Comprehensive Study Notes: Frankenstein (The Graphic Novel)
Historical Context and Introduction
Publication and Setting: Mary Shelley's classic novel, Frankenstein, was first published in 1818. This was an era before steam travel, a time when the world was perceived as being much larger and more mysterious.
The Climate of Science and Medicine: * Science was progressing at an extreme pace, creating a sense that anything was possible as humanity discovered powerful methods for both creation and destruction. * Simultaneous advances in medicine were focused on curing the sick and extending life.
Foundational Philosophical Questions: These scientific and medical advancements raised existential questions about the nature of life itself: * If a dying person could be saved, could a dead person be reanimated? * Could a creature constructed from the parts of various corpses be endowed with life? * What were the ethical limits or potential terrors of such creations?
The Voyage of Robert Walton
Letter 1 (December 11, 17--): * Sent from Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret, in London. * Walton is traveling north of London; he expresses happiness at the cold northern wind. * He describes his destination, the North Pole, as a land of eternal sun, beauty, and amazing sights.
Personal Ambitions: Walton has dreamed of this voyage since childhood, having read travelers' accounts of attempts to find the North Pacific Ocean. * He justifies his difficult journey by stating he has rejected an easy, comfortable life to achieve something great.
Letter 2 (March 28, 17--): * Walton laments the slow passage of time and his extreme loneliness. * He notes a lack of friends; if he succeeds, no one shares his joy, and if he fails, no one is there to comfort him.
Letter 3 (July 7, 17--): * Walton assures his sister of his safety as they proceed further north.
Letter 4 (August 5, 17--): * The ship is surrounded by ice and thick fog, forcing them to halt. * The First Sighting: At 2:00, the fog clears to reveal ice everywhere. In the distance ( away), they observe a huge man driving a dog-drawn sled across the ice.
The Rescue (August 13, 17--): * The sailors find another sled on a large piece of ice. The passenger is a European man, nearly frozen and extremely thin, in a "terrible state." * The stranger initially refuses to board until he learns the ship is on a voyage of discovery toward the North Pole. * The man explains he is looking for someone who ran away from him. The sailors mention the "huge man" seen previously.
The Stranger’s Recovery: After two days, the man recovers his speech. Walton develops a deep admiration and sympathy for him.
The Warning (August 19, 17--): The stranger observes Walton's quest for knowledge and offers to tell his story as a cautionary tale to prevent Walton from suffering the same destiny.
Victor Frankenstein’s Early Life and Education
Family Origin: Victor Frankenstein was born in Naples, Italy. His parents were from Geneva, Switzerland, where they were highly respected.
Childhood and Adoption: * Victor was an only child for several years and deeply loved by his parents. * When Victor was five, his mother adopted Elizabeth Lavenza, the daughter of a deceased nobleman. Victor and Elizabeth were raised together, with less than a year between their ages. * The family eventually settled back in Geneva after the birth of a second son.
Early Friendships: Victor became close friends with Henry Clerval, a boy who loved reading and writing stories. Elizabeth is described as the one who showed Clerval the "beauty of goodness."
Intellectual Interests: * Victor did not desire money; he sought the glory of a great discovery and the ability to free humanity from disease. * He became a follower of ancient natural scientists like Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus.
The Storm and Electricity: At age 15, Victor witnessed a violent thunderstorm. A stream of fire (lightning) destroyed an old tree near his house, breaking it into long, thin pieces. This sparked his interest in electricity and lead him to study mathematics and other sciences.
Family Tragedy: * At age 17, Victor was prepared to go to the University of Ingolstadt. * Elizabeth contracted scarlet fever. Victor’s mother, Caroline, nursed her back to health but caught the disease herself. * Caroline’s Deathbed Wish: She expressed her desire for Victor and Elizabeth to marry and tasked Elizabeth with being a mother to the younger children. She died calmly, hoping to see them in another world.
The University of Ingolstadt and the Secret of Life
Arrival and Faculty: * Victor visits Monsieur Krempe, a professor of natural science. Krempe dismisses Victor's previous studies (Paracelsus and Magnus) as "nonsense" and a "waste of time," ordering him to start his studies over. * Victor then attends a lecture by Monsieur Waldman, who argues that while ancient teachers promised much and produced nothing, modern masters show much about nature and have acquired "new powers over heaven and earth."
The Obsession: * Victor finds a mentor in Waldman and excels in his studies over the next two years. * He becomes obsessed with the origin of life and decides he must examine death to understand life. * He spends days and nights in graveyards examining the decay of corpses.
The Discovery: Victor eventually discovers the cause of life. After weeks of hard work, he realizes he has the power to create life.
The Construction: * Victor works alone in his room, becoming nervous and physically ill from the stress. * He decides to make the creature large () because the smallness of human parts makes the work too slow.
The Animation and Aftermath
The Moment of Animation: On a dark November evening, after two years of work, Victor finishes. The creature opens a "dull yellow eye" and begins to breathe and move.
Instant Regret: The beauty of Victor's dream disappears. He is filled with horror and disgust at the creature’s appearance and flees the room.
The Nightmare: Victor falls into a fitful sleep and dreams of Elizabeth walking in Ingolstadt. When he embraces and kisses her, her lips turn white, and she transforms into his dead mother's corpse.
The Encounter at the Apartment: Victor wakes in horror and sees the monster standing over him. The monster reaches out a hand and makes a sound (), but Victor escapes into the courtyard.
Meeting Clerval: Morning comes, and Victor encounters Henry Clerval in town. Clerval has come to Ingolstadt to attend the university. Victor is terrified the monster is still in his apartment, but upon returning, he finds the creature has vanished.
The Collapse: Victor claps his hands in joy upon finding the apartment empty but then suffers a nervous fit and a long illness. Clerval nurses him back to health for several months without informing Victor's family of the severity of his condition.
The Murder of William and the Trial of Justine
News from Home: Elizabeth writes to Victor, detailing the family's life in Geneva: * Ernest is now 16. * William is described as tall for his age, lovely, and having "two little wives," with five-year-old Louisa being his favorite. * Justine Moritz, a beloved servant who joined the family at 12, has returned to them after her mother's death.
The Murder: Victor receives a letter from his father, Alphonse Frankenstein, stating that William has been murdered. During a walk in Plainpalais, William went missing; his body was found at 5:00 AM the next morning with finger marks on his neck. A valuable picture of Victor’s mother was missing from his neck.
The Return to Geneva: Victor returns home. Near Plainpalais during a storm, a flash of lightning reveals the monster. Victor instantly realizes the monster is William’s murderer.
Justine’s Accusation: * When Victor arrives home, Ernest informs him that Justine Moritz has been accused. * The evidence: Justine fell ill on the morning of the murder. A servant found the missing picture of Caroline in Justine's pocket.
The Trial: * A market woman saw Justine near the murder site early in the morning. * Justine defends herself, explaining she was looking for the child and spent the night in a barn because the city gates were shut. * She cannot explain how the picture got into her pocket.
Justine’s Execution: * Justine is found guilty. She confesses to the crime only after being pressured by a priest, but she tells Elizabeth and Victor she is actually innocent. * Justine is executed the next morning. Victor is overwhelmed with guilt, calling William and Justine the "first victims" of his creation.
Meeting on Montanvert and the Monster's Tale
Victor’s Retreat: To cope with his grief, Victor travels to the Alpine valleys and the village of Chamonix. He climbs Montanvert.
The Confrontation: At the summit, the monster approaches Victor with great speed. Victor threatens to kill him, but the monster remains calm, stating, "I am your creature. I was good, but unhappiness has made me bad."
The Monster's Demands: The monster tells Victor he must do his duty. He asks Victor to listen to his story, after which Victor can decide whether to help him or destroy him.
The Monster’s Early Life: * The monster describes his initial confusion of the senses. * He found a forest near Ingolstadt, ate fruit, and slept. He tried to mimic bird songs but found his own voice frightening. * He discovered fire left by some travelers and learned it provided both heat and a way to cook fruit (though it also burned him).
First Human Contacts: * He entered a hut; an old man saw him and fled in terror. * He entered a village where some people fled and others attacked him with stones. * He eventually found shelter in a small, low hovel attached to a cottage.
The De Lacey Family and Language Acquisition
Observation of the Cottagers: The monster watched the inhabitants of the cottage: * The Old Man (Father), who is blind. * Agatha (Sister). * Felix (Son/Brother).
Discovery of Poverty: The monster initially didn't understand why they were unhappy until he realized they were poor. The young people often gave their food to the old man despite being hungry themselves.
Atonement and Help: Feeling guilty for previously stealing their food, the monster began eating only nuts and fruit and started performing secret chores, such as collecting wood for their fire at night and clearing snow from their path.
Learning Language: * The monster learned basic words by listening: "fire," "milk," "bread," and "wood." * He learned the names/relationships: "father," "Agatha," "Felix." * He practiced their language in secret, hoping that if he could speak, they might overlook his deformity.
Self-Realization: Upon seeing his reflection in a pool of water, the monster was terrified and felt "sad and ashamed," fully realizing his own ugliness.
The Arrival of Safie: A lady in a black veil, Safie, arrived at the cottage. Felix was overjoyed. Felix began teaching Safie the language and history, which the monster used to further his own education.
History and Human Nature: Through Felix's lessons, the monster learned of governments, religions, and the "dreadful" things humans have done. He began to wonder about his own lack of family and creators.
The History of the De Laceys and Rejection
The De Lacey Backstory: They were once a prominent family in Paris. * Safie’s father, a Turkish merchant, was unjustly sentenced to death in Paris. * Felix helped him escape. In return, the merchant offered Safie’s hand in marriage. * The French government discovered the plot and imprisoned the elder De Lacey and Agatha. The family was eventually stripped of their wealth and exiled. * The merchant, not wanting his daughter to marry a Christian, tried to take her to Constantinople, but Safie fled to Germany to find Felix.
Discovery of Books and Papers: The monster found a leather bag containing books, including Paradise Lost, which he read as a "true history." He compared himself to Adam but noted he was more like Satan because he was miserable and alone.
The Journal: He also read Victor’s journal from the months before his creation, which described his "disgusting body" in detail, causing him to curse his creator.
The Attempted Introduction: * The monster decided to speak to the blind old man while the others were out. * The old man was kind, but when the younger De Laceys returned, they were horrified. Agatha fainted, Safie ran away, and Felix beat the monster with a stick.
Vengeance: In his rage, the monster burned the cottage down after the family abandoned it.
The Journey to Geneva and the Demand for a Mate
The Incident at the River: On his way to Geneva, the monster saved a young girl from drowning. Instead of being thanked, a man shot the monster with a gun.
The Murder of William: * The monster arrived near Geneva and encountered a beautiful child (William). * He intended to kidnap the boy to raise him as a friend, but the child called him a "monster" and a "villain" and mentioned his father was Monsieur Frankenstein. * Upon hearing the name of his enemy, the monster strangled the boy. He then took the picture from the boy and placed it in the pocket of a sleeping woman (Justine) to frame her.
The Request: The monster demands that Victor create a female companion for him as ugly as himself. He argues, "I am dangerous because I am miserable."
The Compact: Victor initially refuses but eventually agrees after the monster promises to leave Europe forever and move to the wilds of South America.
The Second Creation and Final Threats
Victor’s Hesitation: Victor returns to Geneva but delays the work. His father suggests an immediate marriage to Elizabeth, but Victor feels he must complete the monster's mate first.
Travel to England: Victor travels to London and later Scotland with Henry Clerval to gain more scientific information. He eventually settles on a remote, rocky island in the Orkneys to work in solitude.
The Change of Heart: As Victor works on the female creature, he begins to fear: * She might be more evil than the first. * She did not make the promise to leave humanity alone. * They might hate each other. * They might have children, creating a "race of devils."
The Destruction: Seeing the monster watching him through the window with a face of "evil," Victor tears the female creature to pieces.
The Monster's Final Warning: The monster is devastated and enraged. He declares, "You are my creator, but I am your master. Obey!" When Victor refuses, the monster promises, "I will be with you on your wedding night."
Disposal of Remains: Victor take the remains of the unfinished creature, sails out early in the morning, and throws them into the sea. He then falls asleep on the boat while drifting.