Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Volume I Chapters 5 – 7 Volume 2 Chapter 1

Chapter 5 marks a return to a previous narrative style What device does Shelley use to maintain first person point of view, while allowing us to understand what has gone on at the Frankenstein residence in Geneva? Shelley returns to the epistolary form. What freedoms does this afford her? (pg. 65) Once again, Shelley delicately foreshadows issues to come when she mentions the way in which judges have to “meddle with the dark side of human nature.”

New Characters: Justine – what do we know of her? (pg. 66) Third of four children Despised by her mother (her father’s favorite, but he is deceased.) Brought to the Frankenstein household to be a servant (Elizabeth is careful to distinguish the differences between British and Swiss servants.) Returned to her mother after her siblings' demises. Mother dies and returns to the Frankenstein household (where she reminds Elizabeth of her aunt.)

Victor writes back… And we get some backstory on how Victor’s relationship with natural philosophy has shifted and become burdensome (paragraph 1 pg. 70). At the conclusion of the Chapter, Victor is in high spirits. What is it that has restored him? “Inanimate nature” (pg. 72). Does this strike us as odd? Why?

Chapter 6 Begins with a letter from Victor’s father… He drops a bombshell… William has been murdered. Shelley is able to recount this simply and efficiently in the form of a letter. Why does Elizabeth feel responsible? (pg. 76) After six years, Victor returns home with a heavy heart…

A Lightening storm on Mont Blanc What came to mind as you read this? Pg. 80

And the guilty party is… Justine?!!!???

The picture Shelley paints of Elizabeth’s character seems psychologically accurate to me. What do you think? Why might she immediately assume responsibility for this tragedy?

Chapter 7 Justine’s life hangs by fine thread and Victor is the only one who can save her. Let’s take a look at the reasoning behind Victor’s choice to not confess. (pg. 87 – A thousand times…) On page 92, Victor tells us that the fangs of remorse tear at (him)… On page 95 he claims his deep and bitter agony is worse than what the victim suffers. What do you think of Shelley’s characterization of Victor in this chapter?

Volume 1, Chapter 1 – the Frankensteins return home to Belrive Volume 1, Chapter 1 – the Frankensteins return home to Belrive. Two months after Justine’s death, they journey to Chamonix- a place of sublime beauty. View of the Valley of Chamonix from the Avanchet [Vue de la vallee de Chamouni depuis l'Avanchet] by Jalabert, 1777

Science and knowledge vs. Nature Notice the setting in which Victor encounters the monster. Shelley uses natural settings in the novel to contrast with the creature as the “unnatural “ product of science. The Romantics valued the beauty and perfection in nature (and their philosophies were closer to pantheism than the dogma of the Judeo-Christian religions). They believed no man-made device could rival this majesty. In the novel, nature displays powers to destroy those who upset its balance and power. Where do we see this? Frankenstein, of course. But also Walton’s crew as they journey to the North Pole (recall the opening scene in the film.)

Volume II Chapter 1 and 2 We finally hear from the creature himself. What has Shelley been preparing us for? What would this novel be if the monster was, well, monstrous? Frankenstein comes face to face with his creation and agrees to listen to his tale.

Turn to a partner to consider and interpret this quotation Turn to a partner to consider and interpret this quotation. How does it connect to our novel so far?

Remember the story structure Robert Walton tells of his life and Victor Frankenstein’s story in Letters 1-4 written to his sister. POV: Robert Walton is “I” Robert Walton Victor Frankenstein The Monster Now, we have the monster’s POV, as told by Victor. Victor Frankenstein tells of his fixation with science and the Monster’s story in the chapters. POV: Victor Frankenstein is “I.”

Chapter three The monster unfiltered. Notice the way his desires mirror the early desires of Frankenstein. What is it that he most desires?

In her book, Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters by Anne K. Mellor Anne Mellor establishes a link between events, dates, and names in the novel and those in Mary Shelley 's life. Anne Mellor's publications Mellor argues that the novel is born out of a "doubled fear, the fear of a woman that she may not be able to bear a healthy normal child and the fear of a putative (supposed) author that she may not be able to write.... the book is her created self as well as her child."

Mary Shelley and Margaret Saville… Dated 11 December 17--to 12 September 17--, the letters that form the narration of the novel--from Walton to his sister Margaret Walton Saville (whose initials are those of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley )--are written during a period similar in duration to Mary Shelley 's third pregnancy, during which she wrote Frankenstein. It’s worth noting that Mary Shelley experiences a variety of travails related to childbirth - Mary gave birth prematurely to a daughter, Clara, on 22 February 1815. The infant died two weeks later. Mary had been having nightmares about the death of her daughter, and her anxiety obviously brought on the "waking dream.” In total, she and Percy Bysshe Shelley had five children, but only one lived to adulthood.

Mellor discovered… that the day and date on which Walton first sees the creature, Monday, 31 July, had coincided in 1797, the year in which Mary Shelley was born. This fact and other internal evidence led Mellor to conclude that the novel ends on 12 September 1797, two days after Mary Wollstonecraft's death. She writes: " Mary Shelley thus symbolically fused her book's beginning and ending with her own--Victor Frankenstein's death, the Monster's promised suicide, and her mother's death from puerperal fever can all be seen as the consequence of the same creation, the birth of Mary Godwin the author“ (people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/shelleybio).