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Frankenstein Study Questions: Letters 1-4 (To Mrs. Saville, England)

Questions (in order!) by Connie Webb, WHS, 2008

LETTER 1… DATED DEC. 11, 17__1. The first letter from Russia reveals that the letter writer’s sister (Mrs. Margaret Saville) regards her brother’s “enterprise” with

___________ _________________?

2. What does Walton say he wishes to discover with his travels? _________________

3. The first letter explains that the letter writer (Robert Walton) had been forbidden by his dying father to “embark on a ______________ life.” This is perhaps a first indication of what literary term? ____________

4. How will Walton finance his enterprise (the expedition?) __________________

5. How did Walton prepare for the hardship he might have to endure? ___________________________________________________________________

6. Walton will travel the post-road from St. Petersburg to Archangel and will do what in Archangel to prepare for the expedition? ________________________________

7. Walton closes with “If I succeed, many, many months, perhaps years, will pass before you and I may meet. If I fail, you will see me again soon, or never.” What literary terms are utilized here? __________________ & ________________

LETTER 2 … DATED MARCH 28, 17__8. How much time has elapsed since Walton’s last letter to Margaret? _____________

Where is he now? _______________What has he been doing? _________________

9. Walton regrets that he has no ______________. List the qualities he wishes in this person: 1.___________2. _____________ 3. ____________ 4. _______________

10. Walton says his age is ________ and considers himself ________________. Is he?

11. What characteristics does Walton admire in the “master of ship” he hired? ___________________________________________________________________ (This tale is called a “side story” and Mary Shelley is known for these!)

12. At the end of this letter, there is a famous quotation: “I am going to unexplored regions, to ‘the land of mist and snow,’ but I shall kill no albatross; therefore do not be alarmed for my safety or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the ‘Ancient Mariner.’ ” This is an _______________ to the famous, long poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by ______________________

LETTER 3…DATED JULY 7, 17__

13. Walton is on his way, reporting to Margaret that they continually pass “________ ____________ of _________.”

14.Walton tells his sister, “But success shall crown my endeavours.” What does Shelley intend the italicizing of “shall” to express? _________________________

LETTER 4…DATED AUGUST 5, 17__

15. What “strange sight” did Walton and his crew see about a month into the voyage? _________________________________________________________________

16. What second occurrence happened the next morning? _________________________________________________________________

17. How did Walton describe the man as he first appears? _________________________________________________________________

18. After 2 days, what further description is given?_________________________________________________________________

19. Walton says he has found someone who, “before his spirit had been broken by misery,” would have made a great _______________.

20. How does the “guest” react when Walton reveals, “One man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought, for the dominion I should acquire and transmit over the elemental foes of our race”? ____________________________________

21. A “duality theme” is introduced with Walton’s statement here concerning the “divine wanderer”: “Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery and be overwhelmed by disappointments, yet when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures.” What does this mean? ___________________________________________________________________

22. The guest says he wishes to tell Walton his tale for what purpose? ___________________________________________________________________

23. Walton says he will take notes of the tale and mail them to his sister Margaret. This structure of the novel, in which the entire story is revealed through letters, is called what form (review)? _________________________

Frankenstein Study Questions, Chapter 1: Victor’s childhood with ElizabethQuestions by Connie Webb, WHS, 2008

1. As Victor begins to tell his story to Walton, he reveals he’s from ______________, Switzerland.

2. Victor’s family is one of the most “distinguished of that republic,” and includes Victor’s father, Alphonse, who married late in life, to ______________________, the daughter of an old friend. What happened to the friend? ____________________________________________________

3. Helping the less fortunate was, to Victor’s mother Caroline, “more than a duty; it was… ___________________________ Why?

4. Victor’s mother takes Elizabeth Lavenza and she is eventually adopted; her family background is called a ________________ , which was popular during Mary Shelley’s time. Why? _______________________________________

5. Victor considered Elizabeth his “ ________________________”as his mother presented Elizabeth to him as a present!

Frankenstein Study Questions, Chapter 2: Victor, Elizabeth, and Henry

1. The old expression is “opposites attract.” How does this apply to Victor and his adopted sister, Elizabeth? _____________________________________________

2. Victor’s brother is born ____ years later.

3. Victor’s nature was to “avoid a crowd” and to “attach [himself] fervently to a few.” Who is Victor’s best friend? ___________________Is he closer in nature to Victor or Elizabeth? _____________________

4. Victor wanted to learn the “secrets of ______________________” whereas Henry occupied himself with the “ _______________ relationships of things.”

5. When Victor became immersed in reading the works of Cornelius Agrippa, (German theologian, physician, soldier, and dabbler in the occult) his father offered the opinion that this was “ _____________.” What effect did this have? ______________________________________

6. What is the “elixir of life” that Victor is most occupied with? __________________________7. When Victor was 15, what event changed his direction from the paranormal to “mathematics and other branches of study

pertaining”? __________________________________________________________________8. In blatant _______________________(literary term?), what does Victor mean when he speaks of the “storm that was even

then hanging in the stars and ready to envelop me”? _____________________________________________

Frankenstein Study Questions, Chapter 3: Victor’s First Day at UniversityQuestions by Connie Webb, Westlake High School, 2008

1. Victor’s parents sent him to the University of ________________(Germany) when he was age ___.

2. How did Victor’s mother die? ____________________________________________

3. What was her dying request? _____________________________________________

4. Victor’s best friend Henry Clerval want to go to university with Victor, but his father ____________________________________________________________________

5. Victor recalls his thoughts as he leaves Switzerland for Germany: “I commenced my journey; but as I proceeded, my spirits and hopes rose. I ardently desired the acquisition of knowledge.” Why did Victor regret leaving? ___________________

What does the use of the word journey infer? _______________________________

*Note how many times Mary Shelley will use the word ardent in this novel!

6. Which professor does Victor NOT like and which DOES he like? ___________________________ / ________________________

7. Respectively, what are their areas of study? __________________________ / _________________________

8. Professor Waldman inspires Victor to formulate his goal: “…soon my mind was filled with one thought, one conception, one purpose. So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein—more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of _______________________.”

Frankenstein Study Questions, Chapter 4: Victor Makes a Discovery!

1. Explain Victor’s change of attitude concerning M. Krempe with a quotation: _____________________________________________________________________.

2. In M. Waldman, Victor found a “true _________________.” Copy one passage that shows Victor’s respect for him: ___________________________________________.

3. For ______ years Victor studies various sciences. Toward the end, he made what discoveries that procured me great esteem and admiration at the university”? _____________________________________________________________________

4. Victor stays on at the university for further study and recalls that “To examine the causes of life, we must first have recourse to death.” How did he accomplish this?_________________________________________________________________

5. Finally, Victor, in the “midst of this darkness a sudden light broke in me—a light so brilliant and wondrous, yet so simple.” He describes this as the “____________”

that is the “consummation of my toils.” *Note that Mary Shelley is also fond of the word toil in this novel.

6. Victor describes his discovery as “like the Arabian who has been buried with the dead and found a passage to life aided by one glimmering and seemingly ineffectual light.” Literary term? _______________________

7. Why does Victor not tell Walton the exact nature of the secret? ________________________________

8. Why does Victor resolve to build a “being of gigantic stature”? ________________________________ About how tall will the man be? ________

9. Whereas Victor has a noble cause—to “renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption”—his thoughts while working seem to _______________________ a doomed ending, as he says, “Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil as I dabbled among the unhallowed damps of the grave or tortured the living animal to animate the lifeless clay? My limbs now tremble, and my eyes swim with the remembrance; but then a resistless and almost frantic impulse urged me forward; I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit.”

10. From where does Victor collect body parts? ________________________________

11. Victor’s laboratory is located in the ____________ of his house. (An attic can be a metaphor for insanity, in some cases). Here, he describes his “workshop of filthy creation” and says that his “eyeballs were starting from their sockets in attending to the details….” What literary term seems to apply here with these descriptions? ________________________

12. Can you think of any other occupation that is both “loathsome” and rewarding at the same time? __________________________________________________________

13. Whom does Victor neglect at this time? ____________________________________

14. Victor remembers a quotation that is probably his father’s philosophy: “A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a __________________ and ___________________mind and never allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility.” Did Victor agree with this? ___________

15. Victor becomes obsessed with finishing his creation. Copy individual words at the end of the chapter that illustrate this: __________________________________________________________________

Frankenstein Study Questions, Chapter 5: The “Creation” Finally Happens!Questions by Connie Webb, WHS, 2008

1. Details about THE NIGHT Victor’s Creation was “born”: It was a dark and stormy _________ in ___________(month). “My candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half- extinguished light, I saw…” adds to the _______________.

2. Creation’s eyes: ______________ skin: ________________ hair: _______________ teeth: ________________ lips: _______________ limbs: _______________

3. Circle the nouns/adjectives Victor uses to describe him:catastrophe, wretch, ugly, horror, disgust, wondrous, responsibility, horrid, miserable, mummy, thing, hideous, hell, monster, spectre

4. Victor’s rushing from the room parallels what similar (other unit?) abandoning of moral responsibility that had equally fatal consequences? ________________________________________________________

5. When Victor awakens from a fitful sleep, the Creation “held up the curtain of the bed” and did what 3 things? _____________________, ___________________, and ________________________________.

What does this suggest about the “Monster”? ___________________.

6. What does this allusion from Rime of the Ancient Mariner refer to?“Like one who, on a lonely road,

Doth walk in fear and dread,And having once turned round, walks on,

And turns no more his head;Because he knows a frightful fiend

Doth close behind him tread.” ________________________________________________________7. Copy 3 phrases that precede Victor’s nervous breakdown:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Henry, who finally has permission to attend UI, arrives with a letter from Elizabeth. This ending development is a _____________________.

Frankenstein Study Questions, Chapter 6: Elizabeth’s Letter & Victor Recovers

Questions by Connie Webb, WHS, 2008

1. In her letter to Victor, Elizabeth describes their brothers: Ernest, who is now _____ (age), wishes to enter the _________ ____________, and (loves, hates) to study; and… William, who has ______ eyes, ______ eyelashes, _________hair, ____________, and several “wives.”

2. How are Mary Shelley’s democratic ideas illustrated in the way she describes the way Justine Moritz (a servant) fits into the Frankenstein household? ______________________________________________

3. Victor now hates the mention of ____________ _________________ but takes Clerval to UI to introduce him to ____________ and ____________.

4. Why does Victor decide to study Oriental languages with Clerval? ________________________________________________________

5. Henry Clerval’s proposal of a final “walking tour” of Ingolstadt before Victor returned to Switzerland fits into Mary Shelley’s (and the Romantics’) idea of nature as a _______________________.

6. Copy one of Victor’s observations of nature that illustrate that he is again restored to health and can find pleasure in life: ________________________________________________________

7. In what way can this passage at chapter’s end be seen as foreshadowing? __________________________________________

“We returned to our college on a Sunday afternoon; the peasants were dancing, and everyone we met appeared gay and happy. My own spirits were high, and I bounded along with feelings of unbridled joy and hilarity.”

Frankenstein Study Questions, Chapter 7 Letter from Alphonse & Victor Returns HomeQuestions by Connie Webb, WHS, 2008

1. Victor’s letter from his father Alphonse has these 3 important parts:the tragedy: _______________________________________Elizabeth’s feelings of responsibility: ___________________a plea: ____________________________________________

2. How long has Victor been away from Geneva? ( 2 6 12 years).

3. Victor reports that “tears gushed from the eyes of Clerval as he read the account of my misfortune.” The literary term for his example of overdone emotion is m_ _ _ _ _ _ _ a (nine letters total).

4. Why did Victor remain at Lausanne “in [his] painful state of mind” before returning to Geneva? ________________________________________________

5. Nature’s part in Victor’s continued recovery is seen with “My country, my beloved country! Who but a native can tell the delight I took in again beholding thy streams, the mountains, and more than all, thy lovely lake!” The literary term for Victor’s talking to his country is called (review from R&J unit!) ____________

6. Juxtaposed to this is Victor’s “I felt still more [gloom],” which tends to ________________ trouble ahead.

7. Because the city’s gates were locked, Victor decides to visit Plainpalais, the site of William’s death,. Describe the weather and its purpose: __________________________________________________________________ 8. Find another apostrophe in which Victor addresses his deceased brother: ______________________________________________________________

9. How many years have elapsed since the Creation first received life? (1 2 3)

10. How does Victor rationalize not directly telling what he suspicions--that his Creation killed his brother? _____________________________________

11. Who has been charged with the murder and with what greatly incriminating evidence? _______________________________________________________

12. Elizabeth completely believes in Justine’s innocence, proving Elizabeth to be what type of person? ______________________________________________

Frankenstein Study Questions, Chapter 8

Justine’s Trial & DeathQuestions by Connie Webb, WHS, 2008

1. Justine’s trial is held immediately, at 11:00 that morning. As Victor sits in court, he thinks, “It was to be decided whether the result of my curiosity and lawless devices would cause the death of two of my fellow beings: one a smiling babe full of innocence and joy, the other ….” What is your opinion of such a man? __________________________________________________________________

2. Justine’s demeanor at first is ____________ and she is dressed in _____________. What do these details add to her character? _______________________________

3. How does she explain the miniature being in her pocket? ____________________

4. As the trial wears on, Justine’s countenance changes to ______________________.

5. What was the verdict? ________________________________________________

6. After the sentencing, Victor says, “I rushed out of the court in agony. The tortures of the accused did not equal mine; she was sustained by innocence, but the fangs of remorse tore my bosom and would not forgo their hold.” (literary term? ______)Do you agree with Victor? _____________________________________________

7. Victor and Elizabeth visit Justine in prison. Why did Justine confess if she was innocent? ___________________________________________________

8. During the prison visit, Victor “retired to a corner of the prison room” and “felt…deep and bitter agony,” “gnashed his teeth…uttering a groan that came from [his] inner soul.” Do you find these thoughts ironic? If so, why? __________________________________________________________________

9. Although Elizabeth appeals to the judge, what happened to Justine? ____________

10. Analyze the name “Justine” and apply a literary term: Frankenstein Study Questions, Chapter 9Questions written by Connie Webb, WHS

To the Countryside and Victor’s Solitary Trip up the Mountain1. This transition chapter (in which not a lot happens!) finds Victor vacillating between feeling ____________ &

_______________.

2. Why does the Frankenstein family retire to their country home at Belrive? _____________________________________________

3. When Victor goes sailing, he contemplates _________________.What stops him? __________________________

4. Why is Elizabeth also despondent? ________________________

5. Victor takes yet another trip into the Swiss Alps, first traveling by _____________ , then __________, toward the summit of Mont Blanc. Copy a phrase that shows Victor is enjoying being in nature, then one that shows he is again plunged into depression.

Frankenstein Study Questions, Chapter 10Questions written by Connie Webb, WHS

Frankenstein and “Frankie” Meet in the Alps

1. The great weather of the previous chapter turns _______________, signaling ___________________ of things to come.

2. Victor resolves to climb to the summit of a peak called Montanvert (“green mountain”). Copy a phrase that illustrates the difficulty of the climb. Why does Mary Shelley include this difficulty? __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Mary Shelley published this book anonymously in 1818. Most people thought her husband, Percy B. Shelley, had written the book, due in part to the allusion in Chapter 10 to his poem “Mutability” AND the fact that no one imagined that a nineteen-year-old female could have written such a novel!

What does this last line of the allusion mean?“Nought may endure but mutability!” _________________________________________________

4. Victor reaches the top, which is covered by a glacier. Copy a line or phrase that provides details of the scene: ___________________________________________________________________________________

5. Victor addresses any “spirits” in the area with, “Wandering spirits, if indeed ye wander, and do not rest in your narrow beds [_______________], allow me this faint happiness, or take me, as your companion, away from the joys of life.” What does he mean? _I _________________________________________________________________________________

6.As Victor sees the Creation for the first time in __ years and as they exchange words, copy 5 pejorative adjectives / nouns that Victor uses to describe “Frankie.” ___________________________________________________________________________________

7.Copy the first thing the monster says to his creator. How does the monster feel? ___________________________________________________________________________________8.What does he want? What does he threaten? Copy the phrase: ___________________________________________________________________________________

9.The creature alludes to the story of ________________ when reminding Victor of his responsibilities, but calls himself the _______________________.

10. What does the creature say about his beginnings in life? ___________________________________________________________________________________

11. What did Victor come to realize on the way to the hut? ____________________________________________________________________________________

Frankenstein Study Questions, Chapter 11Questions written by Connie Webb, WHSThe Monster’s Story (1st of 6 Chapters)

1. As the creature beings his tale, he explains that his “original era” appeared “confused and indistinct. A strange multiplicity of sensations seized [him]….” He explains his gradual understanding with ___________ imagery and his previous periods with the contrasting ___________.

2. The creature ate ___________ and drank ______________.

3. Just as a baby, the creation cannot ______ well, nor can he _________.

4. What creature particularly holds interest for him? ______________

5. What did he learn from the campfire? ___________________________________

6. What happened at the hut the Creature found in the woods? ___________________________________________________________________

7. At the next shelter, the Creature stole what 2 items? ____________ and _________Do you fault him for this? Why or why not? ______________________________

8. How does the Creature observe the family’s goings-on? ___________________________________________________________________

9. What is important in the following quotation?“He played a sweet mournful air which I perceived drew tears from the eyes of his amiable companion, of which the old man took no notice, until she sobbed audibly; he then pronounced a few sounds, and the fair creature, leaving her work, knelt at his feet. He raised her and smiled with such kindness and affection that I felt sensations of a peculiar and overpowering nature; they were a mixture of pain and pleasure, such as I had never before experienced, either from hunger or cold, warmth or food; and I withdrew from the window, unable to bear these emotions.”____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. This part of the novel is obviously told from the perspective of the Creation. Elaborate on this perspective, considering the words he uses, the degree of sophistication of syntax, etc. ___________________________________________________________________


The Monster’s Story Continues

1. The creature is impressed by the “gentle manners” of the cottagers. What point is Mary Shelley trying to make here? ______________________________________

2. The creature finally discovers that the old man is ________________ and the family is “not entirely happy.” He continues reporting that he was “deeply affected by it. If such lovely creatures were miserable, it was less strange that I, an imperfect and solitary being, should be wretched.” What does this thinking reveal about the creature? ___________________________________________________

3. What two things does the creature do for the cottagers to help after he observes their “trait of kindness” of giving more food to the old man than they ate themselves? ___________________________________________________________________

4. How does the creature learn to talk? _____________________________________

5. What observation by the creature makes him seem to be a caring, sensitive person? ___________________________________________________________________

6. Copy a passage that illustrates how frustrated the creation is about his appearance: ___________________________________________________________________

7. When the cottagers observe the kind deeds done by the creation, they dub him the “ ___________ ____________” of the forest. How is this ironic? ___________________________________________________________________

8. Using ___________ imagery, the creation compares his manners with that of the __________________ and that of the cottagers to that of a _________________.

9. In the last sentences of the chapter, the creation says, “Happy, happy earth! Fit habitation for gods, which, so short a time before, was bleak, damp, and unwholesome. My spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was blotted from my memory, the present was tranquil, and the future guided by bright rays of hope and anticipations of joy.”

Write 3 observations about this passage:

9a: ___________________________________________________________________9b: ___________________________________________________________________9c: ___________________________________________________________________


The Monster’s Story Continues

1. According to the belief of Shelley’s time, one’s senses have a prominent part in determining his development as a person. Copy a sentence on the first page where MS has the Creation / Monster following that idea: _________________________________________________________

2. Why does the Creation refer to the cottagers as “MY cottagers”? _________________________________________________________

3. Fill in these details of the new arrival to the household of the cottagers:countenance: __________________________hair: _____________________ eyes: ______________________features: __________________ complexion: ________________cheek: ___________________ nickname used by Felix: _________Why does Mary Shelley describe some characters with a single descriptor and others with copious detail?_______________________

4. Using a ______________ (literary term), the monster compares the gladness Safie brought to the cottage to _________________________.

5. While Safie is taught the language with Volney’s Ruins of Empires, the Creation also learns. Who is the better pupil? ___________________

6. Find the quotation that reveals the Creation’s original feeling about vice, murder, and bloodshed: _________________________________________________________

7. The Creation learns that humans value __________ and ___________.

8. What thought inflicts “agony” on him? _________________________________________________________

9. What is ironic about this last sentence of the chapter: “I will soon explain to what these feelings tended, but allow me now to return to the cottagers, whose story excited in me such various feelings of indignation, delight, and wonder, but which all terminated in additional love and reverence for my protectors (for so I loved, in an innocent, half-painful self-deceit, to call them).” ____________________


The “Side Story” of Safie

1. How do Safie’s and the DeLaceys’ family stories intersect? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Why did Safie run away from home and arrive at the cottage? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


The Creation Learns…

1. The Creation discovers a ____________ in the woods containing some clothes and books. What did he say he learned from each book?

Sorrows of Werter: ________________________________________ Plutarch’s Lives: __________________________________________ Milton’s Paradise Lost: _____________________________________

As he reads / studies, what he discovered about people and the world makes him feel ____________________________________________.

2. In an _______________ (lit term) to Paradise Lost, the Creation compares himself to _____________ but says he differs in that _________________________________________________________.

3. How / why does he compare himself to Satan? _________________________________________________________

4. Another “book” that “strengthened and confirmed” the Creation’s feelings was ______________________________________________. List the negative words the Creation utters when he reads of his creation: __________________________________________________

5. The Creation realizes that “Satan had his companions, but I am solitary and abhorred.” What does the Creation have in common with Walton as explained here? _______________________________

6. As winter approaches, the Creation turned his attention to the cottagers, who are changed in what way? ________________________________

7. What opportunity does he take advantage of when Safie, Agatha, and Felix leave the old man and go for a walk? ______________________

8. How is this speech by the old man (De Lacey) to the Creature ironic? “Do not despair. To be friendless is indeed to be unfortunate, but the hearts of men, when unprejudiced by any obvious self-interest, are full of brotherly love and charity.” ________________________

9. When the three return from their walk, how does each react to seeing the Creature?


The Creation is Rejected Again and Again…

1. The Creation now feels “rage and revenge.” Why does he not kill the cottagers? _________________________________________________________

2. Instead, he vents by doing what? ______________________________3. Whom does he blame? ______________________________________

4. What helps him reassess his situation? __________________________

5. After deciding to approach the family again, what did they do? What did the Creation then do? ________________ ___________________

6. Where did the creature decide to go and why? ____________________

7. What encounter with a little girl confirmed the creature’s growing distrust and hatred of mankind? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________*Has anyone seen the Twix candy commercial that has another version of this? Remind me to show it to you from You Tube.

8. “Inflamed by pain,” the Monster vowed…“_______________________________________________.”

9. What second story does the Monster tell about a young child? _________________________________________________________

10. What two coincidences are involved with this story? __________________________ and ___________________________

11. The Monster says “We may not part until you have promised to comply with my requisition.” What is it? ______________________

12. Sadly, the Monster has two (2) specifics concerning this request: _________________________ and ____________________________


The Monster’s Request!

1. Who now becomes the narrator of the story once again? ____________

2. What is his answer to the Monster’s request and what is his reasoning behind it? _________________________________________________

3. What does the Monster say caused his maliciousness? _____________

4. What is Victor’s revised answer? ______________________________

5. Where does the Monster say he will go? ________________________

6. Fill in the missing words of the Monster’s oath to Victor, which contains a promise and a threat: “I swear by the __________ and by the __________________ and by the ____________________, that if you grant my prayer, while they exist you shall never behold me again. Depart to your home and commence your labours; I shall watch their progress with unutterable anxiety; and fear not but that when you are ready I shall __________.”

7. Make several observations concerning this quotation from Victor:“Oh! Stars and clouds and winds, ye are all about to mock me; if ye really pity me, crush sensation and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, depart, depart, and leave me in darkness.”a.________________________________________________________b.________________________________________________________c._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Victor tells himself that he will hold true to the promise in order to save _________________, although he describes it as “my most ________________* task.”

*Is this not the most used word in the entire novel??? JFrankenstein Study Questions, Chapter 18

Questions written by Connie Webb, WHSEngagement to Elizabeth and a Trip

1. Victor dreads beginning to work on the female. The only thing that restores his happiness momentarily is __________________________.

2. What did Alphonse think might be the cause of Victor’s avoiding coming home? _________________________________________________________

3. Victor will marry Elizabeth but first wants to travel to _____________.

4. What is his ostensible (“fake”) reason for the trip? The real reason? ________________________ and _____________________________

5. Victor’s asking “[his] father’s consent to visit England” illustrates what setting detail in this novel? _____________________________

6. For what reason is Victor happy that the Monster might follow him to England? _________________________________________________

7. Because Victor has recently been ill, who will accompany him in his travels? __________________

8. During a boat trip down the Rhine River of Germany (from where they would travel to England), Victor relates that he and Henry enjoy the beautiful sights of Germany. Suddenly Victor has an emotional outburst about Henry (“And where does he now exist?”), which foreshadows ________________________________.

9. Mary Shelley alludes to the poem “_________________________” by William Wordsworth to illustrate how enamored Henry is with the scenery along the Rhine.


A Travelogue and a Request

1. While Henry wished to spend several months in London to visit with the “men of genius and talent who flourished at this time,” Victor needed to ______________________________________________.

2. Clerval’s ultimate goal is to visit ______________ in the belief that he could “assist in the progress of European colonization and trade.”

3. As Victor and Henry make their way north to Perth, Scotland, at the invitation of a Scottish acquaintance, Victor enjoys visiting historical Oxford, “and yet my enjoyment was embittered both by the memory of the past and the anticipation of the future.” What do the “past” _________________ and “future” refer to? ________________

4. Employing a ____________________________ (literary term) Victor compares himself to a “blasted tree; the bolt has entered my soul.” Explain what he means: _____________________________________.

5. After months of travel, Victor asks Henry to allow him to be alone in Scotland for a month or two; we know he needs solitude to do what? _______________________________________________________

6. Victor rents a hut on Orkney (a remote island north of the mainland of Scotland) and begins work on the female. Describe his state of mind: _________________________________________________________

7. Copy a phrase from the last sentence of the chapter that illustrates foreshadowing: _________________________________________________________


Victor Abandons the Female Creation

1. Why did Victor decide he could not finish the female? _______________________________________________________________

2. Copy several snippets of text as the Monster observes first the work on his “mate” and then the tearing apart of the female by Victor:

________________________________________________________________

3. What threat (and famous quotation!) did the Monster make? ________________________________

4. Whom does Victor think the Monster will kill? ___________________

5. What does a letter from Clerval reveal? _________________________

6. The detailed scene wherein Victor packs the body parts into a basket and disposes of them in the sea (“At one time the moon, which had before been clear, was suddenly overspread by a thick cloud, and I took advantage of the moment of darkness and cast my basket into the sea; I listened to the gurgling sound as it sank and then sailed away from the spot,”) reflects the _____________ (literary term) aspects of the novel.

7. What happened during the night? ______________________________

8. Why was Victor arrested? ____________________________________

10. What chapter hook is presented at the end of the chapter? ______________


Victor Accused of Murder, Acquitted

1. Victor is brought before the magistrate (“judge”). According to the witnesses, the dead man Victor is accused of killing had been strangled. What detail makes Victor remember his brother’s death? _________________________________________________________________

2. When Victor is taken in to see the body, he discovers that the dead man is ______________. Copy a few phrases to describe his reaction: _________________________________________________________________

3. For how long is Victor “on the point of death”? ____________

4. After Victor “awakens,” he learns that the doctor and nurse had been hired by __________________. Characterize this man: __________________________

5. Explain the irony of this statement by Mr. Kirwin to Victor: “The first sight that was presented to your eyes was the body of your friend, murdered in so unaccountable a manner and placed, as it were, by some fiend across y our path.” __________________________________________________________

6. Explain why Victor was freed from prison: ________________________________________________________________

7. Make three (3) comments on this paragraph: “My father was enraptured on finding me freed from the vexations of a criminal charge, that I was again allowed to breathe the fresh atmosphere and permitted to return to my nature country. I did not participate in these feelings, for to me the walls of a dungeon or a palace were alike hateful. The cup of life was poisoned forever, and although the sun shone upon me, as upon the happy and gay of heart, I saw around me nothing but a dense and frightful darkness, penetrated by no light but the glimmer of two eyes that glared upon me. Sometimes they were the expressive eyes of Henry, languishing in death, the dark orbs nearly covered by the lids and the long, black lashes that fringed them; sometimes it was the watery, clouded eyes of the monster, as I first saw them in my chamber at Ingolstadt.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________8. Victor’s only reason for living now is… _______________________________________________________________

9. Victor has been taking “laudanum” to allow him to sleep. This opiate tincture (similar to morphine today) causes one to hallucinate. What was Victor’s?


All About Victor + Elizabeth

1. When Victor and his father’s boat lands in Paris, Victor is still “incurabl[y] ill.” He actually says, “I murdered her [Justine]. William, Justine, and Henry—they all died by my hands.” What does his father say about this and other “confessions” ? ______________________________________________________

2. What literary term is utilized with Victor’s confession that “As time passed away I became more calm; misery had her dwelling in my heart,” ? __________

3. In a letter (inside Victor’s letter to his sister Margaret!!…remember?) to Victor Elizabeth releases him from ____________because_______________________.

4. What are two (2) adjectives and two (2) nouns Victor uses to describe Elizabeth in this chapter?nouns: _____________________________________________________________ adjectives: __________________________________________________________

5. Victor is excited about his impending marriage to Elizabeth, but says, “but the apple was already eaten, and the angel’s arm bared to drive me from all hope.” This ALLUSION is to ______________. Explain it: ________________________________________________________________

6. In Victor’s return missive to Elizabeth, he reveals that he will tell her _______________________ on the day after their marriage, which WE know is ____________________________ (literary term? _______________________)

7. What now replaces nature as a “restorative” for Victor? ___________________

8. V + E will be united in marriage in ____ days after Victor’s return to Geneva. Their honeymoon will be spent at ______________________, a home recently restored to Elizabeth by the Austrian government.

9. In preparation of his assault by the monster, Victor arms himself with ____________ and a ____________.

10. After the wedding, V+E skipped the reception and commenced their journey to Evian (ever drank the water?) for their first night. Cite one passage that Shelley uses as FORESHADOWING of impending doom: _____________________________________________________________________


The Monster Gets His Revenge!

1. As V+E land and take a walk on the shore, Mary Shelley uses the ________________________ as FORESHADOWING for what is to come. Copy a passage that illustrates this: ________________________________________________________________________________

2. Why does Victor ask Elizabeth to retire to their room first? ________________________________HOW SMART WAS THIS on a scale of 1 to 10? _________ (just for fun!)

3. Evaluate Mary Shelley’s writing of the moment Victor hears Elizabeth scream: “Suddenly I heard a shrill and dreadful scream. It came from the room into which Elizabeth had retired. As I heard it, the whole truth rushed into my mind, my arms dropped, the motion of every muscle and fibre was suspended; I could feel the blood trickling in my veins and tingling in the extremities of my limbs.” Is this more realistic or Gothic, in your opinion? ________________________________________________________________________________

4. What detail describing Elizabeth “in death” harks back to both William and Henry? ________________________________________________________________________________

5. Each time Victor sees his Creation/ Monster after its “reanimation” it is framed by a “context”:Victor’s bed curtains, a jag of lightning, against the mountains while in the hut, in the casement of a window while in Scotland. This final “framing” is that of _________________________________.In addition, there is almost a MOTIF of the Monster’s “grin.” Copy the passage that describes the latest: ___________________________________________________________________________

6. Victor returns immediately to Geneva to protect his remaining loved ones, but _________________ soon dies of grief (compared to ________________ in Romeo and Juliet?)

What of Ernest? _______ How about Elizabeth’s funeral???? ______________________________

7. When Victor finally talks to a Magistrate, how does the M. react to such an incredulous story? ________________________________________________________________________________

8. Is it logical that Victor was charged with Henry’s death and is not NOW charged with Elizabeth’s strangulation? ____________________________________________________________________The idea of “willing suspension of disbelief” one must adopt while reading such a book is accredited to the famous poet _______________________________________________________.

9. Any idea why Mary Shelley sometimes has characters talk in “bible-speak” as when Victor chides the Magistrate with, “Man, how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom! Cease; you know not what it is you say.”? ________________________________________________________________________________


The Last Chapter

1. Similar to the __________________ (from literature we studied this year), Victor now relates to Walton that he has wandered over much of the world, “paying” for his sin.

2. What did Victor vow to do when visiting the graves of his mother, William, and Elizabeth? ________________________________________________________________________________

3. “Through the stillness of night” Victor hears _____________________________ and then what is whispered in his ear? ______________________________________________________________

4. What would happen when Victor would lose the “track” of the Monster? ________________________________________________________________________________

5. One of the Monster’s taunting notes read: “Prepare! Your toils only begin; wrap yourself in furs and provide food, for we shall soon enter upon a journey where your sufferings will satisfy my everlasting hatred.” What do you find important in this passage? ________________________________________________________________________________

6. To what does Victor allude with “The Greeks wept for joy when they beheld the Mediterranean from the hills of Asia, and hailed with rapture the boundary of their toils”? _______________

7. How does Victor travel once he reaches the frozen North? _________________________________

8. Describe what happened concerning the “ground sea”: ________________________________________________________________________________

9. When Victor had lost many dogs and was about to give up hope, he saw Walton’s ship, thinking “I had no conception that vessels ever came so far north and was astonished at the sight.” Literary term? ___________________________

10. What “dying” request does Victor ask of Walton? ________________________________________________________________________________

WALTON CONTINUES THE STORY…in a series of dated letter entries to his sister.

11. While Victor was telling his story, Walton was taking notes. What did Victor do to ensure accuracy? _______________________________________________________________________

12. In the next letter to his sister, Walton reports that the weather is ____________________________ and he fears his men will ________________.

13. What ulterior motive does Victor have when spurring Walton’s men to bravery when they insist on abandoning the voyage for the North Pole? _____________________________________________

14. Why does Walton abandon his goal? __________________________________________________

15. What are Victor’s final words of wisdom for Walton? ________________________________________________________________________________

16. Describe the scene where the Monster is grieving for his “father’s” death: ________________________________________________________________________________

What does he say that reveals that he holds himself responsible for Victor’s death?

17. When Walton chides the Monster for his behavior, the Monster again states that he was not born evil. Copy the passage: ________________________________________________________________________________

18.If we believe the Monster, then he is considered a ______________ _______________ character (literary term).

19. According to the Monster, at what point did he truly feel sorry and pity Victor? ________________________________________________________________________________

20. In addition, he tells Walton not to fear for his life, but that the only person’s death “needed to consummate the series” is ________________________.

21. Ironically, the Monster says HE will reach the North Pole and there will end his life by _____________________________________.

22. After reading the novel, discuss the subtitle (“The Modern Prometheus”).________________________________________________________________________________

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