Chapters 3-4

Test yourself

Chapter 3, Volume I

Now that Victor is 17 years old, his parents decide he should continue his education at the University of Ingolstadt.

Caroline's death

Just before Victor is due to leave for university, Elizabeth catches scarlet fever.
Caroline nurses Elizabeth back to health, but then contracts the illness herself and dies.
- Caroline's final request is for Elizabeth and Victor to marry and have children.

Professors at university

Elizabeth also agrees to stay at home and look after the children, adopting the maternal role in the family.
Victor travels to University to study and meets two professors: M. Krempe and M. Waldman.
The former has a very pejorative effect upon Victor, especially when he tells the professor about his interest in Agrippa et al., and is mocked for his academic choices.

M. Waldman

M.Waldman is more sensitive in his choice of words to Victor, but still debunks the theories of Agrippa and his contemporaries. He still understands Victor’s interest in such areas of science.
He convinces Victor to study under his tutelage and become a student of chemistry.

Chapter 4

Victor's studies become his "sole occupation" and he begins to neglect his social life and his family in Geneva. He makes rapid progress, becoming more and more ambitious in his work.

Creating life

Victor becomes fascinated with anatomy and how life comes to be.
- He discovers how to bestow life on lifeless matter and sets out to bestow life on a creature as complex as a human.
Victor believes this creature will adore him as his creator and he hopes that, in undertaking this work, he will one day be able to bring the dead back to life.

Working compulsively

Victor collects his "material" from charnel houses and graveyards, which fills him with "loathing".
Victor isolates himself and his work has a detrimental impact on both his physical health and all other aspects of his life.

Feminising nature

"I pursued nature to her hiding place" - note the feminisation of nature here and how Victor posits himself as the hunter and nature as the prey.
Shelley may be commenting on the usurping of the female from the process of life-giving and how men push women into the submissive role in society.

1Narrative Structure

1.1Narrative Structure

1.1.1Narrative Structure

1.1.2Narrative Distancing

1.1.3End of Topic Test - Narrative Structure

2Character Summaries

2.1Walton & Frankenstein

2.1.1Walton

2.1.2Victor Frankenstein

2.1.3End of Topic Test - Walton & Frankenstein

2.2The Monster

2.2.1The Monster

2.2.2The Monster 2

2.2.3End of Topic Test - The Monster

2.3Elizabeth, Justine & Henry

2.3.1Elizabeth Lavenza

2.3.2Justine Moritz

2.3.3Henry Clerval

2.3.4End of Topic Test - Elizabeth, Justine & Henry

2.4Families & Other Characters

2.4.1The Frankenstein Family

2.4.2The De Lacey Family

2.4.3Other Characters

2.4.4End of Topic Test - Families & Other Characters

3Intertextuality & Allusions

3.1Intertextual References

3.1.1The Modern Prometheus

3.1.2The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

3.1.3The Bible

3.1.4Mutability & Tintern Abbey

3.1.5End of Topic Test - Intertextual References

3.2Philosophical & Scientific Theories

3.2.1Edmund Burke

3.2.2Thomas Paine

3.2.3John Locke

3.2.4Jean-Jacques Rousseau

3.2.5Historical Figures

3.2.6End of Topic Test - Philosophy & Science Theories

4Biographic Context

4.1Biographic Context

4.1.1Shelley's Parents

4.1.2Loss & Maternal Anxiety

4.1.3Literary Legend

4.1.4End of Topic Test - Biographical Context

5Chapter Summaries

5.1Letters

5.1.1Letters 1 & 2

5.1.2Letters 3 & 4

5.1.3End of Topic Test - Letters

5.2Chapters

5.2.1Chapters 1-2

5.2.2Chapters 3-4

5.2.3Chapters 5-6

5.2.4Chapters 7-9

5.2.5Chapters 10-11

5.2.6Chapters 12-15

5.2.7Chapters 16-19

5.2.8Chapters 20-23

5.2.9Chapter 24 & Walton’s Last Letters

5.2.10End of Topic Test - Chapters 1-6

5.2.11End of Topic Test - Chapters 7-15

5.2.12End of Topic Test - Chapters 16-23

5.2.13End of Topic Test - Chapter 24 & Walton's Letters

6Key Themes

6.1Key Themes

6.1.1Curiosity & Knowledge

6.1.2Science & Society

6.1.3Loss & Companionship

6.1.4Connection to Nature

6.1.5Injustice

6.2Key Locations

6.2.1Extreme Landscapes

6.2.2Industrialised University Cities

6.2.3End of Topic Test - Key Themes & Locations

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