Frankenstein Contents
- Social / political context
- Religious / philosophical context
- Literary context
- The Bible: Creation: see Religious / philosophical context
- The Prometheus myth
- The doppelganger
- The monster's reading: Plutarch, Milton and Goethe
- The Romantics: Coleridge, Lamb, Southey, de Quincey
- Introduction
- Title page to the first edition
- Preface
- Volume 1
- Volume 2
- Volume 3
Sample questions
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In what ways might a knowledge of the social and political context in which Frankenstein was written and first published contribute to an understanding of the novel?
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Discuss the ways in which Frankenstein is relevant to the scientific issues that were being debated at the time that it was published.
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How does the monster's reading of Plutarch, Milton and Goethe influence his outlook on the world?
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The subtitle of Frankenstein is ‘the modern Prometheus'. How is a knowledge of the Prometheus myth relevant to an understanding of the novel?
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Satan, Adam and Prometheus: write an essay on how Mary Shelley uses the analogies between these figures and either Frankenstein or the monster.
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What part is played by the de Lacey family in the education of the monster and in the novel as a whole?
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Write an essay describing the narrative structure of Frankenstein and discussing how it may affect the reader's understanding of the action of the novel.
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Discuss the relationship between Victor Frankenstein and Robert Walton. In what ways are they like and unlike one another?
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How do you account for the absence of mothers in Frankenstein? How is this relevant to an understanding of the part played by women in the novel?
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In what ways is it helpful to consider Frankenstein in the contexts of (a) Gothic fiction and (b) Romanticism?
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How do you respond to the view that the Monster is Frankenstein's double,
representing the evil side of his character?
