Chapters 10-11

Chapter 10

While gazing at Montanvert and Mont Blanc, Victor encounters the Monster who is desperate to speak to him and implores him to listen to his tale of suffering and cruelty.

Mutability

Victor and his family spend a day near the Arve river and, due to the calming effect it has, he sets out to climb mountains when he feels melancholy returning the next day.
Victor recites eight lines of Percy Shelley’s poem Mutability and comments on how a life lived in nature and simplicity is one of freedom (a very Romantic idea!)

Seeing the Monster

Whilst gazing at Montanvert and Mont Blanc, he feels "joy" in nature.
This quickly turns to horror as he sees a gigantic figure running at inhuman speed towards him.
It is the Monster, who is desperate to speak to Victor and implores him to listen to his tale of suffering and cruelty.

The Monster's story

Victor agrees - after being threatened by the Monster - and starts to believe that, as his creator, he has a duty to hear the Monster’s side of the story.
His ulterior motive is to find out whether the Monster was the murderer of William.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11 starts the Monster’s meta-diegetic narration at the heart, or in the womb, of the novel.

A newborn

The Monster recounts his first days of creation, experiencing for the first time hunger, thirst, cold, warmth, light and dark.
Like a newborn, he is unable to speak but is amazed by this new world of sensations around him.

Rousseau

Like Rousseau’s theory of natural man, the Monster lives peacefully in nature until he dares to mix with society, whose reaction to him starts to corrupt his benevolent nature.
For example, he creeps inside of an old man’s hut to find food and shelter but is surprised when the old man shrieks and flees.

The De Lacey family

He then ventures into a village but is chased out by the angry villagers who hit him with stones and other weapons until he flees and finds refuge hidden in a hovel next to a cottage.
It is here that he first observes the De Lacey family, whom he becomes increasingly fond of and who, unwittingly, teach him to read and speak.

Hypocrisy

"You accuse me of murder; and yet you would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature. Oh, praise the eternal justice of man!"
Here the Monster confronts Victor with the hypocrisy of his words and actions, making the reader once again question who is the real monster in this novel.

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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