Characters in Frankenstein

Description

AS English Literature (Frankenstein) Mind Map on Characters in Frankenstein, created by anna_sutton on 15/04/2014.
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Mind Map by anna_sutton, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by anna_sutton about 10 years ago
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Resource summary

Characters in Frankenstein
  1. Victor Frankenstein
    1. Creates a monster before abandoning him
      1. The monster retaliates by killing his family
        1. Monster forces him to make a 'wife'
          1. Frankenstein destroys this
            1. Leads to deaths of Liz and Clerval
        2. Is the son of Caroline and Alphonse Frankenstein
          1. Brother of William and Liz (through adoption) as well as future husband
            1. Victor follows his creature across the Arctic where he meets Walton
              1. Dies on Walton's ship
              2. Isolated like the monster
                1. Self-imposed through his obsession in his work
                  1. Avoids and rejects his loving family
                    1. Says that this is necessary for success
                      1. Is an ominous decision
                      2. Rebelling against what binds human relationships; family, community, sexual
                    2. A modern Prometheus??
                      1. Searching for forbidden knowledge
                        1. Doesn't accept boundaries/ limitations and is ultimately punished
                        2. Is he driven to be the saviour of mankind, to help or is it just glory and fame
                          1. Ambitious: 'A new species would bless me as its creator and source'
                          2. Question of what is the real crime: creating the monster or not taking responsibility for his actions
                          3. Through Victor it is thought that Shelley criticises Romanticism
                            1. Demonstrates the dangers of isolation and solitude which were common tendencies of Romantics
                              1. Victor always talks of the suffering he has to go through for success
                                1. A competition between him and the monster: who can suffer more??
                                  1. Monster at the end of the novel: 'Blasted as thou wert, my agony was still superior to thine'
                                  2. 'I pursued nature to her hiding places. Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil...?'
                                    1. Original Prometheus emphasised his suffering
                                      1. Central to conception of 'tortured' Romantic poet
                                    2. Chris Baldick
                                      1. Like Marlowe's Doctor Faustus
                                        1. Both become tied to powerful force which they don't understand
                                          1. However, unlike Doctor Faustus who was tempted by Mephistopheles, Victor has no one to blame but himself living in a secular world
                                      2. Mirrors Coleridge's 'Mariner'. Barely alive, retelling his tale to warn others
                                        1. Walton on Victor: 'divine wanderer'
                                        2. Original aim: 'if I could banish disease from the human frame and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death!’
                                          1. Commendable but is later corrupted by desires. Uses almost sexual language with his desires, 'penetrate into the recesses of nature'
                                          2. First person narrative suggests biased view. Interesting to look at often contradictory views of how he is perceived
                                            1. Walton: 'helpless creature' (ironic), adjectives used like 'madness', 'wildness', then starts to 'love him like a brother', says he is a 'glorious spirit' and 'so noble a creature, destroyed by misery'
                                              1. Frankenstein: ‘no human being could have passed a happier childhood than me’, ‘my temper was sometimes violent’, ‘I always came from my studies discontented and unsatisfied’, ‘No one can conceive the anguish I suffered’, ‘My own spirits were high... I bounded along with feelings of unbridled joy and hilarity.’
                                                1. Monster: 'my creator', 'father', 'cursed, cursed creator'
                                                2. He has a narrow mental interest: has no interest in government, politics, language all of which relate to 'real' people
                                                  1. Only interested in himself and his own actions
                                                  2. Start of the novel has elements of "bildungsroman"
                                                    1. A novel about the development/ formation of the protagonist
                                                      1. However the reader sees that he rejects the 'silken cord' of love and affection in his childhood in later life only to notice its worth at the end
                                                      2. Shelley creates a HUGE contrast between the affection and comfort of his domestic life and the extreme isolation the monster causes
                                                        1. Ends up travelling backwards and forwards, chasing the monster with no comfort or security or hope of protection
                                                          1. Completely alone, ultimate outsider
                                                        2. Suffers exclusion due to his desires to break scientific boundaries and his rebellion
                                                          1. Separated from the natural world and the beauty of creation
                                                          2. Monster
                                                            1. Created and then abandoned by Victor
                                                              1. He is rejected by all due to looks
                                                                1. He seeks vengeance for his treatment by killing William and setting up Justine
                                                                2. Meets victor and asks for a 'wife'
                                                                  1. After Victor destroys this 'wife' he retaliates by killing Clerval and Liz
                                                                  2. The monster leads Victor on a journey through Europe before the Arctic
                                                                    1. Upon Victor's death, he mourns and disappears (supposedly to his death)
                                                                    2. The monster can be seen as a new Adam or a 'noble savage'
                                                                      1. Idea of Rousseau's that one of a primitive society is more noble than one of civilisation as this corrupts us
                                                                        1. Monster is not corrupted by society at first
                                                                          1. He is benevolent, innocent, holds no prejudices
                                                                          2. Nature vs. Nurture
                                                                        2. Receives an education learning about nature, culture, injustice in society, emotions and so craves love and companionship
                                                                          1. BUT he is rejected because of his looks. Shelley criticises the aesthetic society
                                                                            1. Peter Brooks
                                                                              1. Creature's education: 'is a classic study of right natural instinct perverted and turned evil by the social milieu
                                                                                1. Milieu- a person's social environment
                                                                            2. Inspired by Caliban in 'The Tempest' (Shakespeare)??
                                                                              1. He is rebuked by Prospero for the way in which he behaved with a reminder of his education
                                                                                1. 'You taught me language, and my profit on't/ Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you/ For learning me your language!'
                                                                              2. David Lodge
                                                                                1. Names always mean something so his lack of one could suggest his search for his identity
                                                                                2. Reads 'Paradise Lost', 'Plutarch's Lives', 'Sorrows of Werter'
                                                                                  1. Therefore very eloquent and uses the rhetoric
                                                                                    1. Thinks that his superior language will help him gain the favour of the De Laceys in spite of his looks
                                                                                      1. However this does not happen and it is only through his education that he learns of his differences. Is it his education that makes him unhappy and miserable??
                                                                                        1. Makes him ask 'What am I?'
                                                                                        2. They still reject him, 'I, like the arch field, bore a hell within me'
                                                                                    2. The Double
                                                                                      1. He persuades Victor to agree to make him a companion to ease his misery
                                                                                        1. 'I am malicious because I am miserable'
                                                                                          1. After Victor denies the monster this after destroying his 'wife', he takes revenge by going after all off his loved ones. If the monster can't have love then neither can Frankenstein
                                                                                          2. He tries to destroy all of Victor's loved ones but Victor attempted to cut them off himself
                                                                                            1. Is he acting out Victor's true destructive desires and his fears of family and sex
                                                                                          3. Victor intended him to be beautiful by selecting the best body parts; 'selected his pieces as beautiful', 'lustrous hair', 'teeth of pearly whiteness'
                                                                                            1. Does not have a 'beautiful' effect though. Instead the monster has 'straight black lips', 'yellow skin' which barely covers 'muscles and arteries', 'watery eyes'
                                                                                              1. Suggests death and decay- not the intention for his 'new species'. It still looks like a 'lifeless creation'
                                                                                            2. People reject him because they fear his looks will reflect his character
                                                                                              1. The abandonment by his creator intensifies his isolation
                                                                                                1. Condemns him to a life of rejection
                                                                                              2. His time spent observing the love and affection within the De Lacey household develops sympathy and Pathos for him because the reader knows he will never be accepted and this is the only thing he yearns for
                                                                                                1. The monster volunteers to live a life of absolute isolation if Victor agree to build him a 'wife'. He recognises that he will never be accepted by society
                                                                                                  1. Isolation is only deepened when this creation is destroyed at the hands of Victor
                                                                                                  2. His birth is like that of a baby: 'His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs' except his 'father' does not stay but runs away
                                                                                                    1. Like an abandoned child
                                                                                                    2. At the end, the creature has become the 'monster' that everyone feared he was. He realises what he has turned into; 'the miserable', 'the accursed'
                                                                                                      1. Caused by his contact with society/culture?? Key Romantic idea. Rousseau- ''man is born free but everywhere he is chains’, William Blake- 'mind-forged manacles'
                                                                                                      2. With his education he learns the abstract words 'virtue' and 'vice'. At this point he has no practice of these qualities and only knows of their existence. When he experiences and is rejected by the world, he adopts many of the characteristics he used to hate. Shelley is critcising the ideologies of the French Revolution which began with abstract words too: 'liberty and 'justice'
                                                                                                        1. A Marxist reading would say that the monster represents the proletariat (the lowest group of people in the working class) who after being alienated by humanity seeks vengeance on the bourgeois and his creator. His aim is to destroy tyranny and the typical social structure of the family
                                                                                                        2. Robert Walton
                                                                                                          1. An explorer who wants to discover the 'Northwest Passage'
                                                                                                            1. On an Arctic expedition
                                                                                                            2. He rescues Victor and is the sole recipient of his tale
                                                                                                              1. He records this narrative in his letters to his sister
                                                                                                                1. Margaret Saville, England
                                                                                                                2. Is warned about the dangers of going too far
                                                                                                                  1. 'You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be the serpent to sting you, as mine has been'
                                                                                                                3. Seen as a double of Victor
                                                                                                                  1. Goes against the wishes of his dead father who did not want to go sea
                                                                                                                    1. Victor rebelled against his father's views on alchemy
                                                                                                                    2. Both explore the unknown
                                                                                                                      1. Victor wants to know the secrets of nature and creation
                                                                                                                        1. Walton wants to discover the Northwest Passage
                                                                                                                        2. Both want to replace natural geography with human geography
                                                                                                                          1. Both are obssessed with their missions
                                                                                                                            1. He leaves the domestic world which featured his sister for achievement and success
                                                                                                                              1. Both demonstrate a complete disregard for human consequences
                                                                                                                                1. It is through his obsession to test the limits that he deserts his family/sister
                                                                                                                                2. Both have a high self-regard
                                                                                                                                  1. Also seeks glory: 'My life might have been passed in ease and luxury; but I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path'
                                                                                                                                    1. Craves recognition for his quest
                                                                                                                                    2. Ambitious: 'you cannot contest the inestimable benefit which I shall confer on all mankind to the last generation'
                                                                                                                                    3. Walton is not as isolated as Victor
                                                                                                                                      1. Is not hidden and alone in a laboratory
                                                                                                                                        1. Has to rely on his crew to have success
                                                                                                                                          1. They save him from a fate like Victor's with his 'mad schemes'
                                                                                                                                            1. Walton does not appreciate this though. He is bitter and thinks his grew shows 'cowardice and indecision'
                                                                                                                                        2. Complains of loneliness to his sister, 'I have no friend'
                                                                                                                                          1. Believes himself to be better than his crew. Not good enough for his friendship
                                                                                                                                            1. - ‘[I] desire the company of a man who could sympathise with me, whose eyes would reply to mine.’
                                                                                                                                            2. Turns to stranger (Victor) due to lack of friends and company
                                                                                                                                              1. Recognises dangers of isolation
                                                                                                                                              2. He sees Victor as 'the brother of my heart' straight away
                                                                                                                                                1. Uses a familiar term even though he has escaped the domestic world
                                                                                                                                                2. Walton recognises himself in Victor
                                                                                                                                                  1. Praises Victor: 'glorious creature' which means he also praise himself
                                                                                                                                                    1. Demonstrates his conceitedness and high self-regard
                                                                                                                                                      1. Something he has in common with Victor
                                                                                                                                                      2. 'What a glorious monster must he have been in the days of his prosperity, when he is thus noble and godlike in ruin'
                                                                                                                                                      3. Not so much looking for a friend but someone like himself
                                                                                                                                                        1. Shelley demonstrating the corruption of friendship through egotism
                                                                                                                                                      4. Robert Kiely, 'The Romantic Novel in England'
                                                                                                                                                        1. The novel doesn't just focus on 'the monstrous consequences of egotism' but the 'virtue of friendship' which is the opposite
                                                                                                                                                          1. Says that the great crime against nature/ mankind by Frankenstein might have been avoided by human friendship/ sympathy
                                                                                                                                                        2. The reader sees a sense of insecurity due to lack of privilege and his inferior education
                                                                                                                                                          1. Epistolary form: create idea of a listener
                                                                                                                                                            1. Introduces key themes: breaking boundaries, journey, pride, wild landscapes, madness, realtionships
                                                                                                                                                              1. isolated from his home and domestic security
                                                                                                                                                                1. Self-imposed like Victor's isolation
                                                                                                                                                                  1. Withdrawn from the crew as Captain- not part of their 'group', doesn't fit in
                                                                                                                                                                  2. Jokes of killing albatross: 'I am going to unexplored regions, to the "and of mist and snow" but I shall kill no albatross'
                                                                                                                                                                    1. Great crime against nature according to Coleridge- shows the lengths he will go to to break the boundaries
                                                                                                                                                                    2. 'Listener' of the story. His reactions supposedly mirror those of the reader. However he only stops his quest because of the 'loss of a friend' (Victor's death) and because of 'fresh dangers' ( adverse weather conditions)
                                                                                                                                                                      1. Maybe it is the ultimate reader, Mrs Saville, who will pay heed to the words of Victor and will learn the true dangers of Enlightenment and breaking boundaries
                                                                                                                                                                      2. Victor's tale has an effect on Walton. Upon seeing the creature he decides he is 'loathsome, yet appalling hideousness' and he 'shut my eyes, involuntarily, and endeavoured to recollect what were my duties with regard to this destroyer. I called on him to stay.' This means that the monster is allowed to speak and have the last word of the novel.
                                                                                                                                                                        1. Does not have complete understanding and is not taken in by 'his powers of eloquence and persuasion’, but allows the monster be 'borne away by the waves, and lost in darkness and distance' instead of causing him harm
                                                                                                                                                                        2. Has such a desire to complete his quest uses almost sexual language to describe it: 'satiate my ardent curiosity’'
                                                                                                                                                                        3. Alphonse and Caroline Frankenstein
                                                                                                                                                                          1. Parents of Victor and (adopted) Elizabeth
                                                                                                                                                                            1. Caroline looked after her father until he died when Alphonse married her to save her from poverty
                                                                                                                                                                              1. Carolines dies after nursing Elizabeth back to health from scarlet fever. Alphonse died upon the news of Elizabeth's death
                                                                                                                                                                                1. Caroline serves as the ideal of femininity
                                                                                                                                                                                  1. In some sense the ideal partnership and parents
                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Have a mutual partnership
                                                                                                                                                                                    2. Caroline has a passive dependence on Alphonse
                                                                                                                                                                                      1. A father substitute after the death of her own??
                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Alphonse is her protector
                                                                                                                                                                                          1. 'He strove to shelter her, as a fair exotic is sheltered by the gardener'
                                                                                                                                                                                        2. Caroline lives in the domestic circle and only leaves for charitable deeds
                                                                                                                                                                                          1. 'guardian angel to the afflicted'
                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Her last act leads to her death: Her life for Liz's
                                                                                                                                                                                            2. Alphonse used to be 'perpetually occupied' with his work but comes to domestic sphere upon his marriage to Caroline
                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Demonstrates you cant have both professional and public
                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Successful family unit depends on self-sacrifice for benefit of the children
                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Not shown with Victor and his off-spring
                                                                                                                                                                                              2. Are aware of their duties to their children
                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Indulgent but firm
                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Guiding Frankenstein with a 'silken cord'
                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Victor later sees this as 'remarkably secluded and domestic' and so is happy to leave his family behind who are 'endeavouring to bestow mutual pleasure'
                                                                                                                                                                                                  2. 'this deep concsiousness of what they owed towards the being to which they had given life'
                                                                                                                                                                                                  3. Two portraits of Caroline: 'pocket picture of my mother' which is the miniature that William wears on the day of his death, and the painting commissioned by Alphonse in which Caroline is seen to be 'in an agony of despair, kneeling by the coffin of her dead father'
                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Supports the idea that all the other female characters in the novel are copies of Caroline. A series of devoted wives/daughters/mothers etc. Emphasis on the role of women in the 18th century
                                                                                                                                                                                                    2. Dale Townsend: fatherhood in Gothic texts is 'based upon a complex process of metaphorical substitution'
                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Shown through the relationship of Alphonse and Caroline
                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. The painting that Alphonse commissions, serves as a reminder that he was a close friend of Caroline's father and that he is attracted to the devotion she had towards him.
                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. He is old enough to be her dad and takes that role when he becomes her protector
                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. 'He came like a protecting spirit to the poor girl who committed herself to his care'
                                                                                                                                                                                                            2. When she marries him, Alphonse is the substitute for her late father
                                                                                                                                                                                                          2. Alphonse changes when Caroline dies. He becomes shut off
                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Becomes more isolated when Victor goes to uni and shuts off his family
                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Becomes even more of an outsider as each of his loved ones is killed by the monster which leads to his death
                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. 'in the decline of life, having few affections, clings more earnestly to those that remain'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. 'He could not live under the horrors that were accumulated around him'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. 'sunk under the tidings that I bore' (the news of Liz's death)
                                                                                                                                                                                                                2. Elizabeth
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. An orphan of noble parentage
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Adopted by the Frankensteins
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. It is intended by Caroline that she should marry Victor
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2. 'daughter of a Milanese nobleman' who died
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      3. She marries Victor after the death of Clerval
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Is murdered by the creature on her wedding night
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Victor's fault
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        2. She is singled out for her beauty
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. 'Fairer than a garden rose among dark-leaved brambles'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Set apart from others because of her looks
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Like the monster
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            2. Described as a Madonna using religious imagery
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Name means gift of God
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Victor: 'The saintly soul of Elizabeth shone like a shrine-dedicated lamp in our peaceful home
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. She is spiritualised
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. 'celestial eyes'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. 'saintly soul'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. 'living spirit of love'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. 'heavenly soul'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          2. Moulded into the 'angel of the house'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          3. Has the ability to 'soften and attract'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Seen as a woman's most precious quality
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            2. The opposite of Victor
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Selfless and passive rather than egotistical
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Limited to the domestic circle like the other female characters
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                2. Like Justine is unable to have children, right taken by Victor
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Marginalised by Victor through his dedication to his work
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. A stark contrast to her acceptance in the Frankenstein family
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2. Victor objectifies her: she is his 'gift' and 'possession'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. She is 'a pretty present' for Victor
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. 'I looked upon Elizabeth as mine- mine to protect, love and cherish'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        2. She is a double of the creature on how to nurture: 'The innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me.’
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Again Victor does not do as he should
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          2. The impossible ideal??
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. A society obsessed with only the visually and aesthetically pleasing: ‘the passionate and almost reverential attachment with which all regarded her became’
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            2. The only time she shows passion is when she defends Justine in court, attacking the Church and Court (subconsciously a patriarchal society??) and ironically Victor
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Her defence has no effect illustrating that the female voice has no power
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. A "Godwinian" attack
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                2. Her murder
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Victor leaves her as he is self-obsessed and so is convinced that after hearing the monster's threat, he will be the victim
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Could also be due to his possible fear of sexuality. It is only when she is dead that he 'embraced her with ardour' This idea is also examined through his dreamed in which Liz turns into his dead mother's corpse once he kisses her
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2. Perhaps based on 'The Nightmare' by Henry Fuseli in which a daemon is seen to be squating on an immoblised woman
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. 'She was there, lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down, and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair.'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Just like the creature in Frankenstein, he wished to prevent a marriage
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    3. Justine
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Framed for the murder of William by the monster
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Convicted and executed
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Condemned by gender and social status
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          2. Becomes an outsider within society
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. The Frankensteins always have faith in her
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Liz does not abandon her
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Victor does
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. He is indirectly guilty for the crimes she is convicted of
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Guilty of her injustice
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            2. Most passive woman in the novel
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Little of her own character
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Tries to mimic Caroline Frankenstein
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              2. Is an orphan too
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Servant to the Frankenstein household
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Is only taken in as a servant rather than a daughter like Liz because she belongs to the 'lower orders'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Is taught 'the duties of a servant'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  2. Lives a limited life just like the other female characters in 'Frankenstein'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Does not create
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. As if this right has been removed by Victor
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2. Ironically named
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Justine means righteous and fair but her fate is the opposite
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2. She is the only character to call upon God
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. She accepts her fate and asks Liz to accept the 'will of heaven' too
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. 'Learn from me, dear lady, to submit in patience to the will of heaven'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Accepts it through her Catholic guilt
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. 'in an evil hour, I subscribed to a lie'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Forced to confess: 'he threatened excommunicataion'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Biggest fear for a Catholic
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. So fearful of hell
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              2. Clearly presented as a victim
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. 'Justine also was a girl of merit, and possessed qualities which promised to render her life happy'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. She had potential
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  2. 'exquisitely beautiful'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. 'A tear seemed to dim her eye when she saw us'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. 'only returned a confused and unintelligible answer'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Innocent so doesn't know what to say
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        2. 'she struggled with her tears'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2. Safie
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. She is the daughter of a Turkish merchant and a Christian Arab slave
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Taken in by the De Laceys
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. The independent woman
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. The most positive representation of a woman in the novel
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Represents the idealisation and spiritualisation of women
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                2. Just like Caroline, Safie's mother is rescued by a man
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. More obvious form of slavery within the home
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Does not devote her life to her husband but rejects, unlike Caroline
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Encourages Safie to pursue 'higher powers of intellect and an independence of spirit forbidden to the female followers of Mahomet'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. As a result Safie does not wish to be locked away where she would be 'allowed only to occupy herself with infantile amusements'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2. She holds masculine qualities of independence and action as well as feminine qualities of gentleness
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. She has a combination unlike Liz
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. She does not wait for someone to rescue her
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. She breaks the norm by travelling to the De Laceys by herself
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2. She is the only 'real' female character
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Has been in the real world, travelling through Europe with no man
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Some say she represents Shelley's mother, Mary Wollstencroft
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Wrote 'The Vindication of the Rights of Women'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          2. She is an outsider
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Like her father, Safie experiences isolation in Paris
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Her lack of rights as a Muslim woman is explored by Shelley
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              2. After her dad betrays the De Laceys, she is separated from her family
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. She risks everything to be reunited with Felix
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                2. Regardless she has huge strength of mind
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Breaks away from her restrictive upbringing
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Even learns a new language
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                3. It turns out to be a false escape for her
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Perhaps mirroring Shelley's elopement with Percy Shelley
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. The last the reader hears of her she has a domestic role in the De Lacey household
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2. Her name means wisdom
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    3. Henry Clerval
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Childhood friend of Victor and Liz
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Murdered by the monster after Victor destroyed the monster's 'wife'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Unfair death
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Victor is ultimately responsible
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            2. Is the opposite of Victor
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Glorified version of a Romantic poet
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Combines the masculine characteristics of ambition and independence with the feminine sensitivity and affection
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Balanced charcter
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. 'loved enterprise, hardship and even danger for its own sake'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2. Overly idealised??
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    3. Prefers softer landscapes
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Victor prefers harsh, rugged landscapes e.g. mountains
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2. Likes the Persian and Arabic tales more than 'heroical poetry of Greece and Rome' which Victor prefers
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Likes literature of conquests that result in the good for all
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Arthurian tales
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        2. Peter Dale Scott
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Clerval: 'clear valley' Frankenstein: 'open rock'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Demonstrates the differences in the their characters
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          2. Goes to uni but does not alienate others as Victor does
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          3. Makes Victor a nicer person when he is around
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Clerval is Frankenstein's 'friend and dearest companion'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Closer than Liz
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Possibly his true 'soul mate'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              2. Is marginalised by Victor like others when he becomes distracted with his experiment
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Is also sidelined on their trip to England when Victor becomes obsessed with the creation of the female monster
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              3. Safie's father
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. He is an outcast because he is a foreigner in Parisian society
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Alienates himself from his daughter through his ungratefulness and betrayal of the De Laceys after they try to help him
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. His treatment mirrors xenophobic attitudes in the 18th century
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. The stereotypes that all foreigners were evil, not to be trusted, dishonest etc.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2. The De Laceys
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Made up of the blind father, his son, Felix, and his daughter, Agatha.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. The monster stays in a shelter attached to their house
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. The monster gets an education listening to them teach Safie
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          2. The monster goes into talk to the blind father but before he can reveal himself, the rest of the family return and reject him due to his ugliness
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. The monster goes back to find the cottage deserted and burns it down in vengence
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            2. Paragons of Virtue
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Noble, hard working, pure hearted, affectionate, moral
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Opposite of Frankenstein family
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Stark contrast
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                2. However these qualities do not help them in times of conflict against 'evil' characters
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Put into prison in France
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Demonstrates that it takes more than a few virtuous people to overturn society and make the world a more moral place
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2. They also reject the monster because of his ugliness...are they really that good??
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Prejudice against the different runs deep and is alive even among the most virtuous people
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Demonstrating society's aesthetic prejudice
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        2. Maybe due to the absence of a mother
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Showing what would happen if Victor took the female role of motherhood away
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2. Overly idealised??
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Mirroring the monster's original view of them??
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        2. Alternatiive family model to the Frankensteins
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Based on equality, morality and justice
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. They all share the roles of the household
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Meanings of their names illustrate their importance all together
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Felix: happiness
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Agatha: goodness
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Safie: wisdom
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2. Mirrors the ideal of Wollstonecroft in 'The Vindication of the Rights of Women'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    3. However their family structure is similar to the Frankensteins'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Motherless with Agatha (sister) acting as mother- like Liz
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2. Become outsiders when they chose to support Safie's father in the face of prejudice
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Loose social position and wealth
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Forced to leave Paris after they are betrayed by Safie's father
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Have to live a lonely and humble life in poverty
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            2. Fighting for justice
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          2. Mrs Saville
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. The sister of Robert Walton who the reader never actually meets
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. Has no voice
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              2. The sole recipient of Walton's letters
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. The correspondence is one-sided because Walton is on a ship and therefore can't receive letters
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Not really a correspondence
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                2. Supports the idea that women are supposed to listen to the men without the chance to offer their own opinion
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. Passive listener
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                3. Frankenstein's professors
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. M. Krempe
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. 'professor in natural philosophy'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. 'uncouth but deeply imbued in the secrets of his science'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2. Tells Victor that he has 'wasted' time by focusing on ancient ideas such as alchemy and ancient physicians e.g. Paracelsus
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Victor is 'disapointed' and dislikes him
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Slanders him: 'repulsive countenance..therefore did not prepossess me in favour of his pursuits', 'little conceited fellow'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. Also goes on to criticise 'modern science and methods calling them 'realities of very little worth'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        2. M. Waldman
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          1. Victor is more complimentary towards him
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            1. More aesthestically pleasing
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. 'aspect expression of the greatest benevolence...his voice the sweetest I had ever heard'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            2. He attracts Victor with language
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1. 'panegyric upon modern chemistry'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                1. Divine lexis
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1. 'miracles'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. 'unlimited power'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Adopts Victor as his 'disciple' which ensures his 'destiny'
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  2. There is little difference in the knowledge/ expertise of the two professors
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. Victor simply prefers Waldman because he is more complimetary towards him
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      1. Shows a lack of objectivity
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        1. Not the mark of a good scientist

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