Frankenstein - Focus Questions

1) Prometheus is a prominent figure in Greek mythology that was

adopted by Mary Shelley for her novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern
Prometheus. The tale of Prometheus details how Prometheus, a god, stole
Zeus' fire and gifted it to the human race as assistance. Subsequently, the
gods punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock in the Caucasus and
having an eagle eat from his liver. However, during the day, the liver
would grow back to its original state and so the cycle continued. Another
tale tells how Prometheus actually created and animated mankind out of
nothing but clay. Indeed, Shelley adopts the name and both Promethean
stories in her novel. In a way, Victor Frankenstein can be seen as the
"modern Prometheus" as he defies the gods and creates life himself,
reflecting both the aforementioned Promethean tales. Similarly, Victor
Frankenstein is also punished by his deeds.

2) Shelley's novel is initially set aboard a ship for significant reasons.

Firstly, the ship is symbolic for discovery; it is a vessel of adventure, of
journey for which the ship's captain, Walton has set sail upon. The ship
also provides undertones of a quest, possibly for answers or the
undiscovered. Later on, we understand that Walton was in fact on a quest
to uncover the 'land of mist and snow' and Frankenstein on a search for
the answers to nature's "hiding spots". Additionally, the setting alludes to
Thomas Coleridge's famous poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner",
which is set on the open sea. Like the mariner in Coleridge's poem,
Frankenstein disturbs the natural order of his universe by creating an
artificial man and subsequently suffers the consequences.

3) Although Walton does serve as a "mechanical narrative device"

through the novel, he also serves as contrast to Frankenstein. Like
Frankenstein, he desires what people in the Romantic Era wanted: fame,
glory, discovery. However, after hearing Frankenstein's tale, he
responsibly refuses to go further with his explorations with concerns for
his men's safety and also the knowledge that there are certain questions
in life better left unanswered. Unlike Frankenstein who pushed the
boundaries of science in creating his Creature, Walton knew better and
decided for the greater good of humanity to stop his mission before the
undesirable happened.

4) Walton's Letters are integral in setting up the story of Frankenstein.

The use of epistolary not only creates verisimilitude throughout the novel
but also foreshadows a sense of the supernatural. As the letters are
written in the open Artic sea on board a lonely ship, this scene holds
undertones of eerie mystery and impending danger.

5) Shelley dedicates a significant amount of the novel introducing to us

Victor Frankenstein's childhood and youth to emphasise the blinding
effects of passion regardless of who you are, a reflection of the Romantic
Era where people sought fame and glory through discovering the
unknown. Shelley infers that even a person such as Frankenstein who had
a luxurious childhood with loving parents and a beautiful "cousin", the
furious pursuit of scientific discovery meant that this was all destroyed.
"No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself".
Although Frankenstein received a well-rounded education, he does not
have the mental capacity to refrain himself from immersing in his work
which thus dislocates him from society.

Victor Frankenstein was brought up well by his parents, who provided him
a good education as well as an immense amount of love ("I was their
idol..."). At the start, it is clear that Frankenstein is a proud man, "my
family is one of the most distinguished of that republic". As a child we can
deduce the same thing as well he is a person of dedication. When his
mother told him that Elizabeth was a "pretty present for my Victor", Victor
"looked upon Elizabeth as mine - mine to protect, love, cherish". In
chapter two, Victor reaffirms his dedicated nature as he compares himself
to Elizabeth, with him being the one with more "ardour" and "capable of
a more intense application...and smitten with the thirst for knowledge".
Victor had quite an insatiable need for knowledge, especially in regards to
worldly secrets. "the world was to me a secret which I desired to divine".
Victor's passion is again noted when he describes his temper as
"sometimes violent and (my) passions vehement" in a desire to learn.
Victor also shows stubbornness during his first encounter with the
literature of Cornelius Agrippa. Although his father dismisses the works as
"trash", Victor ignores his words and continues to study what is outdated
science, reflecting the dogged determination and stubbornness of Victor.
And so, when Victor exclaimed, "I will pioneer a new way, explore
unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of
creation", we can predict that boundaries will be pushed to their limits
and possibly broken. In chapter 4, Victor shows that his heart often rules
over his mind when it comes to decision-making. Although he "doubted at
first whether I should attempt the creation of a being like myself...", his
"imagination was too exalted..." to stop him from attempting such a feat.
It seems that Victor knows no boundaries in the natural world, and even
such a sacred issue as life and death is poked and experimented. Victor's
selfish qualities appear when he neglects to write or communicate with his
family members at home due to his obsession with work. Thus, his morals
are warped in his passion for discovery; the fact that he would put work
over family speaks much about his values and ethics. In fact, he even
justifies his actions by alluding to the enslavement of Greece and the
Discovery of America and how "if no man allowed any pursuit whatsoever
to interfere with the tranquility of his domestic affections", then these
historic feats would not have been achieved.

8) Shelley portrays the Creature's recount of his tale in the setting of

the mountains, where "this glorious presence-chamber of imperial Nature
was broken only by the brawling waves...". The glorious scenes of "vast
mountains” and the "ragged bare ravine" reflect the nature of Romantic
writers of Shelley's time. In Romantic literature, the theme of the sublime
is extremely evident in a lot of the works. The Romantics thought that
man had a special relationship with nature, where God was the essence of
such. Hence, by portraying the Creature's tale within "God's domain",
Shelley suggests that Frankenstein is again venturing towards the
unexplored issues of life and death. The setting also excites a sense of
isolation and despairity when Frankenstein states he "still would not
penetrate their misty veil and seek them (friends) in their cloudy
retreats". This feeling of alienation is mutually shared by the Creature as
we soon understand, thus creating a sort of connection between creator
and creation. Lastly, the inevitable "precipitous" climb of the mountain
and its "continual and short windings" reflects the toilsome road that
Frankenstein had traveled in his life. The symbolic nature of the
mountain's climb is quite appropriate in Frankenstein's case,
foreshadowing further troubles later in the book.

Key themes highlighted in the recount of the Creature's tale are numerous
moral and humanistic values. The most prominent issue is the dilemma
between creator and creation, and whether or not that one's creator is
obliged to nurture and provide for what they gave life to. This perhaps
serves as an allegory to parenthood in Shelley's time and the concept
proposed by Jean-Jacques Rosseau. Rosseau stated that all creatures are
born benevolent, with their future personalities determined by their
upbringing and education. In the case of Frankenstein, it is evident that
Frankenstein, despite his horrid appearance, was born benevolent and full
of love for human beings. However, ignorance and rejection from his
creator resulted in him murdering William, an act that "nothing in human
shape could have destroyed...". The Creature accuses Frankenstein of
endowing him "with perceptions and passions and then cast(ing) him
abroad an object for the scorn and horror of mankind." The theme of
isolation is mentioned several times by the Creature. "If I have no ties and
no affection, hatred and vice must be my portion". Shelley thus suggests
that alienation from society breeds hatred and contempt towards the
human race. Both Frankenstein and the creature are seen as isolated
creatures, their anguish and pain evident throughout the novel. Shelley
through this theme also implicates the injustices that human society deals
towards outsiders (I am alone and miserable) and the theme of prejudice,
especially through Frankenstein. Even though the Creature is technically
“human” as he is stitched from human corpses, and capable of rendering
human emotion and the art of speech, society casts him as an outsider,
denying him any sense of morals and ethics. Additionally, the fact that
only a blind man, De Lacey, will ever accept the Creature also details the
barbaric nature of mankind and its inclination towards prejudice.

The Creature accuses Frankenstein of atonement and implies an

obligation that he feels his creator owes to his creation. The creature feels
that Frankenstein is “bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of
one of us,” and that he has a “duty towards me (the creature).” Thus,
Shelley again alludes to the theme of parenthood, and that a creator must
accommodate his/her creation with its upbringing and nurturing.

9) The Creature, like any other human being must learn the way to live
and survive. At its creation, the creature took a “long time before (he)
learned to distinguish between the operations of my various senses.”.
Afterwards, he learns the essential skills needed to survive: to eat, to seek
shelter, to retire from the cold (“the fire gave light as well as heat”). We
learn that the Creature learns to love things of beauty, from the “gentle
manners and beauty of the cottagers (that) greatly endeared them to” the
creature to the “pleasant showers and genial warmth of spring”. Thus, it is
perhaps with irony to note the deformation and ugliness of the creature
which contrasts its own “natural instincts”. Shelley implies that the
creature which so hideous on the outside is capable of positivity and
beauty on the inside. Furthermore, the creature’s natural instincts are to
move towards people, whether it be the DeLacey’s, Frankenstein, or a
female counterpart. However, rejection and alienation results in the
creature seeking revenge and wailing in contempt.

The creature’s education consisted of a number of literary classics. The

first text was Ruins of Empires which taught him “a cursory knowledge of
history and a view of the several empires at present existing in the
world.” Further on, Frankenstein indulges in other literature including
“Paradise Lose, a volume of Plutarch’s Lives and the Sorrows of Weter”.
The former book is an allusion to Thomas Milton’s book which tells the
story of the creation of Adam and Eve and hwo they came to lose their
place in Eden. The book in this context compares Victor to God and the
creature to Adam, thus when read by the creature, it foreshadows the
later events of the novel. The books also allowed the creature to emit
philosophical responses to his situation. He found himself asking, “What
did this mean? Who was I? Whence did I come? What was my
destination?”. These questions reflect his new-found intelligence and
provides the creature with a side that the reader can sympathise with.
Additionally, Sorrows of Werter rendered the creature capable of emitting
emotional responses, of “despondency and gloom” while Plutarch “taught
him (the creature) high thought”. Thus, through these literary texts, we
can see the evolution and growth of Frankenstein’s creature to a deeper
and more complex level.
11) The Creature, in demanding a female counterpart, offers various
avenues of argument. One evident is the obligation the creature feels that
his creator is indebted towards him. “ought to be thy Adam, but I am
rather the fallen creature”. The creature regards his demand as “a right
which you (Frankenstein) must not refuse to concede” as he is “malicious
because he (the creature) is miserable”, which is due to the neglect of his
creator, Frankenstein. Thus, the creature feels that his demand is owed to
him. However, the Creature resorts to revenge as well, threatening that
he will “revenge (his) injuries…cause fear” with passion of which
“(Frankenstein) is the cause of its excess”. I think it is a reasonable
argument as it follows the laws of nature, that is, the creator, or parent,
has an obligation to nurture and protect its creation, or children, to the
utmost of their abilities.

13) Frankenstein refers to the creature as “my own spirit let loose from
the grave… forced to destroy all that was dear to me”, an evident
example of Shelley’s implications. In creating the creature, the civilized
Frankenstein lets loose the violent and primitive self contained within. The
creature represents the monstrous force that acts out the repressed
desires of the civilized being.

Critics of Frankenstein suggest that Mary Shelley employs the technique

of doppelganger between Frankenstein and his creature. In the novel,
there are many things that are strikingly similar between the two,
including the mutually shared theme of isolation. Even at their births, they
were left abandoned by their creators, with Frankenstein’s mother’s death
and Frankenstein himself in neglecting the Creature. Further on,
Frankenstein isolates himself from society through study and his own free
will in a pursuit of discovery whereas Frankenstein is isolated through his
hideous deformation and gigantic stature. Similarly, both Frankenstein
and the Creature share an animosity between one another. Again, the
reasons for their shared emotions are different, with one declaring
“everlasting war against the species, and more all, against him who had
formed me and sent forth to this insupportable misery” and Frankenstein
hating the Creature because of its ugliness. In the end, the irony lies in
the fact that they only have each other, with Victor’s family murdered by
the Creature.

Additionally, the natures of both characters are quite similar in that of

their desire to learn. While Frankenstein yearned the knowledge of the
undiscovered, “(the monster) ardently longed to comprehend (the
books)?” In both cases, a vast majority of time was spent in study and
observations in the couple’s pursuit of education.

In the end, both the creature and Frankenstein felt remorse for the things
that they did. The creature quotes “Polluted by crimes and torn by the
bitterest remorse, where can (Victor) find rest but in death?”. At this point,
the creature realizes the horrible deeds he committed and their traumatic
effects on Frankenstein. Likewise, “Remorse extinguished every hope…
and (Victor) ardently wished to extinguish the life (Victor) so thoughtlessly
bestowed”, blaming himself for the creature’s actions. Thus, the reader
can identify that both creator and creation are in fact not so much unalike.