English Literature - Pearson Edexcel - Prose
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Essay Plan - Theme: Communication
AO1, AO2 &A03
Writing Points, Language Analysis & Context
Essay Plan: Communication
The root of the word “communication” in Latin is communicare, which means to share, or to make
common. Communication is the sending and receiving of information, however effective
communication is about more than just exchanging information. It’s about understanding the
emotion and intentions behind the information. As well as being able to clearly convey a message
also one needs to listen in a way that acquires the full meaning of what’s being said and makes the
other person feel heard and understood.
Walton’s extremely positive and continued communication with his sister (despite the fact that they
are miles apart) and how this sets him apart from Victor, highlighting the fact that Frankenstein is a
cautionary tale.
The novel is introduced using an epistolary form. These are letters that Walton is writing to
his sister Margret who lives in London during his polar expedition.
‘To Mrs Saville, England’ - the letters that Walton writes to his sister shows Waltons love for his
family as well as his intelligence, in the fact that he knows that he needs to remain in touch with
someone as he physically/geographically isolates himself in order to remain grounded and keep his
ambition in check.
Walton is very obviously extremely fond of his sister and has no problem showing his love
through his letters, he is also grateful for the support his sister provides him with.
‘Farewell, my dear, excellent Margret. Heaven shower down blessings on you, and save me, that I
may again testify my gratitude’ - The vocabulary (adjective ‘excellent’ & noun ‘heaven’, ‘blessings’
and ‘gratitude’) Walton uses shows how much he loves and appreciates his sister. This love and
acknowledgement of the importance of family is what sets Walton apart from Victor and is the
reason why readers have a more hopeful view on Waltons future.
Walton isn’t afraid to tell his secrets to Margret, this is another major difference between
Walton and Frankenstein because Frankenstein doesn’t tell his family about his creation
which leads to fatal consequences.
‘I bitterly feel the want of a friend’ - not only does Walton tell Margret his secrets but he also
recognises the importance of a friend to communicate with in order to stay healthy and grounded.
Context:
Frankenstein was written in a time/period (the eighteenth century) of discovery - especially of the
world. The 1700’s was a time for polar expeditions, and pioneers like Captain Cook sailed the world
discovering new places in the world – context for Waltons letters.
Victors' inability to communicate with his family and the people around him, this lack of
communication (especially in his years at university) causes him to become isolated and allows his
ambition to take a hold of him, resulting in the creation of the creature.
Victor has a loving and caring childhood and his family communicates their love very clearly,
because of this Victors lack of communication with his family during his years at university is
ill-founded.
‘my mother’s tender caresses and my father’s smile of benevolent pleasure’ - Victors parent’s
actions clearly communicate the love and adoration they have for him. Victor’s mothers' death is
, likely the main reason why Victor doesn’t communicate with his remaining family as it scars him
deeply.
‘we called each other familiarly by the name of cousin. No word, no expression could body forth the
kind of relation in which she stood to me’ - Victor also has a very close relationship with Elizabeth
(the nouns ‘word’ and ‘expression’ both show that sometimes words are not needed to
communicate) and is likely to marry her as per his mother’s wishes, yet he still does not
communicate with her.
Victor has some negative experiences with people (communication) - because of his idyllic
childhood Victor is not used to and negative reactions to his action/learning and so these
experiences are made worse in Victor's mind and so Victor takes these experiences and uses
them to fuel his fatal ambition.
‘My dear Victor, do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash’ - His father sort of rebukes him due
to his reading material but is kind about it shown through the adjective ‘dear’, still Victor is sensitive
to criticism due to never having received it and makes himself out to be a victim.
‘If instead of this remark, my father had taken the pains to explain to me…I would have certainly…
contented my mind’ - Victor is trying to shirk the blame of his actions and what it led to by explaining
this one negative experience with his father (an experience where his father’s words are neither
cruel nor haunting). This shows how Victor victimises himself and how horrible his communication
skills are.
‘every instant that you have wasted on these books…you have burdened your memory’ - This
negative communication with Professor Krempe also serves to make Victor want to study magic and
the occult even more (like with his father) and he takes the professors words as a challenge rather
than constructive criticism.
Victor becomes isolated due to his lack of communication with anyone but Waldman
(communication which eventually ceases once he begins creating the creature), which gives
way for Victor's ambition to take hold of his rationale.
‘caused me to forget those friends…I knew my silence disquieted them’ - Here Victor recognises the
inconvenience that he causes tohis family by refusing to communicate with them and realises that
his ambition caused him to ‘forget’ his friends. This verb ‘forget’ shows that without any
communication he was disconnected with the world around him.
‘my father made no reproach in his letter, and only took notice of my silence by enquiring into my
occupations’ - Even though Victor stops communicating with his father, Alphonse still contacts
Victor, this shows his paternal love towards Victor and highlights Victor's harshness for ignoring his
family who were worried about him.
‘I shunned my fellow creatures’ - the verb ‘shunned’ shows how distanced he was from the people
and the world around him, rejecting all forms of communication caused him to become isolated
which let his ambition to run free and thus the creature was created.
Context:
The view of Godwin – that if man is left alone then he will make all the right choices in life, Godwin
didn’t take into account man’s ego and greed.
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