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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein begins with a series of letters from English explorer Robert Walton
to his sister, Margaret Saville. Walton has traveled to Russia to fulfill his lifelong dream of
embarking on a voyage to the Arctic, where he hopes to make important scientific discoveries.
After sailing steadily north for a while, Walton and his crew find themselves surrounded by ice
and witness a strange sight: a huge man in a dogsled speeding across the frozen sea. The next
day they rescue a different, emaciated man who is stranded on a sheet of ice with the remnants of
a dogsled beside him. This man is later revealed to be Victor Frankenstein. Victor is near death
and remains unable to speak for several days. Walton nurses him back to health in his cabin, and
as the two men become acquainted, Walton grows to love and admire his mysterious,
melancholy guest. Victor is clearly suffering from some terrible loss, and he reveals that he came
to the Arctic to pursue the huge man Walton saw previously. After Walton tells him that he is
willing to sacrifice anything to achieve his scientific ambitions, Victor decides to tell the captain
the story of his life, which Walton records.

In the first part of his tale, Victor spends an idyllic childhood in Geneva, Switzerland,
with his loving upper-class family. He enjoys particularly close relationships with his adopted
sister, Elizabeth, and his best friend, Henry Clerval. At an early age he develops a passion for
natural philosophy, and he spends his adolescence devouring the works of the medieval
alchemists, dreaming of discovering the elixir of life. When he realizes how outdated the
alchemists’ theories are in comparison to modern theories, however, he becomes disillusioned
and gives up his study of the sciences entirely.

When he is seventeen, Victor’s parents decide to send him to school at the University of
Ingolstadt. But just before he is scheduled to leave, his mother, Caroline, dies of scarlet fever.
After spending time mourning with his family, Victor travels to Ingolstadt as planned. There he
meets professor of biology M. Krempe and professor of chemistry M. Waldman, who inspires
him to resume his study of the sciences. For the next four years, Victor applies himself to his
studies with a passion, driven by an ambition to reveal the mysteries of nature, life, and death,
and winning acclaim for his achievements. He is particularly fascinated by the idea of
discovering how to create life. Just as he is about to return home to Geneva, his experiments
finally succeed. Victor spends the next two years assembling an eight-foot-tall man out of parts
taken from cadavers. When he succeeds in bringing his creation to life, however, Victor is so
horrified by the creature’s hideous appearance that he runs away. After wandering the streets of
Ingolstadt all night, Victor runs into Henry Clerval, who has arrived to begin his own course of
study at the university. When the friends return to Victor’s apartment, Victor is relieved to find
the creature gone, but he remains so agitated that he falls into a months-long state of fever and
delirium. Clerval nurses him back to health.

Just as Victor is beginning to feel like his old self again, he receives word that his
youngest brother, William, has been murdered. He returns to Geneva for the first time in six
years. While walking through Plainpalais, where William was killed, Victor sees the creature he
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brought to life scaling a steep mountain. He becomes convinced that his creature is responsible
for the murder. When he arrives home, however, Victor’s family tells him their beloved servant,
Justine Moritz, has been accused of the crime. Victor expresses his disbelief but chooses to keep
quiet about the creature, fearing he would be thought mad if he were to tell his story and
believing that Justine will be acquitted. But Justine is found guilty, largely because a valuable
necklace that Elizabeth lent to William to wear on the night of the murder—and that was missing
from William’s corpse—was found in Justine’s clothes. Justine is hanged, and Victor is racked
with guilt.

Volume Two

After Justine’s execution, Victor attempts to relieve his inner turmoil by riding alone
through the Alps to the valley of Chamounix. On a nearby glacier, he is approached by the
creature, who asks Victor to listen to his story. Though initially filled with rage and hatred for his
creation, Victor agrees to accompany the creature to his hut and hear his tale.

The creature tells Victor that on the night he was brought to life, he made his way into the
forest near Ingolstadt, where he lived on roots and berries. After being chased out of a village he
had wandered into in search of food and shelter, he hid in a hovel attached to a small cottage in
the woods. The cottage was inhabited by a loving family consisting of two siblings, Felix and
Agatha; their blind father, whom the creature calls by his and his children’s last name, De Lacey;
and, later, Felix’s fiancee, Safie. For nearly two years, the creature secretly observed and did
favors for the cottagers, whom he grew to deeply admire. He learned that the De Laceys had
once been respected members of the Parisian upper class but were exiled after Felix helped a
wrongfully convicted Turkish merchant escape from prison. Felix and the merchant’s daughter,
Safie, had fallen in love, and instead of returning to Constantinople with her father, Safie had run
away in order to reunite with Felix. The creature was moved by this story, as well as by the
stories of virtuous Greeks and Romans he heard Felix read aloud to Safie. He learned to speak,
read, and write French, enabling him to read books he found in the forest (including John
Milton’s Paradise Lost) and Victor’s journal, which he found in the pocket of a coat he had
taken from Victor’s apartment. When he read the journal, the creature was horrified to learn
about his origins and his abandonment by his creator. Tormented by loneliness and longing
above all to be accepted into the cottagers’ family in spite of his frightening appearance, the
creature eventually introduced himself to De Lacey, who showed him compassion. But when
Felix, Agatha, and Safie saw them together, Felix attacked the creature, and the cottagers moved
away the next day. The anguished creature burned the empty cottage before setting out to find
Victor, whom he holds responsible for his suffering.

In the woods on the way to Geneva, the creature saved a child from drowning in a river
and was shot in the arm by the child’s guardian. This incident filled him with feelings of hatred
and vengeance toward humanity. Then, in Plainpalais, he encountered William and seized him
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with the intention of making him his companion. When the creature learned that the boy was a
member of the Frankenstein family, he strangled him to death in order to make Victor suffer. He
then took the necklace William was wearing, attracted by the beautiful miniature of Caroline
Frankenstein. When he saw Justine Moritz asleep in a nearby barn, the creature planted the
necklace on her so that she would be forced to pay for his crime.

After telling his story, the creature has one request for Victor: he wants Victor to create
him a female companion who, being as ugly as himself, will not reject him. If Victor consents,
the creature and his mate will live a peaceful life far away from humanity in South America. If
Victor refuses, however, the creature will continue to destroy Victor’s life and murder his loved
ones. Victor reluctantly agrees to the creature’s terms and returns to Geneva.

Volume Three

At home in Geneva, Victor puts off his promise to the creature. His father, Alphonse—
who, along with Victor’s mother, always hoped Victor and Elizabeth would one day marry—
suggests Victor marry Elizabeth now in order to raise everyone’s spirits. Victor loves Elizabeth
but realizes he needs to fulfill his promise to the creature before marrying her. He decides to
travel to England to speak to scientists who have made new discoveries he believes will help him
with his task. He also plans to find a remote place where he can assemble the female creature.
Accompanied by Clerval, Victor sails to London, where he reluctantly begins to gather
information and materials. Clerval, meanwhile, enthusiastically sets about securing a career in
England’s trade with India. When the two are invited to Scotland by a mutual acquaintance,
Victor accompanies Clerval on the journey north and leaves him with their acquaintance in
Perth. He then travels to the Orkney Islands, where he rents a hut in an isolated corner of the
archipelago and begins to assemble a female creature.

One night when the new creature is near completion, Victor begins to ponder the possible
consequences of his current work: the two creatures might wreak havoc together or even begin a
new race of monsters that would threaten humankind. When he suddenly sees the creature’s face
at the window, Victor destroys the creature’s unfinished mate. Devastated and enraged, the
creature confronts Victor and swears revenge. Ominously, he tells Victor to remember that he
will be with him on his wedding night. The next day, Victor receives a letter from Clerval asking
him to travel to Perth so the two can return to London together, and Victor prepares to leave.
Late that night he rows out to sea and throws the remains of the female creature overboard, then
falls asleep in the boat. When he wakes up the next day, he realizes he is lost at sea and can do
nothing but let the wind carry him. Eventually he reaches a harbor, where he is told that he has
arrived in Ireland and must report to the local magistrate, Mr. Kirwin, on suspicion of murder.
When he does so, several witnesses describe having found a young man’s dead body on the
beach and having seen a man nearby in Victor’s boat. When he is shown the dead body, Victor
realizes it belongs to Clerval, and he cries out in horror that he has destroyed his friend. Victor is
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then thrown in jail, where he lies delirious with fever. Two months later, he begins to recover,
and his father, summoned by the sympathetic Mr. Kirwin, arrives from Geneva.

Victor is found innocent based on his presence on the Orkneys at the time of the murder,
but he remains overwhelmed by guilt, depressed to the verge of suicide, and dependent on the
laudanum he was administered while ill in prison. He and Alphonse return to Geneva, where
Elizabeth is the only person able to somewhat lessen Victor’s misery. Though he still believes
the creature intends to murder him on his wedding night, Victor agrees to marry Elizabeth as
planned and looks forward to the marriage with a mixture of hope and fear. After their wedding,
the couple travel to the town of Evian, where they stay at an inn. That night, seized by anxiety,
Victor tells Elizabeth to wait for him in a separate room, then paces around the inn keeping
watch for the creature. He hears a scream and runs into Elizabeth’s room to find her dead and the
creature at the window. Search parties set out to track down the creature but are unsuccessful,
and Victor returns to Geneva to ensure the safety of his remaining family members. He finds his
father and his younger brother, Ernest, safe, but Alphonse falls ill when he learns of Elizabeth’s
death and dies a few days later. Victor then suffers a mental breakdown and is confined to an
asylum for several months.

After his release, Victor brings his case before a magistrate, demanding the creature be
tracked down and brought to justice. When the magistrate appears skeptical of his story,
however, Victor decides to leave Geneva and seek vengeance on his own. He pays a visit to his
family tomb on the night of his departure, where the creature taunts him before disappearing into
the darkness. Victor follows, beginning a pursuit that leads him into the wilderness of Russia and
what was then known as Tartary. The creature leaves him food and clues, including notes written
on tree bark and rocks in which the creature taunts Victor and commands him to follow him into
the Arctic. Eventually Victor arrives at the Arctic Ocean, where he pursues the creature across
the frozen sea in a dogsled. Just as he is beginning to gain on the creature, the ice breaks,
separating them, and Victor is cast adrift on a floating sheet of ice. After several hours, he is
rescued by Walton and his crew. Finished with his tale, he asks Walton to complete his revenge
if he should die.

Walton, resuming his role as narrator, relates that he continues to admire Victor and that
he wishes he could convince his ailing guest to continue living. Victor, while grateful to Walton,
is resigned to his fate; he wants only to fulfill his task of destroying the creature and to be
reunited with his loved ones in death. When the ship becomes immured in ice, Victor delivers a
rousing speech in which he exhorts both captain and crew to continue their voyage north, but
Walton eventually agrees to the sailors’ demand that they turn the ship around at the first
opportunity rather than risk further danger. The ice breaks several days later, and Walton and his
crew set a course for England. Victor, whose health has been rapidly declining, tells Walton that
all feelings of hatred and vengeance have left him, but he still believes the creature should be
destroyed. He dies later that same day.
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That night, Walton finds the creature standing over Victor’s body. In spite of the terrible
injustice he feels he has been shown by human beings, the creature laments having destroyed
Victor’s life and says he is tormented by remorse and self-loathing. He tells Walton he plans to
travel as far north as possible, where he will build himself a funeral pyre and finally die. Then
the creature leaps out the window and onto a sheet of ice, eventually disappearing into the night.

Short Questions:

How old was Mary Shelley when she wrote Frankenstein?19

Who is writing all of the letters? Robert Walton

To whom is Robert Walton writing letters in the Opening Letters?  His sister.

From where is Robert Walton writing his first letter in Opening Letters? Russia.

How does Robert Walton come to meet Victor Frankenstein? Walton and his ship’s crew rescue
Victor from an ice flow

 What delays Robert Walton’s trip to the North Pole? Weather

Where was Victor Frankenstein born? Naples.

What does Victor tell Robert Walton that he feels a slave of? Passion

Who was Beaufort? Caroline's father.

Who is the De Lacey family in Frankenstein? They are a family exiled from France and living in
the woods. The father of the family is blind and befriends Frankenstein's creature.

Who is Henry Clerval in relation to Victor? His best friend

What sort of science is Victor studying? Alchemy

Why is Justine Moritz imprisoned? Killing William

What does the creature ask of Victor? To create a bride for him

How does the Monster learn to speak? He observes a family

What happens after Victor destroys his second creation?  The Monster kills Elizabeth

What figure does Walton allude to in the opening letter?

Who does the Monster compare himself to? Adam

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What is Walton wanting to explore? The Arctic Circle

How long did it take the creature to reach Geneva from the De Lacey's cabin in chapter sixteen
of Frankenstein? Nearly a year.

In Chapter 1 of Frankenstein, when his good friend Beaufort died, Alphonse Frankenstein…
Took care of and later married Beaufort's daughter, Caroline.

As the completion of his work nears, how does Victor feel? He is terrified about the outcome of
his work.

What was the scientific theory pertaining to electricity (which Mary Shelley learned as a child in
her father's intellectual salons) that in part inspired Frankenstein? Galvanic electricity

What was the verdict in Justine Mortiz' trial in Frankenstein?

She was found guilty and sentenced to hang.

What is remarkable about Elizabeth's introduction to Victor in Chapter 1 of Frankenstein?

Caroline declares that Elizabeth belongs to Victor, and the two will wed some day.

What does Victor do all night after running from his room in chapter 5 of 'Frankenstein?'He
paces in a small courtyard, contemplating the monster he's created.

How does Victor feel his childhood was? Wonderful: he had a great childhood and thinking
about it still makes him very happy.

What big problem is Victor still facing at the end of chapter 5 of 'Frankenstein?'

His creation / monster is still out there somewhere.

What promise does Caroline extract from Victor and Elizabeth before her death? That they will
one day get married.