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Summary Frankenstein Revision Guide
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Plot Summary, Characters, Themes and Quotes
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ENGLISHLITERATURE
FRANKENSTEIN
, PLOT SUMMARY
Frankenstein - Plot summary
Frankenstein tells the story of gifted scientist Victor Frankenstein who succeeds in giving life to
a being of his own creation. However, this is not the perfect specimen he imagines that it will
be, but rather a hideous creature who is rejected by Victor and mankind in general. The Monster
seeks its revenge through murder and terror.
Social and historical context
Mary Shelley (1791-1851)
The novel was first published in 1818. It was written originally by Mary Shelley as a short story
when the poet Lord Byron suggested that each member of a group of friends write a ghostly
tale to keep themselves entertained. Mary's story was the undoubted winner.
Key plot details
1. Robert Walton, an explorer, tells how he has met Victor Frankenstein in the Arctic after
earlier having seen a 'gigantic figure' crossing the ice.
2. Victor tells of his childhood and his caring family, particularly of his love for his foster sister
Elizabeth. His mother dies of fever just before he leaves to study at university.
3. While at university, Victor's interest in science becomes an obsession. Victor uses dead
bodies to experiment on and creates a monster made of body parts. He is immediately
disgusted by the thing he has created and abandons it.
4. Victor's brother William is murdered and Justine Moritz, a family servant, is executed for it.
However, Victor believes the Monster is to blame after witnessing it at the scene of the
murder.
5. The Monster and Victor meet on the Glacier of Montanvert in the Alps. The Monster tells the
story of how it has survived and of the time it has spent becoming educated.
6. The Monster asks Victor to admit responsibility for his actions and show some sympathy. He
also pleads with Victor to build a female companion. Victor agrees.
7. Victor finds a remote spot in the Orkneys where he begins to construct the female creature
but suddenly, realising the consequences of what he is doing, he tears it to pieces. The
Monster, who has followed Victor, is enraged and in revenge kills Victor's best friend, Henry
Clerval.
8. Victor and Elizabeth marry, but Victor finds his new wife dead at the hands of the Monster.
He vows to hunt the creature down.
9. In Walton's last letters, back in the Arctic, Frankenstein dies and the Monster, still miserable,
heads off, probably to its own death.
Written at a time of great social change, Frankenstein is about the power of scientific ambition
and the dangers of going a step too far.
Detailed plot summary
Walton's ship
Robert Walton writes a series of letters to his sister Margaret Saville and tells the story of how
his polar expedition becomes trapped in ice and how one day he sees a 'gigantic figure' in the
distance. The next day he takes on board a mysterious stranger, Victor Frankenstein. Victor
takes over the narration and tells Walton a complex tale about his life history and how he
comes to be alone so near to the North Pole.
Young Victor
As a child, Victor Frankenstein's life in Switzerland is safe and secure with loving parents
(Alphonse and Caroline) and two younger brothers (Ernest and William). Victor's charitable
mother also gives a home to a young orphan girl, Elizabeth Lavenza, and Victor grows
particularly fond of her. Victor shows an inquisitive nature and is particularly fascinated by
anything scientific. Victor’s mother falls ill and passes away. It is her dying wish that Victor and
Elizabeth will one day marry.
University
Frankenstein creates his monster
Victor attends the University of Ingolstadt in Germany where he becomes fascinated by the
creation of life. For two years he pursues his ambition to create a man and bring him to life.
During this time he neglects his family and friends and makes himself ill. Victor hopes to create
a perfect being but in reality the huge creature he produces is made up from pieces of various
corpses he has taken from graveyards and mortuaries. Eventually Victor succeeds in bringing
this creation to life but when he realises how monstrous it actually is, he abandons it, thinking it
will die a natural death from neglect.
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