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Frankenstein A Report

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Shelly, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus. NY: Collier Books, 1961.

The story begins with several letters from a ships Captain named Walton to his sister, describing how his voyage was going. Soon after, one of Walton’s crew spots a man traveling across the ice and in bad condition. The man, Victor Frankenstein, is invited onto the ship, and begins to tell Robert Walton his tale.                                                                                                   As a child, Frankenstein was a genius; he studied medieval alchemists and their teaching, staying away from the more modern teachings of “natural science” though his professors urge him to switch views. Leaving his home in Switzerland for a University, Victor decides to combine his new knowledge of modern science with the mystical teachings of the medieval alchemists; he plans to be a re-animator.                                                                       Stealing body parts from various places, including the morgue, Frankenstein begins to create a living man. He chooses the most fit pieces, in order for his creature to be beautiful and strong. Frankenstein’s finish product however, is 8 feet tall with yellow and watery eyes with thin translucent skin covering its body. When Frankenstein awakes in the middle of the night with the creature reaching for him next to his bed, he flees, eventually returning home at the news that his younger brother has been murdered.   Near his home in Geneva, Frankenstein see’s his creation once again, and is certain that it is the murderer of William, his brother. When he gets home, he doesn’t speak up as the family maid, Justine, is executed for the murder because he doesn’t want people to know of the horror he created. At this point, Victor is so sad that he goes hiking into the mountains, where he meets his creature at a glacier above Chamonix. For the first time, Victor...