October Reading Club: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

“It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs” (p.43)

Frankenstein Reader's Guide

Introduction

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is widely considered to be amongst the greatest literary works ever produced, and is even cited by some circles to be the keystone of the science fiction genre. Although the novel was initially met with mixed reviews—with Sir Walter Scott proclaiming Shelley an “original genius” (Colavito, 2008, p.92) and John Wilson Crocker admonishing its “disgusting absurdity” (Nichols, 1996, p.126)—Frankenstein flourished into a cultural phenomenon The image of Frankenstein is certainly iconic, with Boris Karloff’s portrayal of the creature in the 1931 adaptation having become the basic template for most subsequent portrayals and spin-offs—from Herman Munster to Franken Berry. Today, almost two centuries after the novels first publication, the word Frankenstein has been ingrained into human consciousness, so much so that a person could go their entire lives without having read the book or ever having seen an adaptation and still have an idea of what the word means. It’s even used as a modern root for new words like Frankenstorm. What is it about this book, created from a contest between friends, that has so ingrained itself in the fabric of modern culture?

            There are many stances one could take when trying to explain the prescience of Frankenstein. It is considered to have birthed the science fiction genre, while at the same time being broadly applicable in several other genre categories including Romanticism, Horror, Gothic, and Dystopian. Frankenstein presents dichotomies that generate thoughtful discussion; light vs. dark, fire vs. ice, morality vs. progress, male vs. female—the list goes on. The themes and motifs of Frankenstein are not presented randomly either, but rather work together to create a unique tale that touches several issues at once without becoming consumed by them. Of course, there’s also the fact that the story of Frankenstein doesn’t have to be complicated at all. Readers can take it at face value as a story of a scientist whose experiment goes awry and still be enthralled with it.

             

About the author

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, nee Godwin, was born on August 30^th, 1797. She was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, famous author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman¸and William Godwin, author or Political Justice. Shelley’s mother died shortly after giving birth to her, leaving Godwin to raise her and her sister Fanny by himself. Her father later remarried to Mary Jane Clairmont, with whom Shelley had a tumultuous relationship. She eventually met and fell in love with Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was still married at the time. After the death of his first wife, Percy and Mary were married in 1816. Among their friends were the Lord Byron and John William Polidori, and one fateful summer when Mary and Percy were staying with their friends, Mary came up with the idea for Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus. It was published anonymously in 1818, and then under her name in 1823. Other works by Shelley include The Last Man, Mathilda, and Falkner. She died on February 1^st, 1851 as the result of a brain tumor (Mellor, 1988, p.3).

Plot

“After days and nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter” (p.39).

Frankenstein follows the story of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant yet fragile young man who becomes obsessed with the creation of life through science. He labors away, devouring all that science has to offer and performing one experiment after another. Finally, the day at last comes when he is able to restore animation to the inanimate but, horrified by his hideous creation, Victor abandons the work that took him years to complete. However, no matter how hard he tries Victor cannot leave his creation behind and when the Creature at last comes for him a chain of events is set in motion that leads to ruin and catastrophe.

Characters

Robert Walton: a seaman, Walton’s letters to his sister open and close the story.

Victor Frankenstein: often deemed the protagonist of the story, Victor Frankenstein is a brilliant man who discovers how to reanimate dead tissue.

The Creature: a hideous being made and the product of Victor’s experimentations, the Creature’s intelligence and eloquent speak contrast with his terrifying appearance.

Caroline Frankenstein: The mother of Victor Frankenstein and the subject of everyone’s admiration

Alphonse Frankenstein: the gentle natured father of Victor Frankenstein

Ernest Frankenstein: The middle Frankenstein child

William Frankenstein: The youngest Frankenstein child

Elizabeth Lavenza: The beautiful ward of the Frankenstein family and Victor’s romantic interest

Justine Mortiz: a ward of the Frankensteins

Henry Clerval: Victor’s childhood friend and erstwhile companion

The De Laceys: a family of peasents in the woods made up of old man De Lacey, his children Agatha and Felix, and Safie the foreigner. 

Vocabulary

Romanticism: a literary movement that stood in stark contrast to Rationalism, Romanticism is typified by extensive descriptions of emotions and environment. Characteristics are often exaggerated for dramatic emphasis.

Gothic: Gothic literature is often associated with Romanticism, as both explore emotional turmoil and both are highly descriptive in nature. Common themes found in Gothic novels are castles, supernatural beings, damsels, heroes, illness, mystery, and madness.

Utopia: coined by Thomas Moore in his book Utopia, a utopia describes an ideal place or paradise.

Dystopia: coined by philosopher John Stuart Mill, dystopia is meant to be the opposite of a utopia. The genre often includes disasters, social and moral declines, and dehumanization.

Dichotomy: an exclusive or contradictory set of groups

Concentric narrative: a concentric narrative refers to a story with different levels of narration working within each other. For example, if one character begins to tell a story but another character finishes it.

Epistolary: epistolary novels are novels told in the form of letters.

Galvanism: the study of electricity on the contraction of muscles, named after scientist Luigi Galvani.

The Age of Enlightenment: also referred to as the Age of Reason, the Enlightenment period is difficult to pin down in terms for dates—with some placing it as early as the 16^th century and others in the 18^th. The movement saw an increase in rationalism and the use of the scientific method.  

In medias res: when a story starts during a climax or in the middle of the action.

Deus ex machina: a plot device in which a problem is solved by a sudden and random event or character.

Predeterminism: the idea that all events are already fated to happen.

Fatalism: similar to the predeterminism, Fatalism takes it a step further by questioning the point of choices in a word where choices are already made.

Deification: the making of something or someone into a god, or raising them to the level of a god.

Faustian bargain: a deal in which one member benefits enormously for a short amount of time only to have to undergo a huge sacrifice. Sometimes referred to as making a “deal with the devil”.

Metaphor: a figure of speech that relates two different objects and highlights their similarities in order to make a statement (i.e. there’s plenty of fish in the sea)

Motif: a dominant and recurring idea or theme

Symbol: when one thing is used to represent another

Simile: the direct comparison of one thing to another (i.e. A is like B)

Unreliable narrator: when the narrator of the story has questionable credibility either due to events that do not add up, the perceived mental state of the narrator, the reputation of the narrator, or another in-story reason.

Major themes

Man vs. Nature

Man vs. God

Industrialism vs. Conservatism

Gender Spheres

Dangerous/Forbidden Knowledge

Light and Darkness

Fire

Existence/Consciousness/Life

Revenge

Appearance

Reading Schedule

Three meetings will be held at the Library during the month of October. The first meeting will be to hand out materials and to go over the instructions on how to join the online forum, the rules of the forum, and the reading schedule. The mid-month meeting is not mandatory, but it is a good time to meet in person during the halfway mark of the book and discuss the important events and predictions for the book's ending. The final meeting is also not mandatory, but highly encouraged (there will be a party! A sign-up sheet will be distributed online and during the mid-month meeting). 

Discussion Questions

The following is a list of questions to prompt discussions. Several questions overlap, and may be used to examine different elements of the same key issues. Readers are more than welcome to add their own questions to this list and submit them for discussion at the beginning of each session.

1. Ultimately, the story of Frankenstein is told by Captain Walton through letters to his sister. Do you think that it is possible that Walton, who had been craving companionship and a grand adventure, fabricated the appearance of Victor Frankenstein and his horrific tale to keep himself from going mad with cabin fever?

2. If Walton did not fabricate his tale, how reliable is he as a narrator?

3. The book cycles through three narrator: Walton, Victor, and the Creature. What is the effect caused by the change in narration? Is it a successful technique? Why or why not?

4. How are women presented in the novel? Does passivity necessarily equal weak characterization, or is there more to characters like Elizabeth than meets the eye?

5. How much responsibility does Victor bear for the outcome of the story? Who is the monster—Victor, the Creature, or both? If Victor is to blame, can the Creature be held fully accountable for his actions? However, if the Creature is sentient and capable of moral reasoning, at what point must he be held accountable for his own follies?

6. How did the educations of Victor and the Creature differ and how did the focus of their studies affect their characterization?

7. Victor is often ill in the novel, and his mother dies from an illness. Does Shelley use disease to foreshadow the ending of the novel?

8. The Boris Karloff films and most that have followed portray the Creature as inarticulate. How does having an articulate Creature change the sentiment of the book? Does he become more or less sympathetic?

9. How does Frankenstein fit into the following genres: Romantic, Gothic, Horror, Science-fiction, and Dystopia?

10. How does Shelley use nature and descriptions of scenery to reflect the tonal shifts of the novel? What type of landscape does Victor’s story begin and where does it end?

11. Were Victor’s intentions to create a perfect being noble or ignoble?

12. What is the importance of travel in the novel?

13. Were the events of the novel inevitable, or could they have been prevented?

14. How does the story of Prometheus relate to Frankenstein? Who is more likely to be cast as Prometheus—Victor, or the Creature?

15. Was the Creature right to be angered by Victor’s refusal to make him a female companion? What would have been the potential complications if Victor had not refused? How would making the female companion have altered the course of the story?

16. When the Creature is born he knows nothing and learns by observing others. Does the being he become serve as argument for or against predeterminsim?

17. Frankenstein presents a lot of questions regarding science and morality. Are these questions still relevant today?

18. Appearance is often emphasized in the book, with noble characters being described with admirable physical features and the Creature with deformities. This seems to imply that wickedness can be observed through both appearance and action. Do you think this rings true in light of the actions of fair featured Victor, or is Shelley criticizing the trope? Do we still encounter this ideology today?

19. Victor symbolically takes on the role of both a man and a woman through his creation of the Creature. Is the novel a criticism of strict gender roles, or is it a warning of what happens when people the gender spheres collide?

20. Both Victor and the Creature pursue revenge to their detriments. Who was responsible for starting the cycle of revenge? Does it matter?

21. Family is a recurring theme in the novel; Walton writes letters to his sister, Victor begins his narrative at home, and the Creature longs for a family of his own and learns by observing the family in the woods. Given the outcome of each prominent family, what statement do you think Shelley is making regarding the traditional family model of her time?

22. When the Frankensteins adopt Elizabeth, they single her out as the most beautiful child and take her in with the intention of providing their son with a companion and potential wife. Does this underscore the professed philanthropic nature of their deed? Was Elizabeth’s fair looks and rumored nobility an important factor in the Frankensteins decision to make her their ward?

23. Does Victor’s abandonment of and lack of compassion towards the Creature stem solely from its appearance? Would he have run away if the Creature had been beautiful?

24. The Creature performs a noble deed by saving a drowning girl, but is in turn shot out of fear. What does this say about the nature of the world? Were there other instances in the story where goodness was met with ill will?

25. Victor keeps his dark deed secret for most of the novel to the detriment of others, but when he does at last decided to come clean the magistrate does not believe him? How responsible was Frankenstein for the deaths of those around him through his secrecy? Does the event with the magistrate imply that no one would have believed him anyway, or is this a metaphor for being unable to flee from a web of one’s lies?

26. The Creature is the result of different parts of corpses being sewn together. Does the multiplicity of his physical nature reflect the ever evolving nature of his mind?

27. How does Paradise Lost influence the Creature’s understanding of the world? When does he relate to Lucifer, and when does he relate to Adam?

28. What is the Creature’s fate at the end of the story?

29. How is Frankenstein similar to the story of Faust?

Forum

The discussion forum for this club can be found at http://readingclub.freeforums.net/. In order to participate, you need to sign up for a free Proboards account. 

Works Cited

Colavito, J. (2008). A Hideous Bit of Morbidity: An Anthology of Horror. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 

Miller, A.K. (1998). Mary shelley: Her life, her fiction, her monsters. Great Britain: Methuen Inc.

Nichols, J. (1996) Mary Shelly: Frankenstein''s Creator. Newburyport: Red Wheel Weiser.