Frankenstein

Letter 1 (Dec. 11)

Robert Walton is north of London, headed to the N. Pole. He is preparing to sail. He is very critical of his own education. He anticipates a great adventure. He is a dramatic letter-writer.

Letter 2 (Mar. 28)

Walton has a boat & is recruiting sailors. He is lonely, wishes he had a best friend. Lieutenant on his ship is a wonderful, kind man. R. Walton was raised by his older sister (Margaret). The voyage will begin when the weather is better. He will not see his sister for a long time, if ever.

Letter 3 (July 7)

Walton wants his sister to know he is safe & well into his voyage. Has reached a very high latitude. All is going well. Walton is very confident.

Letter 4

(Aug. 5)Surrounded by ice – a gigantic figure crosses the ice at a far distance – soon after, a man is found floating in the ice & one dog.

(Aug. 13)Walton is complimenting the guest aboard the ship. The guest is nursed back to health & slowly starts telling his story.

(Aug. 19) The stranger tells Walton about his suffering & life – Walton is very eager to hear his story. The stranger warns Walton to not live as he did……

Chapter 1:

The story of how Victor’s parents met – Caroline’s father (Beaufort) was a good friend of Alphonse. When Beaufort fell on hard times, Alphonse helped Caroline. They fell in love, married – a big age difference between them. They had Victor & adopted Elizabeth

Chapter 2:

Another Frankenstein is born – a brother 7 yrs. younger than Victor. Family is very kind, Victor’s best friends are Henry Clerval & Elizabeth. Victor’s dad told him not to read Natural Philosophy book of Cornelius Agrippa – just made Vic more interested – studies science, electricity, fascinated by the total destruction of a tree by lightning.

Chapter 3:

17 yrs. old, Victor is off to the University at Ingolstadt. While nursing Elizabeth, Caroline gets sick with scarlet fever – dies. At school, Vic meets Professors Waldman & Krempe, begins serious study of chemistry & reads new scientific books, begins working in laboratory sciences.

Chapter 4:

At the university, Victor found the “cause of generation and life… capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter.” (p. 38) Instead of going home, he started gathering body parts to build a creature. He worked for nearly two more years, neglecting his loved ones and his health.

Chapter 5: Victor gives the creature life! Victor is immediately amazed & terrified; horrified by what he has done! Victor runs outside, he meets Henry Clerval, who has just arrived from Geneva. When Victor & Henry return to the Victor’s apartment, Victor is relieved the creature is gone. He is very ill from all the stress of his work; Henry nurses Victor back to health; this takes months.

Chapter 6: Victor reads Elizabeth’s letter; she describes life at home & tells him how much he is missed, she reports on Justine Moritz, a girl living with the Frankenstein family and tells about Vic’s younger brothers. Victor takes Henry to meet his professors; he now is tortured by the subject of science & instead takes language classes with Henry. Victor gains his health back.

Chapter 7:

Victor’s dad writes him: Victor’s brother, William, has been murdered. Victor returns home, he sees his monster in a lightning storm & believes the monster is the murderer of William. Justine has been charged with the murder; Victor wants to prove this is wrong without revealing his monster.

Chapter 8:

Justine’s trial – many in the town are against her, the Frankenstein family is torn; they believe she is innocent. Justine is found guilty & hanged to death.

Chapter 9:

The family is very sad, shaken & depressed because of William’s death & Justine’s execution. Victor leaves to tour the mountains alone.

Chapter 10:

While in the mountains, Victor encounters his creature. The creature is very well spoken & intelligent. Victor wants to kill him, but finally agrees to sit & listen to the creature’s story.

Chapter 11:

The creature left Victor’s apartment the night he was reanimated, grabbed some clothes, and went out into the night. He experienced sensations of heat & cold, hunger & thirst, he observed objects, had no language, found that people were afraid of him. Finally, he settled in a “hovel” (small wood shed) next to a cottage.

Chapter 12:

The creature notices the family’s poverty and helps their hardship by leaving out wood at their door at night. He learns the language, and even the man and woman’s names. The creature sees his reflection in the water and is shocked by how ugly he is. The Creature stays in the hovel and becomes affectionate towards his hosts. He calls the cottagers his “friends.”

Chapter 13: Lady on horseback dressed in black arrived at the house. She wished to know the language of the cottagers, and the creature jumped on the opportunity to learn as well. The stranger’s name was Safie. Felix read to Safie from the Ruins of Empires. The creature learned about basic history and human society. He wonders where he fits in & feels very alone.

Chapter 14: The Creature learns the history of the De Lacey family. He discovers that the old man De Lacey belonged to a good family that was wealthy in Paris. Safie’s father is the reason for the family’s poverty. Felix helped Safie’s father, the Turk, escape from prison. The De Lacey family was exiled as a result. Safie finally got away from her tyrannical father & found Felix again.

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Chapter 15:The creature finds three books in the forest: Paradise Lost, Plutarch’s Lives, and Sorrows of Werter. The creature also discovers Frankenstein's papers and learns about how he was created. He visits the old blind man for the first time. Felix kicks him out of the house. The creature is terribly hurt, angry, and alone.

Chapter 16:He runs away from the house cursing the world and his creator. The creature returns to the cottage, finds the De Laceys have left, and he burns the cottage down. He tells about saving a drowning girl & getting shot, how he killed William and framed Justine. At the end he requests Victor to make him a female companion.

Chapter 17: the creature persuades Victor to make a female companion just as horrifying as he is. Victor then promises the creature to make the female and the creature promises to stay close and wait for his companion to be created. Victor leaves the mountains and returns to Geneva, but his conscience is heavy. He fears that his new promise will further put his family in danger.

Chapter 18: Victor’s father was worried about him but notices a change in Victor. He talks with Victor about the marriage between him and Elizabeth. Victor wants to make the female creature before he marries Elizabeth. Leaves for England. Meets up with Clerval and goes on a trip with him.

Chapter 19: Victor is in London with Henry Clerval. Being with him reminds him of what life was like before he created the monster. They receive a letter from Scottish friends and plan to give them a visit. They travel through many cities and towns. Victor worries about the monster following him. He finds a vacant hut in which to build the female.

Chapter 20:

Victor is creating a female for the creature. He destroyed what he has created so far, the creature gets mad and threatens him. Victor leaves the island, dumps the female creature’s remains in the sea and sails into the ocean, he arrives in a random town and gets blamed for a recent murder.

Chapter 21:

Witnesses and evidence are presented to the Irish magistrate concerning Victor’s arrest. Victor is taken to see the body of the murdered man; it’s his friend, Henry! Victor collapses in a feverish illness. While he recovers, his name is cleared of the crime. Victor’s father arrives to take his son home. Victor is now taking laudanum regularly.

Chapter 22:

Victor is very unhappy and paranoid. His father tries to help him. Victor receives a letter from Elizabeth. She is worried that Victor loves another woman. She loves him so much, she wants him to be happy. The letter is heartbreaking to Victor; he realizes he has been unfair to Elizabeth. When he gets home, the wedding takes place.

Chapter 23:

Elizabeth & Henry are on their honeymoon. The creature arrives & murders Elizabeth. Victor & a group of people search for the creature. Back in Geneva, Victor’s father has died. Victor is held for a while; they believe he is insane. Once he is released, Victor vows to spend the rest of his life hunting the creature.

Chapter 24:

At the graves of his loved ones, Victor is mocked by his creature’s laughter. Victor pursues his creature. They head north, the creature leaving clues occasionally. Finally, Victor arrives on Walton’s ice ship, and Walton continues the story. Victor dies, the creature boards the ship, gives a speech to Walton & disappears in the icy night.