Frankenstein tout ce que l'on doit savoir

Log Book

Novel :Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Author's introduction:

Mary Shelley describes her novel as “My hideous progeny” p10. For the author, this novel is her own monster, her own child created from her soul with words.

In this novel, we get an insight on Mary.Shelley’s emotions, thoughts and feelings. Her life can be represented throughout the novel and through the characters.

Character List:

Victor Frankenstein - The doomed protagonist and narrator of the main portion of the story. Studying in Ingolstadt, Victor discovers the secret of life and creates an intelligent but grotesque monster, from whom he recoils in horror. Victor keeps his creation of the monster a secret, feeling increasingly guilty and ashamed as he realizes how helpless he is to prevent the monster from ruining his life and the lives of others.

The Monster - The eight-foot-tall, hideously ugly creation of Victor Frankenstein. Intelligent and sensitive, the monster attempts to integrate himself into human social patterns, but all who see him shun him. His feeling of abandonment compels him to seek revenge against his creator.

Robert Walton - The Arctic seafarer whose letters open and close Frankenstein. Walton picks the bedraggled Victor Frankenstein up off the ice, helps nurse him back to health, and hears Victor’s story. He records the incredible tale in a series of letters addressed to his sister, Margaret Saville, in England.

Alphonse Frankenstein - Victor’s father, very sympathetic toward his son. Alphonse consoles Victor in moments of pain and encourages him to remember the importance of family.

Elizabeth Lavenza - An orphan, four to five years younger than Victor, whom the Frankensteins adopt. In the 1818 edition of the novel, Elizabeth is Victor’s cousin, the child of Alphonse Frankenstein’s sister. In the 1831 edition, Victor’s mother rescues Elizabeth from a destitute peasant cottage in Italy. Elizabeth embodies the novel’s motif of passive women, as she waits patiently for Victor’s attention.

Henry Clerval - Victor’s boyhood friend, who nurses Victor back to health in Ingolstadt. After working unhappily for his father, Henry begins to follow in Victor’s footsteps as a scientist. His cheerfulness counters Victor’s moroseness.

William Frankenstein - Victor’s youngest brother and the darling of the Frankenstein family. The monster strangles William in the woods outside Geneva in order to hurt Victor for abandoning him. William’s death deeply saddens Victor and burdens him with tremendous guilt about having created the monster.

Justine Moritz - A young girl adopted into the Frankenstein household while Victor is growing up. Justine is blamed and executed for William’s murder, which is actually committed by the monster.

Caroline Beaufort - The daughter of Beaufort. After her father’s death, Caroline is taken in by, and later marries, Alphonse Frankenstein. She dies of scarlet fever, which she contracts from Elizabeth, just before Victor leaves for Ingolstadt at age seventeen.

Beaufort - A merchant and friend of Victor’s father; the father of Caroline Beaufort.

Peasants - A family of peasants, including a blind old man, De Lacey; his son and daughter, Felix and Agatha; and a foreign woman named Safie. The monster learns how to speak and interact by observing them. When he reveals himself to them, hoping for friendship, they beat him and chase him away.

M. Waldman - The professor of chemistry who sparks Victor’s interest in science. He dismisses the alchemists’ conclusions as unfounded but sympathizes with Victor’s interest in a science that can explain the “big questions,” such as the origin of life.

M. Krempe - A professor of natural philosophy at Ingolstadt. He dismisses Victor’s study of the alchemists as wasted time and encourages him to begin his studies anew.

Mr. Kirwin - The magistrate who accuses Victor of Henry’s murder.

Summary chapter by chapter

Letter 1: Robert Walton tell his sister ,Margret Seville, that he is preparing for his great departure. He his looking for a passage to the North Pole. He is excited to set foot on a land untouched by any others before him.

Letter 2: Walton complains about being lonely and having no friends.he desperately desires company and seeks friendship in every possible situation. He sees himself as a romantic lover.

Letter 3:The book and it’s lonely captain sail through the arctic and the crew is convinced they will find the land they are looking for.

Letter 4: Walton and his men get stuck in the thick ice of the northern oceans. As they sit and wait, they see two “shadows”.One of them is extremely big and travels faster than an average human . The next day they see a less fortunate man, which happens to be Victor Frankenstein who is near death. He is saved by the crew and tells his story to Walton.

Ch 1: Victor Frankenstein, begins to tell the reader and Walton about his life.He is from Geneva, in Switzerland. When Victor was a young boy, his mother Caroline travelled to Italy and saw a beautiful blonde orphan girl. Caroline adopted Elizabeth and made her part of the family. Caroline became his sister and then becomes his wife.

Ch 2: As a young boy Victor had a small group of friends, including Elizabeth, his best friend and sister. The other member of this group was Henry Clerval, one of Victor's schoolmates. As a boy, Victor Frankenstein started reading the scientific books of Cornelius Agrippa, and Albert Magnus. He was really intrigued by alchemists when he saw a lighting bolt destroy a tree. This experience led him to understand electricity and use it to animate his creature.

Ch 3: When Victor turns seventeen, he decides to attend the university of Ingolstadt. Before leaving, his mother contracts scarlet fever while trying to cure Elizabeth from it and ends up dying.On her deathbed, Victor’s mother makes one last wish, she wishes for Victor and Elizabeth to get married. Victor finally leaves for the university where he finds a perfect place to live and run his experiments. As soon as he gets there he sets up a meeting with Professor Krempe who is a natural philosophy master. The latter warns him of the uselessness of reading and studying Mr Agrippa and Mr Magnus’s theories.

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