Frankenstein Analysis

FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley Wollstonecraft

Mary Shelley' s best - known novel "Frankenstein or the Modern Prometeus" was published in

1818 and is one of the earliest examples of science fiction. It is one of the most famous gothic

novels. The story is structured upon three levels of narration, each of them embedded into the

other. There are three points of view. The first is that of the explorer Robert Walton, who tells the

story in epistolary form; the second one is that of the scientist' s Victor Frankenstein and finally the

story is narrated by the monster.

We are going to talk about the second and the fourth letter.

Letter II

One of the particular characteristic of this novel is that the reader doesn't know the exact year in

which the events occur, but he is told that the story takes place in the 18th century. The events are

set in the darkest and remotest parts of northern Europe as the protagonist wants to reach the

northern pole. The landscape seems very unkind, in facts it is described as a place full of frost,

snow, thick mist and darkness. Also the time seems to never pass. All these elements contribute to

create a gothic atmosphere, full of mystery and suspense. This tension is also emphasized through

the allusion to Coleridge' s poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner": "I am going to the unexplored

regions, to "the land of mist and snow" but I shall kill no albatross, therefore do not be alarmed for

my safety or if I should come back to you as worn and woful as the "Ancient Mariner".

At first, the reader can have the perception of reading a piece of travel literature, because of the

protagonist' s sense of adventure and passion for exploration. But soon it becomes clear that he is

dealing with gothic fiction.

In this letter are also shown the inner feelings of the protagonist, who feels lonely and explicitly

states his need for a friend. This reflects the romantic roots of the novel as Romanticism conferred

great importance to the emotional dimension.

Letter IV

The first evident thing here is the foregrounding of the strange accident happened to the narrator.

In fact the narrator and his crew, having found themselves in a situation similar to that of the

ancient mariner, spotted a being of gigantic stature, sitting in a sledge while guiding dogs. This

apparition remains veiled in mystery.

The narrator is classifiable as Category A narrator. While reading the chapter, the reader

understands he is reading a diary of board within a letter. The time of the narration and that of the

narrated events don' t match together, because Walton describes the facts at the end of the day.

Nevertheless, the point of view is limited to what Walton perceives at the moment in which the

events occur, but this temporal shift allows a selection of the more relevant facts to account for in

the diary. Also, the dialogues have undergone a selective process by the narrator, in fact, only

some bits of conversation between him and the stranger are reported. Moreover, as said before,

this chapter, and in general the entire part of the novel narrated by Walton, is written in epistolary

form; in facts the addressee of his letters, is his beloved sister Margaret.

Sometimes the narration is interrupted to consent the narrator to speak directly to the addressee

and express his inner feelings in an intimate way. Already in the second letter Walton expresses

his need for a friend, saying explicitly "I have no friend, Margaret". In the fourth letter Walton writes

to Margaret that he has found "a man, who, before his spirit had been broken by misery, he should

have been happy to have possessed as the brother of his heart". Since we can identify with her,

these exclamations have an attention-catalyst role and serve to grasp the attention of who reads

and to make him feel more deeply involved. Example: "You may conceive my astonishment in

hearing such a question", "Good God! Margaret, if you had seen the man whos thus capitulated for

his safety, your surprise would have been boundless."

The narrator shifts from external to internal perceptions: firstly, he describes the landscape, then

the ship on which he and his crew are situated, then the sailors and finally his feelings.

As said before, the narrator and his crew had a strange accident: they noted a low carriage, fixed

on a sledge and drawn by dogs. It was guided by a "being which had the shape of a man, but

apparently of gigantic stature". The next day the narrator and his crew found a man, who is