Frankenstein
Letter 1
R. Walton writes to his sister about
his expedition in Russia.
He's going to Archangel from where he'll hire
a boat and some whale catchers. He doesn't regret himself beginning this whole
thing six years ago.
Letter 2
Walton complains that he hasn't got
a friend, and he'd like one. He then writes about a Lieutnant he hired; he's a
gentleman. Walton promisses to his sister that he won't do any BS and he hopes
that they'll soon met themselfs again.
Letter 3
He's OK, everything goes fine.
Letter 4
They're on the boat
heading the northpole. They see a stranger far away on a sledge (on the ice).
On the next day they pick up somebody else on a sledge who
obviously is after the person they saw the night before. He is very quiet.
- Walton talks to the
stranger how he wants to know more about the basis of life; the stranger has
strong emotions, because he had the same 'disease'. He
is, how he says, broken and can't start life
from the beginning.
The stranger promisses
him to tell him everything about him the next day, because he wants to prevent
him from doing the same mistake as he had done.
The chapters 1-23 and the first part
of chapter 24 are what the
stranger tells to Walton
Chapter 1
The stranger is called Victor. He
speaks about his family: his father married himself rather late. His wife was
the daugther of a friend who had died. The difference of age between Victors parents is 'striking'. Victor was the
first born child. His mother gave him every love he could wish and she provided
for him a good education. They later adoptet a girl which they named Elizabeth and which
Victor liked very much. The family is from Switzerland.
Chapter 2
Victor gets two brothers. His
'cousin' - how they calle Elizabeth
- likes nature very much, while he, Victor, starts to interesst himself for the
basis of life. He finds an old book of Agrippa, with thesis to this in it. But
his father tells him, that it isn't worth anything, and that only increases the
interesst of Victor for the book. So he keeps reading on. A lightnig which
destroyes an oak, impresses Victor very much. This is
his first contact with electricity. Now his destiny is clear: he has to search
for the basis of human life. Clerval is a friend of him.
Chapter 3
Elizabeth
gets a scarlet fever, and because of that their mother falls ill too and dies
later on. Victor Frankenstein (VF) should start his studies in Ingolstadt, but the separation of his family
isn't easy. In Ingolstadt
he meets his professors of chimistry. One of them has a speech to him about the
future of chimistry, and that leads VF to the decission of life: to go to the
roots of life. His professors are Mr. Krempe and Mr. Waldman.
Chapter 4
VF learns eagerly and he soon makes
remarkable progress. He wants to make a visit to his family in Geneva, but then something comes
inbetween: he discovers how to animate dead matter to life (he won't tell
Walton how he did it, of course). So VF starts to construct a huge body of
muscles and bones, which was due to be animated to life. VF only thinks about
his work and nothing else exists for him.
Chapter 5
The monster is animated to life and
opens his eyes. VF flees with horror after having slept a bit. In front of a
pub he meets Clerval, his ancient friend, who too has come to Ingolstadt to make his studies. When they
return to the apartement of VF the monster has gone. VF falls ill: he has got a
fever or something; he keeps having hallucinations of the monster he has
created. Clerval is his nurse, and soon VF recovers.
Chapter 6
VF receives a letter from Elizabeth. she talks in it about Ernest, VF's first brother, who wants
to start a military career. She also talks about Justine, a girl, who the
family had taken to them because her mother was a wretch to her. Clerval noticies that VF doesn't like natural philosophy any more.
VF should go back to Geneva
soon, but his voyages are always delayed. He and Clerval do a finishing walk in
the nature.
Chapter 7
After the walk VF receives a letter
from his father telling him that William - his youngest brother - has been
murdered. On that, he returns quickly to Geneva.
Before returning to the house of his family he goes to the spot where his
brother has been murdered. There he sees 'his' monster running away,
and he concludes that he must have been the murderer of his little brother. VF
goes to his family: they tell him, that Justine is suspect of having murdered
William, because they had found a picture that William had worn around his neck
in one of her pockets. VF tells them, that it isn't true.
Chapter 8
In front of court Justine confesses
her inocence. Elizabeth
tries to help her, but all evidence is againt Justine. She is sentenced to
death. Before diing she wants to talk to Elizabeth and VF. The two of them
reassure her that they don't believe in her guiltyness. The next morning
Justine gets executed.
Chapter 9
VF's mind is heavily charched, for
he knows that Justine was innocent, Elizabeth
tries to be cheerfull again. VF makes a journey to forget about the happenings
a bit. He arrives in Chamounix.
Chapter 10
VF then makes a voyage in the
mountains, alone. He then mets 'his' creature, who
he wants to kill. But as the other is much more vigourous than he, he
doesn't succed. The monster wants him to listen at
least to his story. The two go to a ut where the
monster beginns to tell about what happened so far. In the chapters 11-16 VF
tells what the monster said to him
Chapter 11
When he was 'born', then
in Ingolstadt,
he didn't know very much, his senses were very confused. He first lived in the
woods, and his food were berries and roots. He had to
learn to use his senses right. He got know more about the world: he learned the
use of fire, he saw what a house is. He slept a bit
here and there, but he avoided people, for he had experianced that everybody
hated him because of his frightening appearance. Somewhere he settled down
where he could watch a family consisting of an old blind man, a younger man and
a younger
woman.
Chapter 12
He stayed in the nearbys of the
family and closely watched them all day. Slowly he got to know their language.
During the night he did works for them, without them knowing who had done it.
The family somehow appeared unhappy to him, and he wanted to inquire why it was
so. He wanted to contact them, but he prefered to
learn their language first to be able to communicate with them better.
Chapter 13
A stranger, an arabian
lady, arrived at their house. She did't speak french, but she learned it more
and more, and he too, the monster, learned with her, listening at the window
and so. He got to know more about history, about languages, about life and
death. He started to wonder who he himself actually was for he couldn't
remember himself of beeing educated by parents and so on.
Chapter 14
He got to know more about the family
and the arabian woman: Felix, the man, had rescued a
Turk in Paris
from an innocent death. The turk had promissed him his
daughter if would do it. Felix' plan flew up a bit later, and his blind father
and his sister were arrested. So, Felix returned to Paris. During that
time the Turk fled away from him: his daughter resolved on her own to return
to Felix, who now lived 'in exile' in Germany. And thats
how she then had arrived at their house.
Chapter 15
In the woods VF's creature found a
portmanteau with three books in it (e.g. 'the sorrows of Werther')
and he read them all. This opened his mind a bit. In the jacket he had taken
from VF in Ingolstadt
he too found a diary in which VF had written every step of the creation of him
(the creature had justed learned to read), so he now knew he is and why he
lived. One day he finally knocked at the door of the family that he had been
observing for nearly a year to present himself. The old blind man was alone. He
told the old man about his misery (more or less), but just in the decessive
moment the rest of the family came back and chassed
him away, when they saw the monster and thinking that he wanted to harm their
father.
Chapter 16
He wanted to return back to the
house to explain everything but he saw that the family was moving away (because
it was to dangerous for their father there). He
decided to go to Geneva
for he knew that his creatour had something to do with that city: so walking at
night and sleeping during the day he finally arrived there. On the voyage to Switzerland he
had once rescued a girl from drowning, but when her father who was looking for
her passed by and saw them he thought that the monster wanted to kill her, and
he took her away and shot in the direction of the creature. When he finally
arrived in Geneva
he met William and - seeing that he must be a relative of his creatour - he
killed to young boy. He then puts the portrait he found around the neck of the
boy in pocket of the sleeping Justine he saw. Now he wants VF to make him a
female compagnion.
Chapter 17
First VF refuses to give him a
compagnion, but then he's 'd'accord', for the monster arguments quite
reasonable. It will be better for him and for the rest of the world too,
because he promises to leave Europe after
having received a compagnion. The creature then runs away.VF returns to
Chamounix, then to Geneva.
Chapter 18
VF's father proposes to him to marry
Elizabeth, but
he first wants to create the second monster to be able to sleep peacefully. He
wants to go to England,
for there is some new theory around concerning natural philosophy that he needs
for the second creature. He then goes with Clerval to London.
Chapter 19
A friend of the two invites them to Scotland. They
then go, passing Oxford- Derby- Cumberland- Edinburgh. VF wants to be alone a
bit. So he rents a small hut near the sea, somewhere hardly anybody lives and
he starts to create his second monster.
Chapter 20
VF works on his second biest: he
then resolves not to finish, because the pair then might give life to children,
and then who knows ? And anyhow, who says that the
second biest won't be 'bad
VF's living creature comes and
warnes him not to stop. During a night then, VF throws the rest of the second
creature over board into the sea. He then falls asleep and wakes up near the
coast of Ireland.
He is suspected of murder, and he is led to the magistrate.
Chapter 21
After beeing at the magistrate's, he
is lead to the dead body: it is Clerval. VF is thrown to prison. His father
comes to visit him, voyaged up to hear from Switzerland. In front of court, VF
is then freed from guilt. He returns to Geneva,
but still, he can't enjoy life, for he alway has to
think of the words the monster had told him before he left: 'I shall be
with you on your wedding-night.'
Chapter 22
VF and his father arrive in Paris, where VF receives
a letter
from Elizabeth.
She writes, that she's looking forward to their
marriage, but only if he loves only her and nobody else. VF
writes back telling her, that he has got to say something
important to her, but only on the day after their marriage.
He must alway think of the words the
monster said to him.
They arrive in Geneva, and the date of the wedding is fixed.
Chapter 23
After the wedding Elizabeth goes to bed while VF walks
unsteadily up and down the house, waiting for the creature to arrive and kill
him. He then suddenly hears shout from his wife, and he then knows whats
happening: it HER, who the monster killed! Although people searched the sea and
the woods, his monster cannot be found. His father soon dies out of weakness.
VF wants help from the justice, but the magistrate doesn't believe his story.
He swears to kill his monster, may happend whatever.
Chapter 24
- He leaves Geneva to follow his creature and kill him.
That one goes in the direction of the northpole, so VF must suffer before it
comes to a fight. VF always find traces from the
other, so he can follow. Finally, both VF and his creature are on sledges, and
one is 'chassed' by the other. And that's when Walten picked up
Victor Frankenstein. (letter) - Walton tries to ask VF
about the secret of animating dead matter to life, but he won't tell him. VF's
only target is to kill his creature (letter) - Will he, Walton, ever
return ? (letter)
- The sailors on the ship want to return, but VF talks to them in a way that
afterwards they are persuaded, that it's better to
continue their voyage. (letter) - If they'll come free of the ice, they'll return to
England letter) - VF gets
weaker and weaker. One night Walton hears groans from VF: his creature has come
to kill him. He tells Walton, the he himself is the only one who is remaining
to be killed. He then complains about the world and the people living on it. He
jumps off the boat, and will probably kill himself later on.
