Transcript Frankenstein Notes Chapters 18–20

Frankenstein Notes Chapters 18–20
The Contrasts/Doppelganger
 Contrast between the inwardly focused Victor and the
outwardly focused Henry sharpens
 Henry’s interaction with the Frankenstein family and
general sociability contrast Victor’s secrecy and selfisolation.
 Henry’s optimism and cheer in sublime nature contrast
the anxiety that Victor feels in knowing that the monster
pervades his natural surroundings.
 For Henry, nature is a source of infinite bliss
 For Victor it has become an unending reminder of the
tragedies that have plagued him.
Sublime Nature
 The sublime natural world is a source of emotional
experience for the individual
 Sublime nature offers characters the possibility of spiritual
renewal (Victor, Henry, the Monster)
 The natural world’s power to console Victor wanes when
he realizes that the Monster will haunt him no matter
where he goes.
 Final (initial) scenes in Arctic functions simply as the
symbolic backdrop for his primal struggle against the
monster.
Victor and his Creature
 Frankenstein says that a "bolt" (as of lightning) has entered
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his soul.
Victor and his creature have become entangled.
Both are separated from humanity by, in Victor's words, "an
insurmountable barrier": for the creature, that barrier is his
deformity; for Victor, it is his guilt.
Victor's journey through Northern Europe seems to be a
condensed version of the creature's own journey: both reflect
on how they were once able to find consolation in nature and
stories of human accomplishment (recall the creature and his
books); now, nothing can ease their suffering.
Victor’s arrival in Ireland mimics the hate and distrust the
Monster receives on his journeys.
Henry and the Passive Female
 Henry is now enthusiastic about natural philosophy and
eager to explore the world—much like Victor had been
two years before.
 One can argue that Henry represents the healthy, safe
route to scientific knowledge that Victor never took.
 Victor’s emotional outbursts strongly foreshadow
Henry’s death: “And where does he now exist?” he asks.
“Is this gentle and lovely being lost forever?”
 the passive, innocent woman (damsel/good mother):
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1. the mother who sacrifices herself for her daughter
2. the fiancée who waits endlessly for her future husband
3. the orphan girl who is rescued from poverty
4. the female monster Victor suddenly aborts after being struck
by doubts.
The Female Monster
 The female monster
 To Victor = another crime against humanity and nature;
 To the monster, she = one remaining hope for a life not spent alone.
 Unlike the God of Genesis, who creates a woman to keep
Adam company, Victor does not have ultimate power over his
creations.
 His anxiety leads him to project a stereotypically male view
onto the female creature; his decision to destroy her ensures
her absolute passivity.
 The destruction of the female monster serves as the novel’s
climax
AVow of Revenge
 The monster vows revenge.
1.
2.
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4.
"You can blast my other passions, but revenge remains -- revenge, henceforth
dearer than light or food! I may die, but first you, my tyrant and tormentor,
shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery."
“… I can make you so wretched that the light of day will be hateful to you. You
are my creator, but I am your master; obey!”
“You may hate, but beware! Your hours will pass in dread and misery, and soon
the bolt will fall which must ravish from you your happiness forever… You can
blast my other passions, but revenge remains- revenge, henceforth dearer than
light of food! I may die, but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the
sun that gazes on your misery… Man, you shall repent of the injuries you
inflict.
“It is well. I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your wedding-night.
Booker’s Tragedy
 Anticipation
 Victor wants to uncover knowledge and scientific achievement. Walton
endeavors to traverse the North Pole.
 Dream
 All of Victor’s dreams have come true when his scientific endeavors prove
fruitful. Walton’s journey is met with easily evaded obstacles
 Frustration
 Victor’s monster is wretched and an embarrassment. The Monster’s murder
of William (and indirectly Justine) builds frustration stage which reaches an
apex when Victor agrees to create a second monster in an attempt to fix his
mistake.
 Nightmare
 The climatic destruction of the female Monster leads to the creation vowing
revenge upon Victor and beginning Victor’s demise.
 Destruction
 The chase continues which is revealed to continue into the Arctic where
Victor becomes a shell of his former self.
Romanticism:
 Key Concepts:
 Focus on self – individual experience
 Doctrine of the Basic Goodness of Man – man is born good and is
corrupted by society (Rousseau)
 Emphasis on emotion – overflow of spontaneous feeling
recollected in tranquility (switch from prose to poetry)
 Glorified nature – tranquility, peace, moral influence, landscapes,
creatures of the natural world, weather
Famous Quests
(Allusions in the text)
 Albatross - The Rime of
the Ancient Mariner
used to mean a
wearisome burden
(caused by impulse)
 Albatross = regret for
impulsiveness
Themes
 Consequences of irresponsibility in the pursuit of knowledge
 Consequences of pride
 Consequences of society’s rejection of someone who is
unattractive
 Destructive power of revenge
 Parent-child conflicts
 Sympathy
Other Literary Elements
 Irony – 2 major ironies
 Creature is more sympathetic, more imaginative and more
responsible to fellow creatures
 Creature has many pleasing qualities but is an outcast
because he’s not physically attractive
Symbols
 White/light= knowledge
 Water = knowledge
 Ice = danger
 Lightning = nature’s power
 Nature = acceptance, nuturing, calm
 Mountains= sublime in nature
Antithesis-Contrasts of ideas, characters, themes,
settings or moods
 Victor/creation
 Passion/reason
 Natural/unnatural
 Known/unknown
 Civilized/savage
 Masculine/feminine
 Beautiful/ugly
 Good/bad
 Light/dark
 Heat/cold
The Quest for Forbidden
Knowledge is Foolhardy.
 Victor wants to discern the secret of life.
 Victor is the Modern Prometheus by
wanting to give the world forbidden
knowledge.
 eventually results in the destruction of
everyone dear to him,
 Walton wants to reach the North Pole.
quits – saving the lives of his
The Thrill of Victory may be
Bittersweet.
 Is Victor victorious because he accomplished his goal of creating
life?
-- He recoils immediately after finally creating life.
 Does Walton lose his chance at victory because he turns back?
 Is the thrill from the quest or the accomplishment?
True Justice is Hard to Find.
•Justine’s trial results in an unjust verdict.
•as does the trial of Safie’s father.
•Dr. Frankenstein is unjustly accused of murder.
•Is the monster treated justly?
Creators are responsible for their
creations.
 The Frankenstein story echos both the stories from Greek
mythology and the Judo-Christian Adam and Eve.
-- the apple had already been bitten
 Is Dr. Frankenstein a scientist who created a monster?
 An artist who made a creation?
 A father who created a child?
Society Rejects Monstrosity
 the monster is rejected by society.
 unnatural manner of creation –secretive, dead
bodies, not of collaborative scientific effort but of
dark, supernatural workings.
Monstrosity cont.
•Victor is a monster -- his ambition, secrecy,
and selfishness alienate him from human
society.
•the knowledge used to create the monster
•Society as a prejudiced whole.
•the novel itself as monstrous, a stitched-together
combination of different voices, texts, and tenses
Secrecy Can Destroy
 Victor conceives of science as a mystery to be
probed;
 Victor’s entire obsession with creating life is a
secret.
 His obsession with destroying the monster is a
secret until Walton hears his tale.
 Walton serves as the final confessor
 The monster is forced into seclusion by his
grotesque appearance.
Motifs: Fire & Ice
 Lightning strike change Dr. Frankenstein’s
course of study.
 Creature created on a lightning filled night.
 Creature learns dual nature of fire.
 The monster intends to die in a fire.
 Fire represents knowledge (Prometheus)
Fire & Ice
 Ice represents isolation and the cold hearted side of
humans.
Allusion
 Paradise Lost by John Milton – story of man’s fall from
innocence to painful knowledge; Victor can be compared to
Adam, Satan, and Eve
 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
like narrator, tells story as a warning and a confession
Famous Quests (Allusions in the text)
 The Philosopher’s Stone - capable of turning
base metals into gold; elixir of life (Magnus;
Paracelsus)
Famous Quests (Allusions in the text)
 The Elixir of Life - legendary potion, or drink,
that grants the drinker eternal life or eternal
youth; said to be able to create life (Cornelius
Agrippa)