become sick more often and need help from family and friends more often. Although the process of creating the monster was physically taxing on Victor, the end product caused him even more pain. The creation of the creature impaired

Although Victor’s family was one of the most distinguished of the republic of Geneva and his parents were possessed by the “very spirit of kindness / And indulgence,” (Shelley 39) his days were not filled with happiness. His troubled past started the day Elizabeth caught scarlet fever, delaying his departure for Ingolstadt. Although Victor’s mother, Caroline, was able to cure her, she died in her place. The destruction of a dear bond by an irreparable evil surely would have caused anyone to suffer, but as time came, Caroline’s death became “rather an / Indulgence than a necessity” (Shelley 45) to Victor; it was nothing more than something that delayed his departure for Ingolstadt. Because Victor is in a situation where he no longer has control, his psyche must carry the burden

The monster believed that Victor would accept him, but after he realized that not only did Victor not want to assume his position in the monster’s life, but society also rejected him, it became a transitory thought, and instead became replaced with his bloodthirst towards Victor and his loved ones, which he knew would hurt way worse than just killing him; making him lonely like himself. Both Victor and the monster partook in horrid acts, in which held horrendous actions; the main one being Victor creating the monster in the first place which in result caused the both of them heartbreak, loneliness, and pain. If Victor wouldn’t have created the monster, then his life would not be filled with so much grief and emptiness; Victor is the true monster, although they are both the primal protagonists as much as they are the antagonists because of the display of the emotions they both portray as lamenting humans/monsters, and the power they give to nature in order to destroy one another. Victor used nature to his advantage, although it was wrong; Victor used nature to create and destroy the monster; he used the

When Victor traveled to Ingolstadt to attend the university, he delved deeper into the sciences, specifically chemistry. Resulting from the profound involvement, and concentration Victor devoted to his studies, he began to lose contact with family, friends, and later, his professors. Victor labored arduously over his experiments and “two years passed in this manner, during which I paid no visit to Geneva” (Shelley 55). It became apparent that Victor’s research consumed him; his commitment to science eliminated the opportunity and will for social endeavors, or even communication with his family. If Victor were to encounter a problematic outcome with his studies, which would soon occur, he would have no prospect of receiving help. Although the effect of isolation was weighing down on Victor’s sanity, he was not the sole recipient of this loneliness. Victor’s experiments produced a monster, and Victor neglected his responsibility as a creator and left his creation to its own devices. The monster suffered from the symptoms of a solitary lifestyle, similar to the one led by Victor himself. Ultimately, the scientist realizes the hideousness of the result of his experiment and abruptly abandons the monster. The monster quickly becomes deadly to those surrounding Victor and he realizes he must pursue and destroy his creation. Victor’s health rapidly deteriorated during his pursuit of the