Characters
The polar explorer introduced in the beginning of the novel.
Robert Walton
Why did Frankenstein build the monster?
He was motivated by scientific progression and wanted to discover the secrets of life and death, and above all—achieve glory like Prometheus.
Where was Robert Walton traveling to?
The North Pole
What is romanticism?
Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe in the 18th century. It emphasized individualism, the subjective, the irrational, the personal, the imaginative, the emotional, and many that contrast the rational and orderly ideals of Classicism and the Enlightenment.
Who was the last person the monster killed?
Elizabeth Lavenza, Frankenstein's wife.
What did the monster ask Victor Frankenstein to do in exchange for him to leave his creator alone?
He asked Frankenstein to make him a female companion to cure his loneliness.
Where is Victor Frankenstein from?
He was born in Naples, Italy but grew up in Geneva, Switzerland.
What is the major historical event/period that sparked romanticism?
Romanticism emerged as a response to the "disillusionment" with the Enlightenment's values of rationality and liberalism. The entire enlightenment period full of scientific (Scientific Revolution) and industrial (Industrial Revolution) progression can be accredited to romanticism's emergence.
Who is the boy that the monster first killed?
William Frankenstein, Victor's youngest brother
What was the first dehumanizing event for the monster?
When the old man he encountered soon after he was born fleed from him in terror. Also, when the monster tried to imitate the singing birds only to discover his ugly and frightening voice.
Where did Frankenstein travel to build the female monster?
The Orkney Islands, remote islands off the northern coast of Scotland.
What is Gothic and Horror?
Gothic stories focus on an environment of fear and the threat of supernatural forces, all factors of a strange and creepy mood.
Horror is a genre of speculative fiction (encompassing everything departed from realism like supernatural, fantastical, etc) intended to disturb or scare its fans. There are sub-genres such as psychological horror.
Who was accused of the murder?
Justine Moritz, a servant of the Frankenstein family
Why were the De Laceys suffering from poverty?
Safie, a Turkish merchant whom Felix De Lacey helped escape to win his daughter's love, loathed the idea of his daughter marrying a Christian. Because of this, he ratted them out to the government and Flex was thrown in prison. There, the family lost all their fortune and was exiled.
Why was Frankenstein arrested when he arrived on the Orkney Islands of Scotland?
Victor Frankenstein was suspected of murder of his friend, Henry Clerval
Who is the character that represents Prometheus, the titan who defied the Olympian gods by taking fire from them and giving it to humanity?
Victor Frankenstein?
What was the monster planning to do at the end of the novel?
He was planning to commit suicide by burning himself in a funeral pyre in the Arctic.
Where were the De Laceys originally from? And where did the monster meet them?
They were originally from Paris, France. The monster met them in rural Germany at their cottage.
What is the major natural disaster that kickstarted Mary Shelley's writing of Frankenstein?