ENGLISH LITERATURE

MAESTRÍA EN LA ENSEÑANZA DEL INGLÉS

Alumno: Ricardo Torres Cárdenas

Docente: Emmanuel Israel Hinojosa
Activity 2: Frankenstein. Summary book.

Introduction.
Mary Shelley wrote at the age of 18 the novel Frankenstein (1818), which
made her famous and with which the science fiction genre begins.
Frankenstein is made up of three main narratives. In the first, Robert Walton
tells his sister, through letters, about his trip to the North Pole. One of these
letters includes the narration of Victor Frankenstein to Walton, which in turn
includes the narration of the monster to Victor Frankenstein.
Victor Frankenstein is the protagonist who is capable of creating, much to his
regret, a nameless monster. "For almost two years I have worked tirelessly
with the sole purpose of giving life to an inert body. For this I had deprived
myself of rest and health," Víctor confesses.
The monster that is born from inert matter gradually becomes a human
being, even acquires language. He is mentioned as "spawn", "monster", "that
being", "the creature", "horrendous guest", "demonic being" ... and, although
he is born innocent, his loneliness and the horror and contempt that he
produces his contemplation of other people turns him into an evil being.
Frankenstein, destroys his family and is later persecuted by his creator, thus
trying to avoid other evils that the creature can cause, so it becomes
necessary to destroy the monster.

Summary of the fisrt ten chapters.

Chapter 1. Frankenstein tells Walton about his origins in Geneva, and

describes how his father, Alphonse Frankenstein, was a rich, respected, and
benevolent man who rescued his mother, Carolaine, from poverty before
marrying her. She was the daughter of Beufort, a friend of her father's who
lost his fortune and escaped by changing homes to escape the shame of his
poverty. Alphonse traveled to see Beufort and his daughter with the
intention of providing assistance, but when he arrived at his home, Beufort
had died and Caroline was alone and bankrupt.
Alphonse took it to Geneva with hers and two years later they were married.
Although she was much younger than her husband, Caroline loved him
deeply which made their relationship a happy and loving one. Victor. Their
first child was born while they were traveling through Italy, and although
Caroline wanted a girl, she could not conceive again 5 years after Victor's
birth, it was then that while visiting the poor in the streets of Italy she found
Elizabeth Levenza an orphan girl who it would be adopted by the
Frankenstein family.
Chapter 2. Frankenstein describes the serenity of his childhood that
eventually led to the inclusion of two other younger brothers. However, his
relationship with Elizabeth was still the best, he describes her as his
complement, Frankenstein being a man who sincerely opened up with few
people, his sister Elizabeth and his schoolmate Henry Clerval were his closest
friends. close to him.
At the age of 13, Frankenstein became interested in the spark of life and the
theories of how human life was created, he said that for him, the world was a
secret that he had to unmask. The sensations of curiosity about the hidden
laws and mysteries of life are among the first sensations that he remembers.
Frankenstein was absorbed in these studies until one day he saw lightning
undo a tree, which led him to study the theories of electricity and
galvanization (bringing objects to life through electricity).
Chapter 3. When Frankenstein turned 17 he had to leave for Ingolstadt to
continue his studies when Elizabeth contracted scarlet fever, while Caroline,
who had been taking care of her, fell ill. In her bed she dies Caroline told
Frankenstein and Elizabeth that she wanted the two of them to marry. After
a time of mourning the death of his mother Frankenstein left for Ingoltadt to
resume his studies where he had the fear of feeling alone or having no one,
this feeling vanished after Frankenstein met M. Waldman who encouraged
him in continue your studies on the spark of life.
Chapter 4. Frankenstein continued his studies on the essence of life. After
two years of study, he considered returning home since his knowledge was
so advanced that he could no longer obtain more progress in that place,
however, just before this happened Frankenstein discovered the essence of
life, a secret that is He refused to share with Walton so that he would not
follow his “poor example” he said “Learn from me, if not from my precepts,
at least from my example, how dangerous it is to acquire knowledge and how
happier is the man who believes that his native city the world that the one
that aspires to become greater than its nature allows it ”.
Upon discovering what gives life, Frankesntein dedicated himself to creating
a human being, a 2.5 m tall man with superhuman strength and endurance
from pieces that he took from bodies. He worked all this in secret and while
he was working on his project the correspondence with his family stopped,
his health began to deteriorate for all the time he dedicated to creating it but
he did not stop until he saw his project finished.
Chapter 5. It was then one autumn night that Frankenstein brought his
creation to life, but his illusions of grandeur were quickly vanished when he
saw the hideous beast. He had chosen pieces that he believed to be perfect
and beautiful but the result of the whole was something horrifying and
chilling, Frankenstein ran to his laboratory where he fainted. When he woke
up from his nightmare, the first thing he saw is the beast he had created
standing in front of him smiling with his horrible black lips, Frankenstein in a
panic ran towards the town where he ran into his friend Henry, with whom
he talked for a while. Frankenstein had already forgotten about his creation
until he and Henry returned home and realized that the beast was not there,
with this, Frankenstein's poor health began to produce hallucinations and it
wasn't long before he fell into bed with a fever. .
Henry stayed with Frankenstein to take care of him in his illness,
Frankenstein continued talking between dreams about the monster but
Henry attributed it to the fever, when Frankenstein began to recover Henry
gave him a letter from Elizabeth.
Chapter 6. In her letter Elizabeth begged Frankenstein to tell his family that
he was fine, knowing this he wrote a letter to his family assuring them that
he was fine, and that his health had improved. After this Frankenstein
introduced Henry to various professors at the university since he was going
to study there, but he always tried to avoid talking about his studies as they
reminded him of the monster he had created. Time passed and Frankenstein
planned to return home but his return was postponed 7 months until he and
Henry went on a trip to Ingolstadt.
Chapter 7. When Frankenstein returned from the trip, he found a letter from
his father Alphonse, in which he informed him about his brother William who
had been murdered, the family was walking through the forest when William
disappeared, when they found him he had been strangled. Elizabeth was
concerned because she had lent him a necklace that belonged to her mother
and when they found William he had disappeared which led them to think
that this had been the cause of the attack.
Frankenstein returned to Geneva immediately to comfort his family, but
coming home after 6 years scared him of all the changes the place might
have had, so he decided to stop a few days before arriving in Geneva to let
the scenery He was reassured from home, when he arrived in Geneva he
found the city gates closed so he was forced to spend the night in a nearby
small town. Frankenstein decided to go to the place where William had been
killed, and he noticed a storm approaching through the mountains, while the
storm passed the light of a lightning revealed an object in front of him, his
enormous stature, the deformity of his appearance let him know that that it
was the monster he had given life to and that that creature had been the one
who murdered William. Frankenstein couldn't tell anyone that the monster
had killed William because no one was going to believe him and even if they
believed him no one would be able to catch the monster. He decided to
remain silent on the matter but when he arrived in Geneva he learned that
Justine, a woman who had served the family for many years and was
considered a member, was charged with the murder of William since the
necklace that Elizabeth had lent her was found in her dress.
Chapter 8. At the trial Justine was able to explain everything that happened
except the necklace, Frankenstein knew that the monster had put it on her
dress to incriminate her for William's death. Elizabeeth sure of Justine's
innocence asked the jury to declare her innocent like Frankenstein but this
was not enough. Justine was found guilty and executed, Frankenstein now
knew that there were two deaths in her consciousness but he did not know
how he could solve it.
Chapter 9. Frankenstein's concern for the situation was noted as his mental
health began to deteriorate, his father believed that this was due to the loss
of his brother but Frankesntein could not overcome his melancholy due to
the responsibility he felt for the deaths of William and Justine as well as the
emotional state of her father and Elizabeth.
Neither his family nor his friends could help calm Frankenstein as neither of
them knew the cause of his distress, none of them knew about the monster
and he couldn't tell them so he had to fix this. only. Frankenstein decided to
make a trip to Chamounix to escape again.
Chapter 10. During a trip to the top of the mountain the monster approached
Frankenstein, ready to fight to the death he cursed the beast screaming,
however, the beast asked him to listen. The beast proclaimed himself a
virtuous creature and said that why should he be hated being one of the
most miserable creatures and how could his creator with whom he has a pact
that only the death of one of the two can break, hate and detest it ,
Frankenstein refused to listen to the beast but it demanded that he listen to
him, he said that it was his obligation to listen to him and that if he satisfied
his demands he would leave humanity and Frankenstein in peace, but that if
he refused he would destroy Frankenstein and all his family, Frankenstein
accepted out of compassion and curiosity.
Literary Style. Frankenstein's book was published in 1818, for which reason it
can be attributed as a Gothic work, however it is common to find dyes of the
romantic movement throughout the story. On the other hand, the story also
shows aspects of scientific morality and the reflection of scientific thought of
that time, so when resorting to relevant scientific elements of the time,
Shelley's work may well be considered, as the first novel of Science fiction.

Analysis.
It is known that the stranger will be the general narrator, and Walton,
representing all readers, will be the audience to whom he speaks. Shelley is
setting up a number of themes in this crafty kind of intro. Walton's intense
desire for discovery and his passion for the unknown, which would lead him
to risk his life at sea, shape him in line with the typical epic hero. Adjectives
like "ambitious" and "grandiose" are used to describe his mission. Walton is
consumed with the need to become immortal by doing what he has never
done before. He suffers from arrogance, believes that he is invincible, and
that he is destined to complete this dangerous journey. The fact that this
attitude of extreme confidence bothers the unknown man so much, that he
compares Walton's curiosity to drinking from a poisonous cup, is revealing.
The stranger believes that the search for new knowledge can lead to self-
destruction. While the idea sounds strange, it is a key point to remember.
Walton's commitment to this trip is a comment on his own character and on
society in general: it is the outside world that constantly urges its members
to overcome great limits in order to gain fame and recognition. Walton's
values are definitely questionable. He doesn't seem to really belong to this
mission, having so little experience, but he refuses to let this dream go by. He
is highly motivated and, in the prime of his life, he seems like a younger
version of the miserable stranger, who had the same ideals at the time as his
but had to abandon them. The fact that Walton complains about not having
companions with whom he can relate illustrates the most basic human need
for companionship. Any being with an iota of humanity feels this compulsion
for friendship and emotional ties: anyone would be justified in going to great
lengths to get hold of them.
Personal Conclusion. I have always considered myself a fanatic reader of the
authors of the 19th century and although the work of Mary Shelley had not
been of interest to me, I find Frankenstein's book highly interesting because
of the topic that is approached about the questioning of life. Definitely, the
author reflects the thinking of society at that time about this great mystery,
and man, making use of scientific knowledge and technological advances, has
always sought to be like Gd or, even to rival him, no matter what. The time.
Definitely for me, the book is science fiction, because it brings together the
elements that distinguish it, scientific morality and the use of technology for
a personal purpose, which ends up being a problem that puts the lives of
others at risk.