Frankenstein

8 Pages 2114 Words

Introduction
In the eighteenth century, a young man flush with hard-won knowledge about the secrets of life locks himself in his apartment to engage in a gruesome but fascinating task: creating a human being. Months later, pale and emaciated from days spent slaving over stolen body parts, he brings a new life into the world, only to recoil in horror from his monstrous creation. He soon finds himself in a downward spiral of guilt, remorse, and helplessness, as the monster destroys everything dear to him.
The heart of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is its protagonist's struggle to deal with the responsibility for the tragic consequences of an overreaching scientific endeavor. The novel is a triumph of Gothic storytelling with its supernatural and horrifying depiction of science gone awry, and the framing of various narratives contributes to the tale's complex and fascinating nature.


Plot Overview


In a series of letters, Robert Walton, the captain of a ship bound for the North Pole, recounts to his sister back in England the progress of his dangerous mission. Successful early on, the mission is soon interrupted by seas full of impassable ice. Trapped, Walton encounters Victor Frankenstein, who has been traveling by dog-drawn sledge across the ice and is weakened by the cold. Walton takes him aboard ship, helps nurse him back to health, and hears the fantastic tale of the monster that Frankenstein created.
Victor first describes his early life in Geneva. At the end of a blissful childhood spent in the company of Elizabeth Lavenza (his cousin in the 1818 edition, his adopted sister in the 1831 edition) and friend Henry Clerval, Victor enters the university of Ingolstadt to study natural philosophy and chemistry. While studying, his desire grows to discover the secret of life. After several years of research, Victor becomes convinced that he has found it.
Armed with the knowledge he has long been seeking, Victor spends mont...