Frankenstein By Mary Shelley :-
Frankenstein is a
novel written by English author Mary Shelley that tells the story of
Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a grotesque but
sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment.
Shelley
started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition of
the novel was published anonymously in London in 1818, when she was
20. Her name first appeared on the second edition, published in
France in 1823.
Frankenstein Summary
Robert Walton, an
English adventurer, undertakes an expedition to the North Pole. While
on this expedition (which has been a lifelong dream of his), Walton
corresponds with his sister by letter. Amid the ice floes, Walton and
his crew find an extremely weary man traveling by dogsled. The man is
near death, and they determine to take him aboard. Once the
mysterious traveler has somewhat recovered from his weakness, Robert
Walton begins to talk to him.
The two strike up a friendship (Walton
is very lonely and has long desired a close companion). The man is
desolate, and for a long while will not talk about why he is
traversing the Arctic alone. After becoming more comfortable with
Walton, he decides to tell him his long-concealed story.
The speaker is
Victor Frankenstein, for whom the book is named. He will be the
narrator for the bulk of the novel. Born into a wealthy Swiss family,
Victor enjoyed an idyllic, peaceful childhood. His parents were kind,
marvelous people; they are presented as shining examples of the
goodness of the human spirit. His father, Alphonse, fell in love with
his wife, Caroline, when her father, a dear friend of his, passed
away.
Alphonse took the young orphan under his care, and as time
passed they fell in love. He provides for his wife in grand style.
Out of gratitude for her own good fortune, Caroline is extremely
altruistic. She frequently visits the poor who live in her part of
the Italian countryside. One day she chances upon the home of a
family who has a beautiful foster daughter. Her name is Elizabeth
Lavenza. Though they are kind, the poverty of Elizabeth's foster
parents makes caring for her a financial burden. Caroline falls in
love with the lovely girl on sight, and adopts her into the
Frankenstein family.
She is close in age to Victor, and becomes the
central, most beloved part of his childhood. Elizabeth is Victor's
most cherished companion. Their parents encourage the children to be
close in every imaginable way  as cousins, as brother and
sister, and, in the future, as husband and wife.
Victor's childhood
years pass with astonishing speed. Two more sons, William and Ernest,
are born into the family. At this time, the elder Frankensteins
decide to stop their constant traveling: the family finally settles
in Geneva. Though Victor is something of a loner, he does have one
dear friend: Henry Clerval, from whom he is inseparable. The two have
utterly different ambitions: Victor has developed a passion for
science, while Henry longs to study the history of human struggle and
endeavor. Eventually, Victor's parents decide it is time for him to
begin his university studies at Ingolstadt.
Before his departure,
Victor's mother passes away. On her deathbed, she tells Victor and
Elizabeth that it is her greatest desire to see the two of them
married. Victor leaves for university, still in mourning for his
mother and troubled by this separation from his loved ones.
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