4.2.1

Form

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Framed Narrative and Epistolary Form

‘Frankenstein’ is written as a framed narrative, which can be described as a Chinese box narrative. It is also an example of epistolary form (novels told through other documents.)

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Multi-narrative

  • The main narrative voice is Victor’s, and he relays what the Monster said to him when they met.
  • However, both of these narratives are actually told through Walton in his letters to his sister, Margaret Saville, and so each narrative is encapsulated within another.
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Epistolary form

  • Epistolary form is a literary form which was popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
  • It is when novels are told through the medium of other documents, such as letters or journals.
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Shelley's use

  • Although 'Frankenstein' is not a pure example of this form, Shelley makes use of it in the novel.
    • She begins and ends with Walton’s letters to his sister, and includes various letters written between other characters.
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Purpose?

  • The inclusion of these letters can be seen to add a sense of authenticity to the narrative, particularly with Walton’s letters, in which he claims to have witnessed the events he describes first hand.

Key Quotations: Form

‘Frankenstein’ is written as a framed narrative, which can be described as a Chinese box narrative. It is also an example of epistolary form (novels told through other documents.)

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Authenticity

  • Walton is clearly convinced of the truth of Victor's tale, which, in turn, encourages the reader to be.
  • Shelley furthers this effect by having Walton claim to have read Victor's evidence, thereby adding authenticity to the narrative.
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(Walton, in continuation)

  • “His tale is connected, and told with an appearance of the simplest truth; yet I own to you that the letters of Felix and Safie, which he showed me, and the apparition of the monster seen from our ship, brought to me a greater conviction of the truth of his narrative than his asseverations, however earnest and connected. Such a monster has then really existence! I cannot doubt it; yet I am lost in surprise and admiration.”
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Further evidence

  • Walton refers to his own process of writing down Victor's narrative, which again encourages the reader to view it as more authentic.
  • Shelley suggests that Victor has edited the notes himself, thereby allowing it to seem as if Victor's narrative has gone through a real editing process, making it more accurate and closer to the real truth.
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Dishonesty

  • Ironically, the fact that Victor desires to check Walton's notes could imply that he goes on to doctor the narrative: after all, the majority of this tale is told from the point of view of one of the participants.
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(Walton, in continuation)

  • “Frankenstein discovered that I made notes concerning his history: he asked to see them, and then himself corrected and augmented them in many places; but principally in giving the life and spirit to the conversations he held with his enemy."
  • "'Since you have preserved my narration," said he, "I would not that a mutilated one should go down to posterity.'”

Jump to other topics

1Plot Summaries

2Characters

3Key Themes

4Authorial Method

5Context

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