Victor Frankenstein - the guy that creates a creature
Elizabeth Lavenza - Victor's adopted sister/'cousin'
Alphonse Frankenstein - Victor's father
Caroline Beaufort - Victor's mother
William Frankenstein - Victor's younger brother, is murdered
William Frankenstein - Victor's younger brother, is murdered
Justine Moritz - servant to Frankenstein family after her mum dies, executed for 'murdering William'
Monster - gross looking creature created from dead bodies, just wants to be loved
Robert Walton - opener and closer of the novel, sails the sea, writes letters to his sister
Henry Clerval - Victor's best friend, studies with him, looks after Victor
Basic Plot:
Beginning (Letters): Story starts with Robert Walton writing a series of letters to his sister. These letters detail how Robert got to become a sailor of the seas and the obstacles he had to overcome. The last letter before the story starts even states, "I have resolved every night, when I am not imperatively occupied by my duties, to record, as nearly as possible in his own words, what he has related during the day." Robert Walton says this to his sister because he almost couldn't believe his own experiences. The rest of the story is written through the letter. This is called an epistolary novel and is a form of structuring.
Beginning (Chapters): At the beginning, we received the necessary background needed to build Victor's character. We learn much about his childhood, his personality, and his family. After losing his mother, he starts contemplating life. He wants to figure out a cure for all disease so that human death only occurs from some sort of accident. However, after much deliberating, Victor decides to try and create human life by building a body. While creating his monster, he is comments on how attractive it is. The luscious hair, the black lips, the eyes, and how the blood vessels in his muscles are so graceful. The minute the monster comes to life, Victor realises his mistakes and abhors his creation for how ugly it is.
Middle: The monster runs away but Victor is put into emotional turmoil. He hopes that his monster has run off and died somewhere but can't shake the feeling that his creation has done something horrible. He returns home but keeps hearing of all these horrible accidents and can't help but to piece together the idea that his monster was somehow responsible. His brother is murdered, his cousin killed for justice, his friends die.
Around the middle, we also hear from the monsters side of things. He went on and observed a family which is how he learned to speak English. When he tried to introduce himself to the blind old man, he was interrupted by the son of the man and the monster is cast away, yet again. All the monster really wanted was to feel the sense of belonging and attachment to someone else. We also hear about how the monster stole Victor's brother (without realising it was Victor's brother) and how he had accidentally killed him. He allowed the cousin (Justine) to take the blame (funny how Justice is the root of Justine... Hmm..) for which she hung. Victor tries to run off but the monster promises to follow him to the ends of the earth. Victor finds an abandoned hut by the sea to create a companion for the monster but soon changes his mind. For this, the monster kills Victor's best friend.
End: Victor and Elizabeth get married and on their wedding night, the monster kills Elizabeth. Victor runs away, the monster follows. That's where this comes full circle. Victor climbs aboard a ship led by Robert Walton. Victor is so unwell, he can barely speak. Before he dies, the monster finds him, and tries to speak to him but Victor is unconscious but Robert allows the monster to talk with him. Victor dies, the monster vows to never be seen again, and Robert goes off having the weirdest sea trip he's ever had.
Monster - gross looking creature created from dead bodies, just wants to be loved
Robert Walton - opener and closer of the novel, sails the sea, writes letters to his sister
Henry Clerval - Victor's best friend, studies with him, looks after Victor
Basic Plot:
Beginning (Letters): Story starts with Robert Walton writing a series of letters to his sister. These letters detail how Robert got to become a sailor of the seas and the obstacles he had to overcome. The last letter before the story starts even states, "I have resolved every night, when I am not imperatively occupied by my duties, to record, as nearly as possible in his own words, what he has related during the day." Robert Walton says this to his sister because he almost couldn't believe his own experiences. The rest of the story is written through the letter. This is called an epistolary novel and is a form of structuring.
Beginning (Chapters): At the beginning, we received the necessary background needed to build Victor's character. We learn much about his childhood, his personality, and his family. After losing his mother, he starts contemplating life. He wants to figure out a cure for all disease so that human death only occurs from some sort of accident. However, after much deliberating, Victor decides to try and create human life by building a body. While creating his monster, he is comments on how attractive it is. The luscious hair, the black lips, the eyes, and how the blood vessels in his muscles are so graceful. The minute the monster comes to life, Victor realises his mistakes and abhors his creation for how ugly it is.
Middle: The monster runs away but Victor is put into emotional turmoil. He hopes that his monster has run off and died somewhere but can't shake the feeling that his creation has done something horrible. He returns home but keeps hearing of all these horrible accidents and can't help but to piece together the idea that his monster was somehow responsible. His brother is murdered, his cousin killed for justice, his friends die.
Around the middle, we also hear from the monsters side of things. He went on and observed a family which is how he learned to speak English. When he tried to introduce himself to the blind old man, he was interrupted by the son of the man and the monster is cast away, yet again. All the monster really wanted was to feel the sense of belonging and attachment to someone else. We also hear about how the monster stole Victor's brother (without realising it was Victor's brother) and how he had accidentally killed him. He allowed the cousin (Justine) to take the blame (funny how Justice is the root of Justine... Hmm..) for which she hung. Victor tries to run off but the monster promises to follow him to the ends of the earth. Victor finds an abandoned hut by the sea to create a companion for the monster but soon changes his mind. For this, the monster kills Victor's best friend.
End: Victor and Elizabeth get married and on their wedding night, the monster kills Elizabeth. Victor runs away, the monster follows. That's where this comes full circle. Victor climbs aboard a ship led by Robert Walton. Victor is so unwell, he can barely speak. Before he dies, the monster finds him, and tries to speak to him but Victor is unconscious but Robert allows the monster to talk with him. Victor dies, the monster vows to never be seen again, and Robert goes off having the weirdest sea trip he's ever had.
