The story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley begins in the form of letter from
Robert Walton. Walton describes in these letters meeting a traveler out to sea
who claims to in pursuit of a monster. The novel of Frankenstein is set as Walton’s telling of Victor Frankenstein’s
life. Victor Frankenstein, the main character of the story, grew up in a
wealthy house in Geneva in Switzerland. His wealthy father and mother had
another son, William, and the family adopted Victor’s cousin, Elizabeth, who is
to marry Victor when they are both ready to do so. As a young man, young
Frankenstein became enamored by science, specifically the old sciences such as
alchemy and the work of Cornelius Agrippa. Through Victor’s studies of these
old sciences and its mastery in Ingolstadt, Victor attempts to study the
creation of life. He begins and experiment to give life to a previously
lifeless body. His experiment is successful, resulting in the awakening of
Victor’s creation. Unfortunately, the creation’s appearance is hideous to the
young scientist and he runs away in fear of his own work. He later returns to
see that his creation is gone. After some time in Ingolstadt, Victor learns of
the death of his brother and the accusation of Justine Moritz, a girl taken
under the Frankenstein family’s care, as the murderer. He returns to Geneva and
goes hikes in the mountains to calm himself. There he meets his creation and
hears his story.
His
creation, upon leaving Ingolstadt, wanders the forest and collects food and
learns the power of fire. In his wanderings, the creation learns of the hatred
people have for him just by his wretched appearance through violence. After
some time, he comes upon an ideal family and begins to learn from them moral
values and language. After some time of observing them, he chooses to introduce
himself to the family, but they too are disgusted by the creation. The creation
then says that Victor must create a companion for the creation or Victor will
find the creation on his wedding night.
Victor chooses to go on a tour of
Europe and begins creating this companion in Scotland. In Scotland, Victor
chooses to destroy this companion, fearing the results of her creation. Because
of this, Frankenstein’s creation kills Victor’s friend, Clerval. Victor is
framed for the murder but is eventually let free. He returns to Geneva and
marries Elizabeth. On their wedding night, the creation enacts his revenge by
killing the new bride. Victor begins to dedicate the rest of his life to
enacting revenge on his creation and hunts his creation. This hunt leads the
two north, where Victor, on the brink of death, finds Walton. Walton then
decides to assist Victor in his quest. After the crew of the ship argue
otherwise, Walton decides to return to England. After Walton makes this
decision, Victor dies. A short time later, Walton comes upon the creation
weeping over the body of Victor, claiming he no longer has a reason to live.
The monster then tells Walton his struggles and sufferings. He then walks off
into the cold north alone.
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