Characters & Relationships
This character narrates his early life and family background in the opening chapters.
Victor Frankenstein
The city and area Victor names as his birthplace and childhood home.
Geneva
Integrity
The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles
The general mood of the opening family scenes—warm and loving or dark and scary?
Dark and scary
Who says or narrates, “I was led to reflect on my condition and fate”?
Victor Frankenstein
The gentle young woman Victor describes as his adopted sister and close companion.
Elizabeth
What Victor becomes obsessed with studying after reading old books on natural philosophy.
The secrets of life or creating life (natural philosophy/Alchemy)
Contempt
A feeling of disrespect or disdain toward someone or something viewed as inferior
The type of places (nature scenes) Victor often describes that reflect beauty and calm.
Mountains, lakes, and natural landscapes
Name one detail Victor uses to show his family’s kindness in Chapter 1.
His father’s kindness, his mother’s gentle care, or Elizabeth being raised in their home
Victor’s friend from childhood who provides companionship and later supports his studies.
Henry (Clerval)
The major event Victor experiences that sends him to a different city to pursue formal studies.
His decision to attend university (to study science)
Ardour
Intense passion, eagerness, or enthusiasm
The mood that appears as Victor’s studies and experiments take over his life (hint: less peaceful).
Tense/uneasy or foreboding
Which chapter moment describes Victor’s fascination after finding ancient books on natural philosophy?
When Victor reads alchemy books and becomes determined to learn about life
The family member whose death deeply affects Victor and appears as a turning point in his mood.
Victor's mother
The object of Victor’s most consuming scientific goal by the end of these chapters.
Creating or reanimating life (making a living being)
Bestow
To present or confer something as a gift or honor
The setting shift where Victor leaves home to study and experiences new, more formal locations.
The university or a foreign city for study
Give one textual detail that shows Victor’s curiosity turning into obsession (describe a panel or line).
His long hours of study, neglecting family and health, or his description of being consumed by a single purpose
The mysterious figure whose experiments and ideas influence young Victor’s fascination with life and science.
The ancient alchemist/scientist (Agrippa/old natural philosophers)
The emotional state Victor often describes as his curiosity turns into obsession (shows his internal conflict).
Isolation/obsession or a feeling of restlessness and compulsion
Commence
To begin or start something
The contrast between the loving home scenes and the darker study scenes helps create this overall literary effect.
Innocence and corruption/or a mood of looming danger
Explain in one sentence what Victor means when he talks about “discovering the cause of generation and life.”
He means he wants to learn how life begins and how to create or reanimate life (to uncover the secrets of life’s origin)