Annotation In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein opens with the letters from an explorer named Walton to his sister. He tells of his exploration of the arctic and his discovery of a man named Victor Frankenstein who tells him how he ended up there. Victor tells him about his family, his early life, and his friends Henry and Elizabeth. Years later when Victor is heading off to go the university in Ingolstadt, his mother dies of scarlet fever and on her death bed tells Victor to marry Elizabeth. However, Victor heads off to Ingolstadt, where he begins studies in the sciences of life and eventually animates a human body. Upon seeing the grotesque creature, Victor falls ill. Months later, Victor recovers and receives a letter from his father that his brother was killed, so Victor returns home to see the creature. Victor talks to the creature, who is now able to speak, tells him of all that he has learned in his life so far and that killed William. Victor and the creature make a deal that he will make the creature a mate so that he can spend the rest of his life away from civilization. However, Victor breaks this promise when thinking about what this union could entail and

The night of the reanimation was described by Victor Frankenstein as “a dreary night of November, that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils” (37). This was how Victor began of his mixed emotions of his achievement. The story he told had an ominous tension about it because the horrors of results had already happened to Victor as he is telling what happened. The theme of the danger of seeking knowledge is very clear in the novel. Victor Frankenstein sought answers to questions of life that should not be asked, which lead to the deaths of everyone around him. Likewise, the creature sought the knowledge of humankind, however, this knowledge only brought pain. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was an ominously dark tale of the dangers of seeking