For Friday: Frankenstein, Volume III


For Friday's class, read as much as you can of Volume III of Frankenstein. We'll have an in-class writing over a significant passage in the book.

Some ideas to consider are...

* Why does Victor destroy the "mate"? What is significant about the Creature's response to this?

* What do you make of this passage: "The remains of the half-finished creature, whom I had destroyed, lay scattered on the floor, and I almost felt as if I had mangled the living flesh of a human being" (175). 

* How does the Creature's relationship change toward Frankenstein in these chapters? Why might this be? 

* Does Victor kill Clerval? While obviously "the Creature" does it, how does he react to the crime? Why do all the villagers assume he's guilty?

* How has Elizabeth changed in the ensuing year? Though she says relatively little in the book, what does Shelley reveal about her thoughts and fears?

* Why does Victor leave Elizabeth unprotected on their wedding night? Why does he assume the Creature means to kill him?

* Why does he "[embrace] her with ardor" (199) in death, though he never seems to show passion to her while alive? 

* Does Victor ever contradict himself about his Creation toward the last chapters? Does he think he's created a monster...or a human being? What does he want posterity to see? 

* How does Walton end the book? Has he learned from Victor's example, or will this only make him embrace his pursuit of "the wild" even further? 

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