Frankenstein Plot

Start with the opening

The slides Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - Plot begin with Robert Walton’s first letter to his sister in England. The notes on the story also start with Walton writing to his sister and describe his journey being interrupted by ice, before he meets Victor.

These resources offer a starting point for following how the story is introduced. Read the opening material first, then use a mind map to organize the people and events you encounter.

Follow characters and events

The mind map Frankenstein by Mary Shelley lists characters including Walton, Victor, the monster and members of Victor’s family. Use it alongside the opening notes to keep track of the names. Another mind map covers Victor’s early life in Geneva and his studies at Ingolstadt.

The map about the creature watching the cottagers includes his discovery that they are poor and his thoughts about helping them. For a closer look at a relationship, The Monster's bargain with Victor raises questions about the connection between them, the monster’s language and a shift in power.

Check your recall

After studying the notes and maps, try the Frankenstein quiz. Its questions include who is convicted of William’s murder, who is accused of Henry Clerval’s murder and the name of a professor at Ingolstadt. Use your answers to identify names or events to look at again.

The flashcard deck of chapter summaries offers another way to work through the story. On this page, plot resources form one section of the Frankenstein unit in Literature. Together, the maps and quiz let you practice both remembering events and thinking about connections between characters. Choose a map and pair it with a quiz when you are ready.