Emotional Oscillations

"[G]lut thy sorrow on a morning rose" (l.15)
John Keats' "Ode on Melancholy" (1819; 1820)

Points for Reflection

M. Shelley's Frankenstein (1818, 1831), letters I-IV (pp.15-31)

1. in his third letter, Robert Walton assures his sister “that for my own sake, as well as yours, I will not rashly encounter danger. I will be cool, persevering, and prudent” (23 top).  Is this an accurate representation of the actions he takes in his seafaring venture?
2. is Robert a macho man, an assertive and dominating one?
3. is Robert successful at regulating his emotions in a manner consistent with western society’s traditional construction of masculinity?
4. in the person and character of Robert Walton, does Shelley create a heroically self-reliant figure capable of forging his own destiny without others’ assistance?
5. what qualities of the shipmaster hired by Robert led to the man’s employment, and why does Robert yet appear unable to regard this man as a soul mate?
6. Robert recognizes in Victor the perfect man (29)—does he himself possess any of the qualities he finds in his new friend?
7. do Robert’s powers of imagination aid or hamper him?
8. what benefits does Walton derive from being out in the midst of Nature?  What, specifically, draws him towards the sea?
   

M. Shelley's Frankenstein (1818, 1831), chps. 1-6 (pp.31-71)

1. Victor Frankenstein justifies rehearsing his father’s past by claiming “the circumstances of his marriage illustrate his character” (31).  How is this true for Victor’s father (31-37), and is it true of other characters—do their familial relations provide the best litmus test of their temperaments and personalities?
2. Victor describes his parents as “possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence. We felt that they were not the tyrants to rule our lot according to their caprice, but the agents and creators of all the many delights which we enjoyed. When I mingled with other families, I distinctly discerned how peculiarly fortunate my lot was, and gratitude assisted the development of filial love” (37 mid).  Do you agree with Victor’s characterization of such a parenting mode as ideal?
3. is Victor’s parents’ style of parenting at all responsible for the nature of his obsession?
4. why does Walton think himself “in reality more illiterate than many schoolboys of fifteen” (19)?
5. does Victor Frankenstein’s course of education resemble that of Robert Walton?
6. what aspirations guide Victor’s studies prior to his university education, and how do these evolve once he arrives at Ingoldstadt?
7. Victor notes that he was raised by a father who “had taken the greatest precautions that my mind should be impressed with no supernatural horrors” (51).  Does the resulting mental mode facilitate or hamper Victor’s work with corpses?  What of Victor’s emotional reaction once he has succeeded in reanimating dead matter—can this be explained at all by pointing to the type of education he received?
8. what is denoted by the words “natural philosophy” in this novel?
9. do Henry Clerval and Victor Frankenstein resemble one another in temperament and values?  What of their respective intellectual pursuits?
10. what does Clerval purse academically while at Ingoldstadt, and why does Victor join him in his studies?
11. how does Clerval go about restoring and strengthening Victor’s good spirits, following his medical recovery?
12. do Elizabeth and Victor find similar joys within Nature?
13. does Shelley configure Nature as connected with the supernatural—with God and spiritual things?
14. what is the cost of Victor's studies to his own nature?
15. does Victor’s scientific obsession constitute spiritual rebellion?  Is it characterized by Victor himself as sinful?
16. does the 1831 edition of Frankenstein—that which we are reading—take for granted the reality of the supernatural, or do the reader’s intermittent sightings of religious language and ideas scattered throughout the text signal little more than cultural baggage unbelieved in by the central characters?

M. Shelley's Frankenstein (1818, 1831), chps. 7-10 (pp.71-102)

1. do the male characters of this novel appear more, or less, emotionally stable and predictable than their female counterparts?
2. does Victor believe in the power of language to capture and convey the deepest, darkest emotional states of human experience?
3. while ascending Montanvert, a glacier near Mont Blanc, Victor laments humankind’s sensibilities, that capacity for emotionally infused reflection and expression that so often heightens our suffering: “If our impulses were confined to hunger, thirst, and desire, we might be nearly free; but now we are moved by every wind that blows, and a chance word or scene that that word may convey to us” (97).  Does the author herself seem to be of a similar opinion?  Does the emotional sensitivity of our characters prove itself more of a hindrance than a help?
4. as he approaches a home in Geneva that he has not seen in almost six years, Victor rediscovers the beauty of the Jura mountain range in the western Alps, and the distant peak of Mont Blanc.  Amidst tears, he exclaims, “‘Dear mountains! my own beautiful lake! How do you welcome your wanderer? Your summits are clear; the sky and lake are blue and placid. Is this to prognosticate peace, or to mock at my unhappiness?" (74-75). Which purpose does Nature’s beauty generally appear to serve in this novel thus far?  Does it bring peace and joy to the characters more often than it provides an uncomfortable contrast with their suffering?
5. consider the portrait of the deceased Caroline Beaufort which Victor gazes at upon his return to Geneva.  Recollect what we learned of Victor’s mother before her death.  Does this portrait accurately capture her character, or transform it?
6. in the wake of William’s death, Elizabeth apparently accuses herself of causing his demise, and is incapacitated by ceaseless weeping (72-73).  Do we ever see Elizabeth in such an extreme emotional state, or does she maintain an admirable equilibrium in the reader’s presence?  How does the emotional tenor of her life compare with that of her male peers?
7. does the faith of Justine Moritz, the Frankensteins’ family friend and nurse, grant her confidence and peace in the midst of suffering?
8. amidst intense sorrow following the deaths of William and then Justine, Elizabeth bemoans how “‘falsehood can look so like the truth’” (93).  In what situations do we find our characters willing to withhold the truth from one another?  Is lying, in this novel, ever a justified act of love?
9. why does Victor choose not to tell his family and friends in Geneva about his creation, despite his conviction that the creature killed young William?

Oedipus Cursing His Son, Polynices (1786)
Henry Fuseli

Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu