Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus

This section presents the title page and table of contents for the novel, listing the four introductory letters that precede the main narrative.

Robert Walton writes to his sister Margaret from St. Petersburg, detailing his preparations for an expedition to the North Pole. He expresses his lifelong passion for discovery and the glory he hopes to achieve, contrasting it with the ease of a life of luxury. Walton describes his self-education, his physical training, and his recent success in hiring a vessel and crew in Archangel. Despite his enthusiasm, he confesses a profound loneliness and the lack of a friend to share his joys or sorrows. He praises the courage of his lieutenant and the noble, selfless character of the ship's master, who once sacrificed his own happiness for a rival.

Victor Frankenstein recounts his family history, beginning with his father's rescue of Caroline Beaufort, a noblewoman reduced to poverty by her father's misfortune. After Caroline's father dies, Victor's father marries her, and they travel extensively, cherishing their only child, Victor. During a stay in Italy, Caroline encounters a beautiful orphan named Elizabeth Lavenza, the daughter of a deceased Milanese nobleman and a German mother. Touched by the child's plight, Caroline adopts Elizabeth, presenting her to Victor as a gift. Victor immediately cherishes Elizabeth as his own possession and more than a sister, vowing to protect and love her.

Victor describes his childhood friendship with Elizabeth and Henry Clerval, noting the harmonious contrast between their personalities. While Elizabeth found beauty in nature and Clerval delighted in chivalric romance and moral relations, Victor was driven by an intense thirst for knowledge and the secrets of the physical world. He recounts a happy childhood in Geneva, marked by a violent temper that was channeled into learning. His destiny shifts when, at thirteen, he discovers a volume of Cornelius Agrippa's works, which ignites his passion for natural philosophy.

Victor continues his account of his education, describing how his father's dismissal of Cornelius Agrippa's works only fueled his obsession with outdated natural philosophy. He avidly studies the works of Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus, focusing particularly on the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone. However, his interest shifts dramatically after witnessing a violent thunderstorm that destroys an oak tree with lightning. A visitor explains the theory of galvanism to him, which renders his previous studies despicable. Victor abruptly abandons natural philosophy for mathematics, seeking a more secure foundation of knowledge, though he senses that destiny is already leading him toward ruin.

At seventeen, Victor prepares to leave for the University of Ingolstadt, but his departure is delayed when his mother dies of scarlet fever after nursing Elizabeth. After a period of mourning, Victor finally leaves Geneva, accompanied by the well-wishes of his father, Elizabeth, and Henry Clerval. Upon arriving at Ingolstadt, he meets Professor Krempe, who harshly criticizes his previous studies in alchemy as useless. Although initially repelled by Krempe, Victor attends a lecture by Professor Waldman. Waldman contrasts the failures of ancient alchemy with the miraculous, though practical, achievements of modern chemistry. His eloquent description of the power to penetrate nature's secrets and command the elements reignites Victor's passion and directs his path toward his future destiny.

Victor dedicates himself entirely to the study of natural philosophy and chemistry at Ingolstadt, making rapid progress under the guidance of Professors Krempe and Waldman. After two years of intense study, he becomes obsessed with the mystery of life and death. Through anatomical studies and examining the decay of the human body in charnel-houses, he discovers the secret to bestowing animation upon lifeless matter. Driven by this knowledge, he resolves to create a human being, deciding to make it of gigantic stature to facilitate the construction. Victor isolates himself in his laboratory, neglecting his health, his family, and the beauty of the surrounding summer, as he works with feverish intensity to assemble and animate the creature.

On a dreary November night, Victor succeeds in infusing life into his creation. However, upon seeing the creature's dull yellow eyes and hideous appearance, he is overcome with horror and disgust. He rushes from the room and spends a restless night tormented by nightmares, only to find the monster standing over his bed. Victor flees into the streets, where he encounters his friend Henry Clerval. Overjoyed by Clerval's arrival, Victor returns to his apartment, fearing the creature is still there, but finds it empty. The shock of the previous events triggers a nervous fever, and Henry nurses Victor back to health over several months, concealing the severity of his illness from Victor's family.

Victor receives a letter from Elizabeth, who expresses relief at his recovery and provides news from Geneva, including the return of the servant Justine Moritz and the growth of his brothers William and Ernest. Victor writes to reassure his family and begins to recover his health. He introduces Henry Clerval to the university professors, but finds the visits agonizing due to his traumatic association with natural philosophy. While Professor Waldman's praise torments him, and Professor Krempe's harshness causes pain, Clerval kindly diverts the conversation. To avoid reflection and his former studies, Victor joins Clerval in studying Oriental languages, finding consolation in their shared literary pursuits.

Victor receives a letter from his father Alphonse revealing that his youngest brother, William, has been murdered. The letter describes how William was found strangled in Plainpalais and that a valuable miniature of their mother was stolen from him. Elizabeth is distraught, blaming herself because William had been wearing her picture. Victor and Henry Clerval depart immediately for Geneva. Approaching his home, Victor delays due to dread, but eventually travels to Plainpalais during a storm. There, amidst the thunder and lightning, he glimpses a gigantic figure with hideous deformity and instantly recognizes it as his creation. Convinced that the monster is the murderer, Victor watches the creature flee up the mountain side, leaving him in an agony of guilt and horror.

Justine Moritz is tried for the murder of William Frankenstein. Despite her calm demeanor and the testimony of character witnesses, including an impassioned defense by Elizabeth, the circumstantial evidence against her is overwhelming. The discovery of the missing miniature in her pocket seals her fate. Victor attends the trial in agony, knowing the creature is the true murderer but unable to speak without being deemed insane. Justine is condemned and, under pressure from her confessor, falsely confesses to the crime in hopes of obtaining absolution. Elizabeth and Victor visit her in prison, where she reveals that her confession was a lie and reaffirms her innocence before her execution.

Victor is consumed by remorse and despair following Justine's execution, feeling responsible for the deaths of William and Justine. He shuns human company and finds no solace in his father's attempts to console him. The family moves to their house at Belrive, where Victor spends solitary nights on the lake, often contemplating suicide to escape his guilt, though he refrains out of love for Elizabeth and his family. He lives in constant fear that the creature will commit further atrocities. Seeking relief from his anguish, Victor eventually travels alone to the Alpine valleys, finding temporary distraction in the sublime and majestic scenery of Chamounix and Mont Blanc.

Victor seeks solace in the sublime scenery of the Alps, ascending to the summit of Montanvert and crossing a glacier to a spot opposite Mont Blanc. While contemplating the majestic landscape, he is suddenly approached by the creature, who moves with superhuman speed. Overcome with rage and horror, Victor threatens to destroy the monster, but the creature responds with a mix of anguish and defiance. Claiming he was once benevolent but was made a fiend by misery and rejection, the creature argues that he is Victor's responsibility. He requests that Victor listen to his story before passing judgment, promising that if Victor complies, he will leave humanity in peace, but if refused, he will continue his reign of terror.

The creature begins his narrative by describing his earliest memories of confusion and sensory overload after awakening. He learns to distinguish light, heat, and sound, discovering fire and how to use it for warmth and cooking. Driven by hunger and the cold, he wanders from the forest near Ingolstadt to open country, eventually finding a village. His appearance terrifies the inhabitants, who attack him with stones and drive him away. He takes refuge in a hovel attached to a cottage, where he observes a young man and woman through a chink in the wall, noting their gentle demeanor and despondence.

The creature continues his account of life in the hovel, secretly observing the De Lacey family—Felix, Agatha, and their blind father. He learns that their unhappiness stems from poverty and resolves to help them by gathering firewood and foraging for himself. Through constant observation, he begins to understand their language, identifying words for common objects and the names of the family members. He studies their interactions and manners, growing to love them. However, upon seeing his own reflection in a pool, he becomes acutely aware of his deformity and fears their reaction. Motivated by a desire to join them, he intensifies his efforts to master their speech.

The creature describes the arrival of a beautiful Arabian stranger named Safie, who brings joy to the De Lacey household. Although Safie does not speak their language initially, Felix teaches her, and the creature uses these lessons to accelerate his own learning of language and history. Through listening to Felix read Volney's *Ruins of Empires* to Safie, the creature gains insight into human society, including its virtues, vices, and structures of class and family. This knowledge leads him to a painful realization of his own isolation: he has no wealth, lineage, family, or connection to humanity, and he is horrified by his own deformity and lack of place in the world.

The creature recounts the history of the De Lacey family, explaining that they were once wealthy and respected in France. Felix De Lacey had aided a Turkish merchant, Safie's father, in escaping from prison in Paris, motivated by his love for Safie. The Turk promised Safie's hand in marriage in return, but after the escape, he betrayed Felix. The French government discovered Felix's plot, imprisoned his father and sister, and eventually exiled the family to Germany, stripping them of their fortune. The Turk then attempted to take Safie back to Turkey, but she stole money and jewels and fled to Germany to reunite with Felix.

The creature discovers a satchel containing three books—*Paradise Lost*, *Plutarch’s Lives*, and *The Sorrows of Werther*—which deeply influence his understanding of human nature, virtue, and his own isolation. He also finds and reads Victor Frankenstein's journal, which details his creation and reveals the horrifying disgust his creator felt for him. Despite this devastating knowledge, the creature resolves to introduce himself to the De Lacey family, hoping their blindness to his deformity might win their acceptance. He decides to approach the blind old man first, believing he can gain the old man's mediation and goodwill.

After being violently rejected by the De Laceys, the creature flees into the woods, consumed by rage and despair. He returns to find the cottage abandoned and, in a fit of fury, burns it to the ground. Resolving to confront his creator, he travels towards Geneva, enduring a harsh winter and isolation. Along the way, he attempts to save a drowning girl but is shot by her companion, an act that cements his vow of eternal hatred and vengeance against all mankind.

The creature confronts Victor Frankenstein on the glacier and demands that he create a female companion to end his isolation. He argues that his malevolence stems from loneliness and that a mate would allow him to live peacefully in the wilds of South America, far from humanity. Victor initially refuses, fearing the consequences of unleashing a second monster, but the creature's eloquent pleas and threats of vengeance eventually persuade him. Victor consents on the condition that the creature and his mate leave Europe forever, after which the creature vanishes. Victor returns home to Geneva, tormented by the task ahead but resolved to protect his family.

Victor returns to Geneva but delays creating the female monster due to repugnance and the need for further scientific study, which requires a journey to England. His father, observing his melancholy, suggests an immediate marriage to Elizabeth, hoping to dispel his gloom. Victor, bound by his promise to the creature, cannot marry until the task is complete. He requests permission to travel to England, concealing his true motives, and his father agrees, arranging for Henry Clerval to join him. Victor departs, comforted by the thought that the creature will follow him, thereby sparing his family from danger during his absence.

Victor and Henry Clerval arrive in London, where Victor collects scientific materials and avails himself of introductions to natural philosophers, though he finds company irksome and is tormented by his task. After several months, they receive an invitation to Scotland and decide to travel north, visiting Windsor, Oxford, Matlock, and the Cumberland lakes. Victor enjoys the scenery but remains haunted by his past and the dread of his future work. Upon reaching Perth, Victor insists on traveling alone to a remote spot in the Orkney Islands to complete the creation of the female monster in solitude, believing the creature is following him.

While working in his laboratory on the Orkney Islands, Victor is overcome by the potential consequences of creating a female monster. He fears that a race of devils might be propagated or that the creatures might despise each other and humanity even more. When the creature appears at the window to observe his progress, Victor tears the half-finished female to pieces. The creature reacts with a howl of despair and rage, warning Victor that he will be with him on his wedding-night before fleeing. Victor cleans his laboratory, disposes of the remains of his work in the sea, and prepares to leave the island to rejoin Henry Clerval.

Victor is arrested and brought before a magistrate in the town of ——, charged with the murder of a man found murdered on the beach. Witnesses testify to seeing a boat resembling Victor's near the scene and to finding the body, which bore marks of strangulation. When shown the corpse, Victor is horrified to discover it is his friend Henry Clerval. Overcome by grief and convulsions, he falls into a feverish delirium for two months, imprisoned and believing himself to be the murderer of William, Justine, and Clerval. Upon recovering, he learns that Mr. Kirwin has written to his family and that a visitor has arrived.

Victor and his father travel from Ireland to Paris and then to Geneva, with Victor struggling to hide his guilt and despair over the deaths of William, Justine, and Henry. He receives a letter from Elizabeth expressing her love but offering to release him from their engagement if he loves another, fearing his misery stems from a sense of obligation. Victor, recalling the creature's threat to be with him on his wedding-night, resolves to proceed with the marriage immediately, believing a struggle with the monster is inevitable. He writes to Elizabeth, promising to reveal his terrible secret after the wedding. Upon returning to Geneva, they reunite, and Victor's father urges the immediate marriage to take place.

On his wedding night, Victor waits anxiously with a pistol, expecting a confrontation with the creature. He sends Elizabeth to their room for safety, but upon hearing a scream, rushes in to find her lifeless body strangled on the bed. The creature appears at the window, grinning and pointing at the corpse, before vanishing into the lake when Victor fires at him. Victor returns to Geneva, where his father dies of grief upon learning of Elizabeth's murder. Victor is imprisoned as a madman but eventually released, whereupon he reveals the full story of the creature to a magistrate in hopes of bringing the monster to justice.

Victor leaves Geneva to pursue the creature across the world, driven by a vow of vengeance made at the graves of his family. He tracks the monster through Europe, Tartary, and Russia, enduring extreme hardships and following clues left by the fiend. The creature taunts him with messages, leading him northward toward the frozen ocean. Victor acquires a sledge and dogs, gaining on his enemy, and learns from villagers that the monster has fled onto the ice. Despite the deadly cold and the despair of the endless journey, Victor's rage compels him to continue the chase across the frozen sea.