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23 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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In volume 1, Letter 1, what is the significance of the quote: 'What may not be expected in a country of eternal light?'
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Walton uses the term here in a literal sense but the use of 'light' also comes to assume metaphorical meaning in 'Frankenstein'.
It is conventionally associated with discovery and knowledge- enlightenment. The search for 'light' ultimately leads to darkness. |
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What is the significance of the family home and women in 'Frankenstein'.
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Family and the home- oppossition betwwen public and private worlds. The family is the private world and represent the need for sympathy and affection.
The Frankensteins' 'benevolent disposition' means they do much charitable work and adopt orhpan Elizabeth. The idealisation of women- Caroline is represented as an ideal of femininity; Elizabeth is her apt pupil. The importance of physical beauty is emphasised. Religious language used by Victor such as "celestial" and "heaven sent" define Elizabeth as a spiritual, rather than a physical being. Elizabeth is seen as an object to be possessed. |
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Why does Mary Shelley identify Frankenstein as a 'modern Prometheus'?
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Victor has a "fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature". Like Prometheus, he is an overreacher.
He describes his passion for knowledge as like a mountain river, which gradually gains force until it becomes a torrent that sweeps away all in its path. Victor distances himself from responsibility for the destruction of all his "hopes and joys". |
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How can Birth and Creation be applied to 'Frankenstein'?
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Victor aspires to usurp the roles of both God and women- 'a new species' that would "bless me as its creator and source".
"happy and excellent creatures would owe their being to me"- IRONIC as the monster is in misery. Images of birth- his "workshop of filthy creation" may symbolise the womb. Also- midnight "labours" IRONIC- his obsession isolates him from the paternal role. |
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Explain the use of light and dark imagery in 'Frankenstein'.
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Victor speaks of pouring a "torrent of light and dark into our dark world". Light suggests knowledge as the source of illumination and enlightenment.
HOWEVER- quest for life leads him to dark places. Victor prides on his rationality: "Darkness had no effect upon my fancy"- but the rational, not the irrational, mind produces monsters. |
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What is the significance of horror and terror?
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Ann Radcliffe definition: terror relies on subtle suggestion to create tension and fear. Horror is direct and explicit in its depiction of death, decay and violence.
Shelley draws alternately upon both horror and terror. Terror- When Victor sees the creature in the moonlight. Horror- The creation of the monster. |
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How can 'Frankenstein' be regarded as a feminist novel?
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A03- Shelley's mother Mary Wollstonecraft wrote 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' (1792). This could have influenced Mary Shelley's writing.
The monster as a metaphor for the oppression of women. Victor usurping the mother's role has feminist aspects. The use of nature as a resorative can be metaphorical for the rise of feminism- mother nature |
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Explain the significance of monstrosity and the visual.
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'Monster' originates with Latin 'monstrare'- to demonstrate, and 'monere'- to warn.
Violations of nature, composed of ill-assorted parts. Shelley questions the tradition that monstrosity lies without, and not within. Stong visual- "relieve me from the sight of your detested form". The reader is more willing to grant the monster compassion as we cannot see the visual. |
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How can the reference to the moonlight be seen as a metaphor?
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In classic mythology- Moon is associated with the goddess Diana, while the sun is associated with the god Apollo.
Moon- feminine, maternal connection predominates in 'Frankenstein'. The motherless monster finds pleasure in the moon: the 'radiant form'. The monster threatens "I shall be with you on your wedding-night" under the moonlight- Foreshadows third time monster appears and Elizabeth dies. Metaphorical- When the moon exposes the monster it illuminates something within Victor. |
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How did Locke and Rousseau's theories influence Mary Shelley's writing?
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John Locke's Essay- 'Essay Concerning Human Understanding' (1690)- She applies this to describe the education of the monster.
Tabula rasa'-blank slate. - the individual is formed through experiences. Rousseau- Secular version of the Fall- man is born in a state of innocence- The monster in the woods learns the concept of difference. |
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How does the monster reflect a 'monstrous revolution'?
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Volney's 'Ruins of empires'- monster applies this to himself.
- he identifies himself with lacking the two most valued possessions: "high and unsullied descent united with riches". - Monster as representative of the oppressed classes. -The French Revolution 1789- monster represents the proleteriat mob. Shelley making a commentary- was anxious about the possibility of revolutionary mob violence. |
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What is the importance of the three books that the monster discovers?
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Paradise Lost: He sees himself as Adam, then Satan
Plutarch's Lives: He learns "high thoughts" and is raised beyond the misery of his own condition. The Sorrows of Werter:Expands his sensibilties to his own condition, intensifying his sense of alienation. They play a crucial role in the development of the monster's character and explains why he speak as he does. |
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How is the theme of Revenge externalised in 'Frankenstein'?
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Monster the embodiment of revolutionary mob violence "I bent my mind towards injury and death".
Pathetic fallacy reflects the monsters feelings- fierce winds produce a kind of insanity. The monster becomes a savage, irrational force. Victor is consumed by revenge: "revenge alone endowed me" |
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What does the union between Victor and Elizabeth symbolise?
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Victor's fear of sexuality: "the idea of an immediate union with my Elizabeth was one of horror and dismay".
Mrriage as a burden around his neck- The albatross in Coleridge's 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' Contrasts with the monsters desire for a mate. 'Union' is indicative of a physical sexual joining. |
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How is the language of persecution used?
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Volume three, Chapter IV
"I am the most miserable of mortals. Persectued and tortured as I am and have been, can death be any evil to me?" Both Victor and his monster consistently present themselves as victims- competitively. The night before Justine's execution Victor says "felt not, as I did, such deep and bitter agony". Over Victors corpse the monster says "Blasted as thou wert, my agony was still superior to thine". Could be Shelley's critique of Romanticism as the language of persecution is often found within Romantic poetry: represents the fragile soul damaged by the unfeeling world. |
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How is the boundaries between Victor and his monster broken down?
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Metaphorically the monster could be within Victor.
" I felt the fiend's grasp IN my neck" Victor confesses fault for the murders- language suggests he is the murderer. Ambiguity- in the way the Victor is presented. |
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How is the language of Fire and Ice used according to Andrew Griffin?
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In 'Fire and Ice in Frankenstein' (1979)- while fire is associated with life, "vital fire or fiery life", ice is what negates fire: it is repression and death.
The two extremes are brought together- Walton's dream of eternal sunshine at the North pole; and Victor's dream of the vital fire or spark that will animate dead matter. The monster- plans to seek the furthest northern extremity and light his funeral pyre and 'consume to ashes'. |
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How is the theme of isolation used in 'Frankenstein'?
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Victor is an isolated individual who self-imposes alienation which contrasts with the monster's longing for companionship and affection- "I am malicious because I am miserable".
He claims this is necessary to pursue his quest for the secret of life. Victor rebels against human ties and all relationships that may interfere with his own desires and needs. Walton complains about lack of companionship- "I bitterly feel the want of a friend". |
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How does Shelley differentiate between the monstrous and the human?
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Latin 'monstrare': to demonstrate.
Latin ' monere': to warn. The horrific appearance began to serve an increasingly moral function by providing a visible warning of vice; promotes virtuous behaviour. They point to lines which should not be crossed by humanity. Although the monster has a horrific exterior, he is not frightenly unnatural and can be seen as more humane than the creator who rejects him, or the villagers who stone him. It is only when he is exposed to the the visciousness of human society that he begins to be monstrous. Shelley shows how humans create and become monsters. Elizabeth describes Justine's executers as "monsters thirsting for each other's blood". |
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What is the narrative structure of 'Frankenstein'?
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Framed narratives that are embedded.
Walton's epistolary narrative Victor's account of his life. The creature's narrative and De Lacey family. Narrative returns to Frankenstein and then Walton at the conclusion of the story. |
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What is the importance of the monster's education?
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He moves from learning about nature to culture; learning about the injustice in society.
He comes to desire love and companionship but is rejected because of his appearance. Peter Brooks: "a classical study of right natural instinct perverted and turned evil by the social milieu". Nature Vs. Nurtue argument plays a role. |
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How is eloquence and the unspeakable used in language as a gothic feature?
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The monster's eloquence is surprising as we might expect a grunting animal. Language seems to have power in this novel as Victor is eventually persuaded to make him a mate: "Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous"
Language also seems inadequate and weak as characters repeatedly assert their inability to express thier feelings: "I cannot describe". Experience is more precisely captured symbolically in dreams- Victor's dream of his mother. |
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How is knowledge presented as dangerous?
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Victor warns Walton through telling his tale.
In the Bible original sin shows how knowledge is danger as Adam and Eve are evicted from paradise. Knowledge is also connected with science: the serprent in Milton's 'Paradise Lost' addresses the tree of knowledge as the 'Mother of Science'. Cloning became known as a 'Frankenstein Science' in the twentieth century. |
