Task 1 novel Frankenstein
choose 2 questions
- After hearing of Clerval’s murder, Victor falls ill once again. In agony, he wonders, “Why did I not die?” What would your answer be if you were (pick ONE persona) a health professional, a fellow college peer, a professor, a crew member working for Walton, one of Elizabeth's best friends? Is there a reason for his continued anguish? Does he deserve to find relief/happiness after his friend has fallen victim?
- How do the prison personnel apart from the magistrate treat Victor, an alleged guilty man? How might this treatment be explained? Is it justified? Does Victor deserve to be treated this way? Why or why not? Can Victor’s imprisonment satisfy the creature into refraining from any further torture of Victor? Why or why not?
- Victor is sure that men “would, each and all, abhor me, and hunt me from the world, did they know my unhallowed acts and the crimes which had their source in me!” Is he right? Why or why not? If the creature is the product of Victor’s search for knowledge and enlightenment, would Victor, indeed, be rejected with such hatred? Would there be any merit/value in revealing his findings/results? Compare his results with other “disastrous” scientific pursuits (chemical agents, nuclear weapons, etc.)
- Compare what Victor and his father believe the purpose of a quick marriage to Elizabeth would serve (regarding themselves and her). Discuss what the impact on Elizabeth is of both of their perspectives. What role does she continue to play? Does her death alter or perpetuate that role?
- Is the magistrate’s refusal to devote himself to the pursuit of the creature because it will “prove impracticable” and be disappointing a reasonable answer to Victor’s demand that he go after the creature? Discuss the irony in Victor’s statement to the magistrate: “Man, how ignorant art thou in thy pride of wisdom!” What constitutes a satisfactory effort from law enforcement at this point in the story to address Victor’s creature?
- What is the motivation behind Victor’s vow to find and destroy his creature? Has he learned any lessons? Is the creature going to be satisfied now that Victor is determined to live? Does the creature have power over Victor’s life? What kind of life does Victor live? How unpleasant is it? What would the creature do if Victor stopped pursuing him? Would Walton ever be in danger if Victor accompanied him? Why or why not?
- Victor initially charges Walton with continuing the mission to destroy the creature should Victor die. How reasonable a request is this? Is Walton under any obligation? To Victor? To society? to his own ambitions?
- Walton recognizes he has found the friend he is looking for but watches him die because Walton decides to save his men rather than stay loyal to the “glorious expedition.” Is Walton accurate in his statement that he has “lost (his) hopes for glory?” Explain. Does Victor really think another will come along and continue Victor’s great work?
- Why does the creature choose to die (appear to die) at the end of the novel? What does his choice suggest about his connection to Frankenstein? Walton has called the creature a hypocrite. Is he correct? Is the creature’s decision to die now a hypocritical one? Why or why not?
- In his afterword in the Signet Classics edition of Frankenstein, Harold Bloom asserts that “all Romantic horrors are diseases of excessive consciousness, of the self unable to bear the self.” Does this Romantic characteristic apply to Victor and his treatment of the creature? Consider their respective relationships with nature, desires for family, and any other important parallels you find. Do Victor and the creature become more similar as the novel goes on? Explain. Consider the fact that Victor never gives the creature a name.
- Victor attributes his tragic fate to his relentless search for knowledge. Do you think that this is the true cause of his suffering? Does this detail explain the potential suffering of scholars, researchers, adventurers, explorers? Can such individuals pursue their work sufficiently without the kinds of consequences that Victor experiences? In what ways does the novel present knowledge as dangerous and destructive? Present the outcast/wronged as having rights, rights to sympathy, rights to rightness? Present the unconscious rage we all feel could we each create our own creature?
Do NOT submit AI response
Task 2 novel, continued
United States style—this activity is about argument. . .make a convincing case for each of your choices! There are 10 areas to ‘recast’ the novel creatively
1. Location and time (year, after 1950)—in United States:
- for Frankenstein home;
- Victor’s university;
- what “natural” area brings Victor and the creature together;
- where is Walton/what is Walton up to that would make him and Victor and the creature meet?
2. Cast: Who plays this character? Why? What ethnicity/age is this person? You might include a description and/or mention a specific celebrity, etc.
- Victor
- Walton
- Frankenstein, Sr.
- Mrs. Frankenstein
- Henry
- Professor Waldman
- Professor Krempe
- Elizabeth
- Justine
- DeLacey, Sr.
- Felix
- Agatha
- Safie
- William Frankenstein
- The Creature and/or product that Victor creates
3. Soundtrack: What artists contribute? Why?
4. Specifically—what materials/tools/devices does Victor have in this version that he did not have in Shelley’s? make appropriate to the time
5. How does social media/ internet (make appropriate to the time) access affect
- Victor’s experience?
- Elizabeth’s?
- the Creature’s/product’s?
6. What transportation do the characters use? Why? Does everyone use the same? Why or why not?
7. How does the Creature/product kill Victor’s loved ones? With what tools/techniques/instruments/equipment, etc.?
Why?
8. How does Victor die in this version? Why?
9. What does Walton do at the end of this version?
- The authorities?
10. Does the Creature/product outlast Victor’s death or not? Why?
Do NOT submit AI response- Frankenstein