FRANKENSTEIN

Frankenstein
By Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a novelist, biographer and editor. She was the only daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. Her mother dies a few days after her birth and since then she was brought up and raised by her father and her step - mother. At the age of sixteen, she ran away to France and Switzerland with Percy Shelley, and they both got married after the death of his first wife, Harriet. Mary began writing her book Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus (1818), while visiting Lake Geneva during a midsummer of 1816.
The image of Mary Shelley presented by the biographers suggests an intensely private, imaginatively exuberant and yet an emotionally withdrawn figure, whose political melancholy and strong religious faith are at odds with the optimistic rationalism of her parents and with her poet husband's atheistic radicalism.
Published in the 1820's, Frankenstein has been described as 'Mary Shelley's extraordinary romance'.
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley responds to "a nexus of ideas about the relationship between the individual and society.

Introduction to the book, Frankenstein
The framework of this famous piece of fiction is provided by the first narrator, Robert Walton, whose expedition to explore the Arctic regions brings him into contact with the principle character, Victor Frankenstein. Robert had embarked a sea-faring life much against the wishes of his dying father. He wanted to discover a secret passage near the North Pole for the benefit of the countries of the world. Thus he wanted to help and facilitate future explorers.
Like Walton, Victor Frankenstein wanted to help humanity and wished to banish disease from the human frame and thus make man invulnerable to a violent death.
Both Victor and Walton wanted to achieve something so good that after their death, they would be remembered by society as 'servers of humanity'. But in their quest for knowledge and information, both these seekers make themselves recluse and detached from society. In his search for a secret passage in the Polar Regions, Robert Walton had to leave the beautiful and harmonious human world and cut off from the civilized society. And Victor worked all alone in his lavatory cut off from the day-to-day responsibilities of the civilized society.
He aspires to usurp the roles of God and women, to create a new species who would bless him as their new creator.
In creating the monster, Victor Frankenstein may be regarded as a Promethean rebel against God, a heroic quester for knowledge refusing to accept its limitations, seeking to benefit humanity, but is driven by his own egotistic desire for personal glory.
Like Victor, Walton is also after personal glory by seeking a secret passage in the Polar Regions for the benefit of the countries of the world.
Both Victor and Walton possess an insatiable thirst for knowledge and secrets unknown to the common person. They are both bound by a common cause, to become benefactors of humanity and glorify their own names. They are remembered not for their glorious achievements but for their failure of genius. The failure of Victor was not by the creation of the monster but through the intention by which he created it. It was not his ambition that kills Victor but his distortion of it.

Letter 1
The novel begins with a series of letters written by Robert Walton from St. Petersburg in Russia to his sister Margaret Seville in England. His first letter was dated December in which he tells her that he is safe and looking forward to his upcoming voyage to the North Pole which has been his dream for many years and is preparing an expedition to navigate through the Arctic Circle to the North Pacific. He is delighted that his plans are working out well. He reminisces about how, as a child, he had neglected his education but was very fond of reading the histories of voyages. Unfortunately for him, his dying father had not allowed him to attempt a seafarer's life.
He then relates that the next thing he did was to try his hand at Literature; he wrote poems for a year, but was a failure. Luckily he had acquired some money and was able to pursue his former plans of becoming a sailor.
He has now been living a seafarer's life for six years. Initially, he had to face a great deal of difficulties. He remembers how he accompanied Whaler's on several expeditions to the North Sea, and survived the bitter cold, hunger, thirst and famine. However, he still managed to study mathematics, medicine and the physical science required of a sailor. He had also worked as an under mate with Greenland Whaler and had been offered a designation in the vessel.
He talks travelling in Russia. He declares that he is to leave St. Petersburg, Russia for Archangel in two weeks time in order to obtain a suitable ship for whaling and appoint crew to leave for the North in June.

Letter 2
While the first letter was written in the month of December, the second letter is dated 28th March from Archangel after Walton has hired a ship and was busy organizing crew for his expedition. While Robert is so close to starting out his dreams, he realizes that he is missing something. He writes to his sister: "I have no friends, Margaret, when I am blossoming with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate in my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will Endeavour to sustain me in dejection". He feels lonely and acknowledges a strong need for a friend with whom he can converse; share the joys and sorrows of his success or disappointment. He believes he cannot find a friend at all, but his letter does mention a lieutenant whom he had employed. Robert evidently admired him for his good qualities and describes how this lieutenant had once fallen in love with a rich Russian woman. He was willing to marry her, but then on learning that she was in love with someone else, he abandoned the idea. Furthermore, he was generous enough to leave his entire fortune to his rival, who was much poorer than himself. Having overcome their financial worries, the couple was able to marry.
He also reveals to his sister that "The Rhime of the Ancient Mariner", has always been a major source of his enthusiasm and his passions of a sailor's life.
This letter ends with a farewell note that addresses the possibility that Robert may never see his sister again.

Letter 3
This is quite a short letter compared to the earlier two. This letter is dated 7th July, four months after writing the second one, and it reaches his sister through a merchant who is bound homeward from Archangel.
Robert informs his sister that he along with his crew has started on the voyage. He talks about his crew being highly resolute, they do not let minor dangers, like floating sheets of ice, deter them. They are in the middle of summer now and have not encountered anything really dangerous, except for a few stiff gales and a springing leak.
This time he ends his letter in a much more optimistic way about the success of his journey because all incidents till this point have been handled with ease. In his mind success seems evident. He believes that they deserve it, after all.

Letter 4
The last letter of the series is written on three separate days of August and starts off with Walton bursting with excitement because he has a tale to record. He has met a young man on his journey when his ship became stranded in the ice fields far from land. But first he relates that he had seen a gigantic man on a sledge driven by dogs. And after that he had encountered another man on a sledge driven by dogs across the frozen ocean. This man sick and weakened by the cold was taken aboard his ship by his crew members and was looked after by himself. It is Victor Frankenstein that tells his strange story to Robert.
Victor Frankenstein is tended to with brandy, soup and loving care. Eventually he is restored to health. The stranger is curious to know more about Robert. Robert unhesitatingly describes his future plans and his desire to see and explore the North Pole. The stranger is dismayed to heart at Robert's reckless ambition and it upsets him so much that he drops the subject. This prompts the stranger to tell Robert his own story and Robert is quite thrilled at gaining first- hand experience in this matter.
Robert is curious to know what that stranger was doing in such an isolated place. The stranger replies that he is seeking that which has run away from him. Robert immediately remarks that he saw an abnormally gigantic human the other day. To this the stranger replies with a number of questions about the same creature.
Robert tells Margaret that is very much impressed by this stranger who is unlike other people. His enthusiasm is what Robert highly admires. He describes him as "a celestial spirit with a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures". Robert takes note of the fact that the stranger is suffering because of some unknown cause. Robert is curious about Frankenstein and believed that if they had met before then they would have become good friends, the kind of friend Robert longs for in his previous letters to his sister, Margaret Seville.
Robert makes up his mind to take notes on the strangers story. He even promises to keep Margaret updated with the knowledge he would gain from Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein is the principle character of the book. He was brought up in Geneva and hails from a family of a high repute. His father is Alphonse Frankenstein, a wealthy, respected and working public figure who married late in life.
The episode of his father's marriage has been described in detail. Beaufort, a friend of Alphonse Frankenstein, who had moved from Geneva to Lucerne with his family in order to escape the threshold of poverty and humility under unfortunate circumstances is missing. Victor's father searched for him and even offered to help but could not find him. When her father became ill, Beaufort's daughter, Caroline had tried to make ends meet. Eventually her father dies, leaving her an orphan and impoverished. With pity and a feeling of obligation to his friend, Alphonse Frankenstein took Caroline under his wing and then later marries her.
Although Caroline is much younger than her husband, they lived a happy life and travelled places like Italy, Germany and Russia. Victor Frankenstein, the oldest son, was born while they travelled to Italy. Though their family was complete and Caroline was very happy but always wanted a daughter. She had not conceived again by the time Victor was seven and by some stroke of faith they had come across an orphan girl living with a peasant family while they were travelling in Milan. Caroline at once made up her mind to adopt the girl and Victors father also agreed as he was always eager to please his wife with everything. The girl's father was a soldier and died in the war and ever since the girl has been in a foster home until she is adopted by Alphonse and Caroline Frankenstein, who name her Elizabeth.
Victor finds a soul mate in Elizabeth, his 'more than sister', and promises to love her, protect her and cherish her until death.
Frankenstein and Elizabeth become close friends. They complement each other although they are of different dispositions. Victor is enthusiastic while Elizabeth is calm, soothing and gentle. Victor is interested in gaining knowledge of all kinds while Elizabeth concentrates more on literature and nature.
The Frankenstein family now lives in Geneva after the birth of the second son, William who is seven years younger than Victor. Victor did not pay much attention to his schoolmates, except for Henry Clerval, the son of a merchant.
Victor was happy to have enjoyed a delightful childhood. At the age of thirteen, he becomes interested in the 'spark of life' and studies theories about the creation of human life. It is by chance that he stumbles upon a book by Cornelius Agrippa. His father dismisses it as 'sad trash' and this provokes him to read the whole book. Later he even reads all the works of Agrippa as well as of Paracelsus and Albert us Magnus, all Alchemists. He even unsuccessfully tries his hand at certain experiments. What fascinates him is the stimulation of ghosts and devils.
Once when he was fifteen, he witnesses a bolt of lightning destroy a tree. This incident impresses him so much that he changes his study to the natural phenomena, instead of natural philosophy. He is now interested in the study of electricity and galvanism.
When he was seventeen, his family desired that he should now study at the university of Ingolstadt in Germany, but just when he was about to go ahead with his plans, Elizabeth falls ill with scarlet fever which delays his departure. Victors mother, Caroline nurses Elizabeth back to health but fall ill herself. Victor's mother dies of scarlet fever and leaves Elizabeth the responsibility of the younger children. Caroline also tells victor and Elizabeth that she wants them to marry.
In due course of time, the family recover from the loss of victors beloved mother, Caroline after which victor leaves to continue his study at the university. He reaches the university with mixed feelings. Although he wanted to continue his studies, but at the time same time he did not want to leave his family.
At the university he meets two professors. Professor M. Kreampe and Professor M. Waldman who were rather rude but knowledgeable. Professor Kreampe was contemptuous of victor having read the works of Agrippa at all and insisted that he should start his studies afresh. In contrast to professor Kreampe, professor waldman was very much liked by victor for his pleasing manners and kind of disposition. Victor wanted to become a disciple of Waldman, and it is with his help that victor renew his studies in the spark of life and the creation of human life. Victor would have sleepless nights about waldman and his own progress in this field.
Victor had now enthusiastically started working on his studies. He becomes an ardent student of chemistry and the human anatomy in his quest to determine what gives life. He starts reading a lot of books, attends all his lectures and meets a lot of influential people at the university. His also gets to know his professor much better, so much so that he finds a friend in Waldman.
It is Waldman who helps him with his experiments. Victor has been at the university for two years and has not visited his family even once. He gets so engrossed in his experiments and now ventures in search of new fields.
He searches for the origin of life and wished to discover the possibility of creating life from death. He studies the relevant branches of science and finally succeeds in giving life to lifeless matter which he refuses to reveal to professor Waldman for he does not want that Waldman should follow his poor example. He now wants to experiment by creating an actual human being to whom he would bring to life. After he has figured what gives life he goes on to experiment by creating a gigantic human with superhuman strength and endurance, from harvested body parts which he took from corpses. He works on this experiment without rest for a whole year during the course of which his correspondence with his family had stopped. His health began to deter with the lack of sleep, lack of diet and lack of exercise, but this does not stop him from working on his experiment till it is finished.
The action of the climax occurs when on a stormy and rainy night after victor has finished his creation and gives life to it; he does not know how to react but is disgusted by its horrific appearance. He has created a gigantic monster constructed in perfect proportion with parts he found beautiful. The features are ruined because of his watery eyes, shriveled complexion and his straight, dark lips gave a horrific look of frightening disaster.
Victor saw the charm of a cherished dream vanish as he looked at the horrific sight of the creature. He realizes the evil he has brought into this world and runs away from the room and collapses. Sleep and rest have deserted him and he goes to his room to sleep but he is woken by a nightmare. He dreams that he is about to kiss Elizabeth, and just then she turns into the corpse of his dead mother. With a fright he wakes up only to find the monster by his bedside, and this frightens him all the more and he runs out into the streets of the city.
While roaming the streets of the city he comes across his friend, Henry Clerval and this instantly brings back memories of his family and friends. Henry notices that victor is ill and troubled. He also tells him that he was able to convince Victor's father to allow him to study at the university.
Victor takes Henry back to his room, though he is frightened of the monsters appearance. While sitting and taking to Henry, he suddenly imagines the monster sitting at the side of him, he struggles furiously and then collapses into a fever and is bed ridden for several months. During this course, his friend, Henry takes care of him and nurses him back to health. Henry conceals Victor's serious condition to his family in Geneva.
In due course of time, victor is restored to heath and once again is able to re-establish contact with his family and the first thing he does is reads Elizabeth's letters.
In her letter, Elizabeth appeals to victor to write to his family who are worried and anxious about his health as he has not kept in touch with them for long. They are even more worried after Henry tells them of his illness. In her letter, she even tells victor that Ernest has grown up to be a splendid lad. He is not at all interested in bookish knowledge but wants to be outdoors with nature.
Elizabeth even relates the troubles and worries of Justine Mortiz, a servant who had turned very close to Elizabeth. Justine was treated harshly by her mother and was adopted by Caroline. Justine was very close to Caroline and she even became ill after Caroline's death. Justine had to return home to be with her mother after the death of her siblings which left her mother childless, and after the death of her mother she returned to stay with the Frankenstein family.
After reading the letter, victor decides to write back to his family whom he had ignored for so long, informing them of his good health. Then he takes his friend, Henry to meet some professors at the university as Henry was to begin his studies there. The lavatory instruments laments him with the thought of his disastrous experience and Henry notices this and tries his best to keep victor away from them. But professor Waldman cannot be avoided. He praises victor for his achievement and Henry notices that victor is rather uncomfortable and so he excuses himself and changes the subject.
Henry is at the university to study the oriental languages like Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit, and victor also joins him. Summer is almost over and the two decide to head homeward but the harsh winter delays their departure till May. In the meantime, Henry and victor decide to take a tour around Ingolstadt. Victor now once again starts enjoying the happiness of nature. Victor makes an attempt to forget his past and Henry helps him in his attempt.
When victor and Henry return from their tour around Ingolstadt, victor receives a letter informing him of William's death. The letter states that Victor's father, Elizabeth, Ernest and William had taken a walk to Plainpalais, where William had gone missing. All attempts to find him proved futile. They even searched for him in the house but could not find him. Then the next day Victor's father found William's strangled body on the grass.
It is evident that William was murdered. Elizabeth had gifted William a locket with a miniature portrait of Caroline which was not found around William's next when his body was found. Elizabeth feels that the locket was the motive behind the murder. The letter ends with an appeal to victor to come home at once.
Even Henry is disturbed by the news. Victor now immediately leaves for Geneva. He reaches the town quite late when the gates had already closed and so he had to pass the night at a village called Secheron. Unable to sleep, victor decided to visit the spot where William's body was found. So he took a boat across the lake to arrive at Plainpalais. He watches a storm approach over the mountains. In the fury of the storm, a flash of lightning illuminates the object and discovered its shape to him, a deformed aspect even more ugly than humanity, intensely indicated to me that it was the wretch, the evil devil to whom he had created. It suddenly occurred to him that the monster must have killed William and pinned the blame on Justine. He then proceeds towards the creature but the monster runs away at an incredible speed and disappears into the summit.
The next morning victor reaches the city. He decides to search after the murderer but then thinks it futile, and he couldn't tell the towns people his story as they wouldn't believe him. He arrives home early in the morning and does not want to wake his family. Earnest comes to welcome him and tells him that the murderer has been found and it is Justine Mortiz. Victor is shocked and denies all charges. But circumstances do not seem to favor Justine: and the suspense behind the murder seems to have been discovered. A servant had found the locket with Caroline's miniature portrait in the pocket of Justine's dress confirming her involvement in the crime.
Elizabeth and victor are determined to prove Justine innocent of the crime. Victor assures the family that he would prove Justine innocent and acquitted.
But all evidence seems to favor Justine's involvement in the crime. There is proof that she was not at home on the night of the murder. Furthermore a village woman had found her loitering around the spot where William's body was found, and when the woman asked her what she was doing there she got a rather confused reply.
Moreover, Justine's behavior proves her guilt. She had returned home late that night and had inquired about William. When she was shown William's body she had got hysterical and confined herself to her bed. This was when the servant found the locket in the pocket of her dress. Elizabeth also had confirmed that it was the same locket which she had presented William.
Justine now simply defends herself. She says that she had been visiting her aunt on the night of the murder. She had returned at nine o'clock and a man had inquired about a missing child. It was then that she went out to look for William and it got late and the city gates had closed forcing her to spend the night at a barn outside the city. She was half asleep when someone came and disturbed her. Then she had set out to look for William again. It is but obvious that she looked confused when she had encountered the village woman because she had a sleepless night worrying about William, and as for the locket, she does not know how that thing got there.
Witnesses testify for the good character of Justine even though they are overwhelmed by the crime and the evidence against her. Elizabeth goes not to testify for Justine's innocence which is of no use. Justine is condemned to death as she confesses her guilt and this horrifies Elizabeth.
When victor and Elizabeth go to visit Justine in present, Justine pleads her innocence to Elizabeth, as she had believed Justine's guilt after she had confessed. Justine tells Elizabeth that she had to confess otherwise she would have had to face excommunication. Elizabeth now changes her opinion but in spite of victor and Elizabeth's attempts to prove Justine innocent, Justine is condemned a horrific death.
The past events have taken a toll on the Frankenstein family and so they stay at Belrive for a change in atmosphere. Victor in particular still suffers as he has still not gotten over her past and so he wishes to be alone most of the time. His father mistakes his wish for solitude to be the sorrow of William's death and asks him to come to terms with it.
All alone in Geneva, victor would sometimes row down the lake for hours in his boat. Sometimes he would just let the wind take him. At times he would get so depressed that he would want to end his life but then the thought of his family depresses him and so is filled with rage and vengeance against the monster.
The past events have also taken a toll on Victor's father's health. Even Elizabeth is no more the happy creature she used to be. She has now turned dark and somber and is always lost in her thoughts about Justine's innocence and of whom could the murderer be. She even notices the vengeance and despair in Victor's behavior, and she tries to bring him about by her love and friendship but victors aguish and fear of the monster is too much that he rushes out of the house to be alone. Even his family and friends could not ease his thoughts. How could they help him if they don't know the cause of his worry and he also could not tell them his story and so had to suffer this anguish all alone which makes him more uneasy.
Victor feels that he can't bear the anxiety anymore and decides to visit the alpine valley down to the village Chamonix where he had spent most of his time when he was a child.
On reaching Chamonix village, he spends his time enjoying the beauty of the landscape. The next day it rains and so he decides to ride on a horse into the summit for Montanvert where he could see Mont Blanc. He reaches Montanvert by noon and is thrilled and joyous with the environment. He is enjoying the atmosphere when he sees the monster approaching him. He is so furious that he is ready to fight the monster till death. So lost in his rage and anger that he fails to notice the pain and despair on the monsters face.
He starts off with a whole lot of aggravations against the creature calling him a devil but the monster is calm and quiet and he appeals to victor to hear his story. He tells victor that humankind hated him for what reason, he does not know and in return he also grew to hate humankind. He parallels his situation with that of Milton's Satan; when was forced to hate his creator just as Lucifer rebuked against god. Victor pays no heed to what the monster is saying but the monster tells him that victor owes it to him to hear his story and meet his demands. He assures Victor that he would then leave him alone and move far away from the city. He also warns him that if victor fails to satisfy his conditions then he would make life miserable for him and his family.
At first victor does not agree but then out of compassion and curiosity he agrees to listen to his story and the monster takes him to his ice cave where he narrates his story. Telling victor how miserable and lonely he is and how he had longed for that which victor and other people have and take advantage of, a place to belong. He had come across a French family and discovered how they loved each other and then he realized what he was missing. He had no one to love him, comfort him and support him and this makes him miserable. He decides to tell victor his tale before sunset but all Victor was interested in was to find out if he was the murderer and had pinned the blame on Justine.
The monster now goes on to tell Victor his tale. He tells Victor how he tried to familiarize his surroundings. He tells Victor of the development of his senses when he woke up in the lavatory, he was unable to determine between the five senses and distinguish between the light and dark when he blinked. His vision took several months to come into focus. Then when he was in the woods around Ingolstadt, how he fed on berries and nuts and how he had come across a fire camp. How he learnt the danger, warmth and utility of fire. Since he did not know how to start a fire so he continuously kept the fire burning to keep him warm and roast nuts to eat. The he had to leave the place because of the scarcity of food. So he roamed the forest and when the snow fell to the ground he had taken shelter at a shepherd's cottage. When he entered the cottage, the man runs away frightened of him, and since he had never seen himself so he did not understand the man's action. He was fascinated as this was the first time he was to take shelter in a cottage. After he ate and rested he left the cottage and wandered into a village for shelter but he was chased by the frightened villagers who pelted him with stones.
The monster was sad at the humility he received and so this time when he came across another cottage in the forest he decided to hide himself in the barn. He watched the De Lacey's family-Agatha, Felix and the blind man through an opening in the window. This was the first time he heard music when the old man would play his guitar. He even witnesses the emotions of sorrow and happiness for the first time though he did not know what feelings they were. He was happy to observe the De Lacey's and their love for each other as a family but he does not want them to see him.
In due course of time, he learns that the family was sad because they were poor and Felix was the saddest. So at night the monster would break firewood and shovel the snow off the part for the family so that they could use the daylight for other garden work. The family thought this anonymous helper to be the spirit of the forest and they were grateful to him. Studying the family, the monster came to learn words like milk, cheese and bread and also the cottager's names. He wanted to be able to learn and communicate with people so that they wouldn't fear him if he could speak to them. He had seen his ugliness in the reflection of the stream and saw hoe beautiful the family was so he wanted to master the language before he revealed himself to the family so that they won't fear him if he could speak to them.
Spring blossomed around the monster and the family. Felix seemed sadder than before until a dark, beautiful woman came to live with the De Lacey's family. Safie, an Arabian woman who did not know how to speak their language, French. Felix and Safie loved each other and Safie was welcomed by the family and was also taught their language. The monster also learns the language along with her. He was able to understand their conversations and when they read the histories of the world, he also educated himself with humanity. With this he is made to realize what he was missing. He was miserable and lonely and he did not know where he came from or how he came into existence. This number of questions made him lonelier.
After having learnt and able to understand their language, the monster now talks of the family's history. He stayed on the property of a French family who were very well to do and enjoyed wealth and status. Felix was a soldier and Agatha stood among the women of high distinction. They were well to do but are now living in exile in Germany.
Mohammaduddin, Safie's father, a Turkish merchant was accused of betraying the French government and was tried and imprisoned. Felix was present at the trial of the Turk and was enraged by the injustice he saw so he decided to help the Turk. This is when he meets Safie and falls in love with her. Safie's mother was a Christian Arab who was enslaved by the Turks.
The night before the execution Felix helped the Turk run away from Paris to Italy. He had passports for his family but had to make Safie and her father slip through. Felix had discovered that the Turk was using him as an escape to his Turkish territory. And also that he did not want that Safie and Felix should be together, instead he wanted Safie to return to Constantinople. In the meantime the French government had found out that the De Lacey's family had connections with the Turk's escape and so Agatha and the blind man are imprisoned. They stayed in jail for several months and Felix decided to free them. Safie was to remain at Italy till Felix returned to marry her.
But the Turk took his daughter and wanted to leave leghorn for he feared that they were not safe there. He thought that his daughter would get over Felix, but that did not happen. Safie leaves Italy and travels with an attendant who knows her language and who died a few miles away from the De lacey's cottage leaving Safie all alone till she safely reaches the cottage.
After the monster has learnt about the De lacey's family, one day while on his usual rounds after collecting firewood and food, he discovers a leather bag with books and several articles. The books of Milton's Paradise Lost, Plutarch's life seem to fascinate his imagination, and so he reads all the books.
He even finds Frankenstein's journal in one of the coat pockets that he stole on the day he had disappeared from the lavatory. The journal contains notes on creating a monster. The monster is disgusted at the monsterity of his origin. Lonely and miserable, he decides to now take protection from the family. He decides to reveal himself to the old man when the others are away and win him over before they return.
In the meanwhile, the De lacey's family is quite happy with their life, all thanks to the arrival of Safie. Now the monster gathers the courage and goes to meet the old man in the cottage. He introduces himself as a weary traveler in search of rest. The old man asks him if he is a Frenchman. The monster replies that he had been educated by a French family and he wanted to seek protection from them but they are prejudiced against him. The old man then assures the monster that he will convince the family to accept him.
Just then the children arrive and are frightened at the horrific site of this monster kneeling in front of their father. Safie rushes out of the house, Agatha collapses and Felix starts hitting him with a stick which makes the monster run away.
The monster runs away to the deep woods where he howls his disappointment and sadness. This makes him angry. He cannot move as he hears a few men close by so he decides to stay the night in the woods. In the morning he decides to visit the old man again and win his confidence but when he reaches the cottage, he hears Felix telling the other men that they would be leaving the cottage as they fear the safety of their father. This saddens the monster and out of disappointment and anger he burns the cottage down and heads for Geneva as he now seeks vengeance against his creator and sets out in search of him.
He would usually move about at night but decides to travel during the day. While walking through the woods he comes across a little girl who has fallen into the stream. He quickly moves towards the stream and helps the girl out of it but when her guardian sees her with the monster, he is frightened and shoots him and the monster gets wounded for his kindness.
Since he is hurt so he decides to stay in the deep forest till his wound heals and then he makes way to Geneva. When he reached Geneva, he comes across a young beautiful child whom he wanted to make his own and teach the child to love him and be his companion, but the child struggles and threatens him that his father, Alphonse Frankenstein would punish him. On learning that the child belonged to the Frankenstein family, he strangles the boy to death out of vengeance against his creator. And a locket which he had found on the boy, he had placed it in the pocket of the woman whom he had come across in a nearby barn so that she would be convicted of the murder. Thus the mystery behind William's murder has been revealed.
Finally the monster concludes his story with a demand from Frankenstein. He tells him that since humankind will never associate with him and only one as deformed and ugly like him would not deny her to him. He wants his companion to be of the same species and have the same features as him and this he wants his creator to make. He tells victor that he wants him to create a female creature as he would have a companion.
At first victor does not agree because he fears that if he gives birth to another monster, then they both would be of great danger to humanity. The monster tells him that after he has created his companion, they would leave him alone and move away from humanity to South America and would only feed on nuts and berries. Victor then agrees on seeing the monsters poor plight and also that he was responsible for his existence. The monster then tells victor that he would be watching his progress throughout, and if victor fails to meet his demands then he would make victors and his family's life miserable.
In the morning victor reaches home and decides on gathering information and to do his research before the experiment. Although he fears the monsters threat but the thought of the danger they would prove to humanity scares him and he stops his work for a while.
His father proposes that he should now marry Elizabeth but victor denies his father's proposal as he is to go to England for some research. He fears his family's safety but then feels relieved as he would be going to England and knew that the monster would follow him to watch him progress in the experiment. He now leaves for Strasbourg where he meets his friend Henry Clerval. Then they reach London by December. Victor then receives an invitation to attend a university in Scotland and he decides to go alone as he would have to look for a secluded place to secretly carry out his experiment. He reaches the northern highlands and finds a hut in village of Orkneys where he finally works till he finishes his experiment of the second monster.
On finishing his experiment of the second monster, and before bringing to life, it suddenly occurs to him and hits him bad that the monster which he has created could be violent and want her liberty and might not be able to be controlled by her male companion. The thought of committing another mistake and evil deed scares him and he destroys the monster by setting it on fire. The monster had been watching him from a window and on seeing him crashing his dream, he approaches victor with rage and threatens him that he would now make his life miserable and destroy all his loved ones. He even tells him that he would be with him on his wedding night, and then disappears.
Victor now has to bury the female monsters body so he takes a bout with the body across the lake and after drowning the body he decides to sail a while more at sea. Its gets late and with lack of sleep he falls asleep at sea. In the morning he awakes lost at sea. Out of hunger and fatigue he approaches a village where the rude Irish people tell him that he has to appear before the magistrate as a dead body has been found and he has been suspected of the murder.
Victor has been charged with the murder as all evidence proves against him. The magistrate heard the witnessed accounts of the fishermen say that they had discovered a body in the lake and had seen a man row away in the same boat as the one victor arrives in. on listening to them, victor finds a similarity between Williams murder and this one. M. kirwin shows him the body of Henry and victor collapses into an illness for several months. M. kirwin believes that he is innocent and has a doctor and nurse attend to him in prison. M. kirwin also informs victor's father of his son's illness. Victor has been acquitted of the charges as m. kirwin proves that victor was working in his hut at the time of the murder. Though victor is happy to see his father but he is so overwhelmed with the rage and anger against the monster that he wants to end his life. His father then heads back to Geneva with his son.
They stop at France for rest and victor cannot socialize at all for he fears he would be responsible for people's deaths. He blames himself for the death of his dear ones and this fills him with rage and vengeance against the monster.
Before victor is to leave for Paris, he receives a letter from Elizabeth asking him if he really loves her or is marrying her out of a sense of duty and obligation. Victor knows that he loves but what he fears is the monsters threat to be with him at his wedding night. But he decides to face his death bravely and writes back to Elizabeth confessing his love for her and that he would love to marry her as soon as he gets back and would also tell her of his secret that has been disturbing for so long.
When he reaches home he starts courting Elizabeth and they get married. He is now paranoid and nervous as the evening approaches as he remembers the onters threat. So he starts caring daggers and guns with him.
Victor and Elizabeth had visited Lake Como and stayed at the villa Lucrenza. Elizabeth tries to divert his attention by the beautiful landscape but even the beauty of nature cannot avoid victor from thinking about what was going to happen that night. Elizabeth and victor then take a walk on the shore and then return to the inn. Victor worried about their security goes back to check on the surrounding and to his shock he hears a scream of Elizabeth. He rushes back to the inn only to find Elizabeth's strangled body on the bed. Shocked and dismayed victor collapses. He awakes only to find the monster above him laughing and this provokes victor and he fires a short at the monster which misses him and he gets away.
Elizabeth's death takes a toll on victor's health. Even spends at a mental asylum and when he is released he wows to take revenge on the monster. The events have also taken a toll on his father and he dies of bad health in victors arms. Victor now decides to track the monster down and destroy it. He even visits the law and tells them history. They half believingly assure him that they would help him find the monster but victor isn't convinced by them and decides to take the matter into his own hands.
Before venturing on to catch the monster he visits the cemetery where his loved ones are buried and asked the spirits of the dead to help him in his cause. Just then he hears the monster whisper that he is satisfied to see victor alive and wants him to pursue after him.
This provokes victor and he begins his chase. He chases the monster out of Geneva, across the Mediterranean and black sea, across Russia and north and then further north to the Arctic Circle. The monster does not seem to tire but victor's health seems to turn weaker as he travels but his lust for vengeance urges him to struggle on. The monster then steals a dog-sledge team to cross over the icy ocean and victor can't keep up to him.
Victor often remembers his family to comfort himself. When he is out of food, the monster would leave him stacks of food and a note to spur him on. This provokes victor and he chases the monster further north till they come into a village where victor spends two days, gets a dog-sledge team and stacks it with provisions and continues his chase. On the icy ocean, victor is only a mile away from the monster when the ice breaks separating them and victors sledge is moved towards Walton's ship. Before coming aboard the ship he asks if they were heading northward only then he would come. It is then that victor relates his story to Walton until now. In due course of time victor dies and he asks Walton to continue his quest to find the monster and kill it as he has failed. The monster then comes aboard the ship and weeps at the side of victor's body. He then encounters Walton who then hears the monsters side of the story which quite saddens him. The monster then says that now he shall head to far away from humanity and end his life.