Answer:
As you read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, either on your own or with a group, we invite you to
use these questions to add layers to your discussion or thinking about the novel. The first section
includes questions for each chapter of the novel; you will find questions reflecting on the book as
a whole at the end. We have not included specific pages numbers as various editions have
different page numbers, but the quotations are based on the 1831 edition of the novel.
Discussion Questions for Each Chapter
Letters I through IV
1. Frankenstein begins and ends with letters written by Robert Walton. Why do you think
that Mary Shelley chose to have him frame the novel? How would your opinions of
Victor Frankenstein and his creation differ if their story was told directly by Victor
Frankenstein himself? What if the story was told solely by the creation?
2. Walton yearns for a friend, much like Victor Frankenstein’s creature does. What does this
tell you about human nature? Is it in our nature to want companionship, someone to
confide in, and someone to care for?
3. In Letter IV, Walton writes, “Yesterday the stranger said to me, “You may easily
perceive, Captain Walton, that I have suffered great and unparalleled misfortunes. I had
determined at one time that the memory of these evils should die with me, but you have
won me to alter my determination. You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did;
and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you,
as mine has been. I do not know that the relation of my disasters will be useful to you;
yet, when I reflect that you are pursuing the same course, exposing yourself to the same
dangers which have rendered me what I am, I imagine that you may deduce an apt moral
from my tale, one that may direct you if you succeed in your undertaking and console
you in case of failure. Prepare to hear of occurrences which are usually deemed
marvelous.”
A. In the excerpt above, Victor is foreshadowing the creation of his monster and how
it went quickly awry. Are there any other instances of foreshadowing in these
letters?
B. In the excerpt above, the themes of knowledge and wisdom are introduced. Often,
knowledge and wisdom are seen as interchangeable, or as going hand-in-hand, but
are they necessarily the same. Pay attention to how knowledge and wisdom are
portrayed in the book.
4. Walton and Frankenstein are both men of science but in vastly different fields. What does
having two main characters in this field tell you about 1800s Europe? What does it tell
you about the gender roles of this time?
Chapter One
1. This chapter introduces the women of Victor’s life: his mother, Caroline, and his adopted
family/betrothed, Elizabeth Lavenza. How is their family dynamic representative of other
families in the 1800s?
2. Victor describes the first appearance of Elizabeth: “Her hair was the brightest living gold,
and despite the poverty of her clothing, seemed to set a crown of distinction on her head.
Her brow was clear and ample, her blue eyes cloudless, and her lips and the moulding of
her face so expressive of sensibility and sweetness that none could behold her without
looking on her as of a distinct species, a being heaven-sent, and bearing a celestial stamp
in all her features
Step-by-step explanation: