Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
(Mary Shelley)

Letter 1

The novel begins with the letters of a Captain Robert Walton writing to his sister, Margaret Walton Saville. He writes from St. Petersburg in December as he heads out to start a trip to the North Pole. He describes how excited he is to be the one to possibly discover a passage through the ice that would allow ships to travel faster or solve the mystery of the magnet. He describes the North Pole with idyllic language, mentioning how he’ll also be able to walk where no other man has.

Robert recounts to his sister how he loved the idea of sailing when he was young, though his father’s deathbed wish was that his son wouldn’t pursue the occupation. Robert then became a failed poet and writer, and it wasn’t until he inherited a cousin’s fortune that he saw the opportunity to pursue his original dream. He took six years of training by studying sciences of practical uses for sailors and getting hired aboard various whaling ships; he even refused a second-in-command position to continue his journey.

He describes his plans to reach Archangel, hire out a ship and some sailors, and then head out in June.

Letter 2

Writing in March, Robert tells his sister that he is disheartened that he doesn’t have a friend going with him on the voyage to share his happiness and sadness with. He could write, but describes how since his first fourteen years of life were spent without a school structure and the only education he got was from books, he doesn’t believe himself able enough to properly convey what he feels in the medium.

Describing some members of his new crew, he tells the tale of his new shipmaster. The man- after gaining enough money to win her hand in marriage- let his fiancee marry another man whom she was truly in love with, giving this other suitor all the money and property he had earned in pursuit of his fiancee. As Robert is still uncomfortable with the level of violence and cruelty that happens aboard ships even after six years of experience, the new shipmaster’s reputation for both kindness and obedience endeared him to Robert.

He describes the north with poetic language again, using it as an opportunity to just as vividly describe his own enthusiasm and ambition.

Letter 3

The third letter comes in July, when the boat is already out to sea. The letter is sent home by way of a passing merchant ship that Robert crosses. The letter is uneventful, merely describing life at the sea.

Letter 4

The next letter comes to Margaret from August and has three entries. The first describes how when they were stuck in the ice, the crew noticed in the distance a man of giant proportions driving a dog sled. The sight baffles the crew as they assumed they were miles away from land. The ice breaks up, but the men don’t push forward yet as they don’t want to risk running into a glacier. Robert is woken up when some of the crew discovers another man in a dog sled floating on a piece of the broken ice next to the ship. Only one dog is left alive from the team, and the man himself is freezing and emaciated. It’s only after this man is assured that the ship is going farther North that he is willing to go aboard.

After recovering a bit, the stranger explains that he is this far up to find someone. After the crew reveals that they may have seen his person of interest with the giant man, the stranger begins asking questions about him, and whether the broken ice could’ve possibly killed him. The stranger also respects that Robert hasn’t pried into his motivations.

In the second entry, Robert describes how his empathy for the stranger- driven by both sympathy and admiration for the man’s intellect- has grown. He converses with the stranger about his own desires, and how he is willing to sacrifice much to make a crucial discovery. Upon hearing this, the stranger begins to weep, telling him that they must share the same madness and urges him to listen to his story.

It remains untold though as the outburst exerts the strangers too much. They continue to talk and discuss companionship. The stranger describes how he has lost everything and has no chance to make a new life.

The last entry describes how the stranger is going to tell Robert an unbelievable tale that would be laughable, were they not in the foreign landscape of a frozen sea. Robert tells his sister that he is eager to hear the story, and plans to write as much of the story as he can.

Chapter 1

The stranger- Victor Frankenstein- describes his family history. Alphonse Frankenstein is from Switzerland and has lived much of his life as a public servant in various offices. A close friend of his ends up losing his fortune, and takes what little he has and goes off to Lucerne, hiding his tracks. Alphonse desires to help his friend, but it takes some ten months to find the man. In those ten months, the merchant became sick and died, though his daughter Caroline was there to take of him every step of the way. Alphonse takes pity on the young woman and gets a relative to take care of her. They end up married two years later.

Alphonse loves Caroline deeply, and Victor is born while travelling through Italy. They love their child just as much, and Victor recalls with wonder how much affection they were able to draw for both each other and him. The couple visits poorer neighborhoods to help, as both of them remember the dire circumstances that Caroline lived through. On one of these trips, they happen upon a large family who has a daughter that stands out amongst the rest of their children. It turns out the daughter isn’t theirs, but that of a nobleman’s who wife died during childbirth. The daughter was given to the couple to nurse, but the father ended up either captured or dead in the fight for Italy’s freedom- his fate is unknown. After some convincing, Caroline manages to adopt the little girl- Elizabeth Lavenza.

The entire family loves her, including Victor, who sees Elizabeth as his life partner. The two children refer to each other as cousins.

Chapter 2

Victor describes that after the couple had another son- William- they settled in Switzerland. Victor and Elizabeth grew up happily, with Elizabeth interested in poetry and the arts while Victor is interested in the scientific explanation of things. As the home they live in is out of the way of active city life, Victor’s own personality takes a similar direction, preferring small groups over large. The only friend he seems to care about from school is Henry Clerval. Henry is himself interested in the arts and the romance of chivalry and fantasy. Elizabeth tempers both of them, allowing Victor a more sociable attitude that may have been lost in spending time by himself with books and labs, and giving Henry a moral direction for his ambitions.

Victor goes on to detail how he became interested in science. He recalls an event where his father tried to casually discourage him from reading scientists of antiquity without explaining why. This made Victor curious enough to pursue the matter, learning everything he could from them including the Philosopher's Stone and the much more appealing Elixir of Life. This bedrock of knowledge shook though, when a family friend was with them when lightning obliterated a tree, and he offered a more modern explanation to the occurrence. This made Victor abandon the older scientists in favor of newer ones and started learning about electricity, as well. Victor believes that the culmination of these events long in the making is his fated destruction.

Chapter 3

When Victor was seventeen, it was determined that he should go to college in Germany. On the day of his departure though, Elizabeth gets sick with the scarlet fever. The family tries to keep Caroline away from her, but to no success. Caroline stays by Elizabeth to see her get better, but ends up catching the fever and dying of it herself. After a period of mourning, Victor finally leaves for school.

Arriving at school, he is subtly mocked by a teacher for having spent so many years learning from ancient books. While Victor understands the criticism, he also wants to keep the ambitions of those ancient writers, as modern scientists seemed content with only small accomplishments. He then meets Waldman, the college’s chemistry teacher. After hearing a lecture from the man that reinforces Victor’s negative predisposition to modern science, he goes to the teacher the following morning convinced he should follow another path, describing his education by the ancients. The teacher then shows respect for the antiquarian writers, noting how modern ones are indebted to them. He tells Victor to become educated in all the disciplines if he truly wants to be a man of science, showing him his own lab which he offers use of to Victor once he becomes competent in the skills.

Chapter 4

Victor takes to the natural sciences with an interest in the natural philosophy in particular. His learning and passion take him to the point where he believes that studying there doesn’t afford him any new ideas, and considers going home. Victor also gains a fascination with the idea of animated life. He wasn’t raised to be superstitious, so only believes in the natural causes of human existence and wonders how it comes about. Following his interests, Victor manages to find a way to create life. While narrating, he notices Robert’s interest in the claim, but Victor insists that he won’t reveal the process of doing so as though it’s scientifically marvelous, the consequences are too pricey.

Deciding between giving life to something small or complex, Victor chooses the latter, deciding to make a human being. Though the goal seems extremely complex, Victor is undeterred. He picks a large proportioned body as his goal, and revels at the thought of being a father to a new species of beings. He even thought himself able to perhaps one day bring the dead back to life.

Victor becomes obsessed with his experiment, forgetting to write his family. He warns about the dangers of becoming obsessed with anything- including the pursuit of knowledge- as it will drive people away from the small, important pleasures of life. He slowly gets more sick and nervous as his work continues, but believes he’ll be able to recuperate quickly with exercise and activity once he is finished.

Chapter 5

After two years of effort, one night Victor manages to bring life to the body he had been creating. Though he had chosen pieces of corpses that he thought had been beautiful, the end result was hideous, save for the hair and teeth. The skin was yellow and wrinkled, while the lips are straight and black. Victor attempts to go to sleep, but has a nightmare where he kisses Elizabeth and then her body turns into that of his dead mother- worms crawling out of her clothes.

Upon waking up, the monster is standing over Victor, making noises and seemingly trying to stop him from getting up. Victor escapes to the street, where he walks around considering the terrible thing he has done and what he has sacrificed for it. While walking along, he stops at the inn where carriages tended to drop off passengers. There, he eyes one coming along and then is surprised to see that it is Henry Clerval who has arrived. After a happy greeting where Henry explains how he convinced his father to let him come to college and how Victor’s own family was worried by his lack of writing, Victor heads alone upstairs to his apartment only to find it empty- the monster had fled.

Victor continues to act nervous though, making Henry concerned. Victor then starts to become immediately sick. The two years of late nights and obsessions have taken his toll on him, making him sick for many months. Henry stays by his bed and hears Victor talk about the monster in dreams. After a long recovery, Victor gives his thanks to Henry, who notifies Victor that he has a letter from his sister.

Chapter 6

The letter from Elizabeth wishes Victor well, mentioning how much effort it has taken on her part to convince their father from visiting Victor at his sick bed after so many months of silence. She mentions Ernest- one of Victor’s younger brothers- and how he wants to enlist in the Swiss Army. She also goes into extensive detail about a girl who used to live with them named Justine, who returned to her mother just before her death after losing all her siblings.

Victor then writes her back and begins to introduce Henry to the college’s professors. Just talking of science physically hurts Victor, which leads him to join Henry in studying Oriental languages. After passing the summer and then waiting out the winter, Victor decides to go home as he feels he has returned to his happy self. The two friends spend a couple of weeks exploring the city as a sort of extended goodbye party.

Chapter 7

Victor then receives a letter from his father explaining that William was murdered. He describes how the family went out for a walk in the woods, and both Ernest and William went to go play. Ernest then comes to his father and cousin, asking if they’ve seen William as they were playing hide and seek and he himself couldn’t find him. After searching, they come upon William’s body, which had been strangled. Elizabeth blames herself, since she had let William wear a locket with his mother’s picture in it- the locket now missing from the body.

While riding back home, Victor spots the monster and instantly knows it was he who committed the murderer. He attempts to chase him, but loses him in the forest and only spots him for a second climbing up the steep face of a mountain. Victor also notes that it has been two years since the he had brought the monster to life.

When Victor arrives home, he learns from Ernest that Justine- the girl who lived with them/maid- was the once arrested for the crime. Victor know it’s not her, but after hearing his father say something about the trial, is convinced that the evidence isn’t enough to convict her. Victor takes hope in this, since he doesn’t want to tell everyone about his experiments, nor believes that anyone would find them credible anyway.

Chapter 8

The day of the trial, the evidence mounts against Justine. She had been missing the night of the murder and had been spotted early in the morning in the city market place. When asked where she had been by a town resident, she responded in a confused manner. The morning after, she laid in bed sick when a fellow servant happened upon the locket William had been wearing in her clothes. Justine explains that she had been at an aunt’s house and heard that William had gone missing while returning home. She then tried to find the boy herself, until the city gates had closed and she could not enter. She slept in the barn of some acquaintances without telling them since she didn’t want to bother them but felt confident they would have allowed her stay. After being unable to sleep all night, she manages a few minutes of it in the morning, though hearing steps wake her up.

Elizabeth acts as a character witness, affirming Justine’s innocence, but neither testimony is enough to convince the judges. Victor goes to the court the next day to hear that they’ve voted ‘guilty’ and that she had also confessed. Victor is baffled a moment, wondering if what he had chased in the forest earlier was only due to madness. He visits Justine with Elizabeth, where it’s found out that Justine was pressured into confessing so as to make the punishment a little more lenient- though it doesn’t work. Victor’s guilt increases exponentially, knowing that Justine will die, and William died due to his creation of the monster.

Chapter 9

The family returns to live in their house by the lake, where they continue their mourning. Victor is constantly anxious about the monster coming back to kill someone else. Elizabeth tells Victor that her worldview has been changed by the event as she now believes that the world is inherently evil if both William and Justine can be dead while their murderer lives. Victor goes on a trip to the Andes to deal with the emotions he’s dealing with.

Chapter 10

Victor goes alone amongst the mountains, reflecting on nature and its beauties. While on a mountain peak, he sees a large figure approaching from the distance and realizes that it’s the monster. Victor reacts violently, wanting to fight the creature immediately. The monster manages to evade the attack easily though as it was built physically superior intentionally. The monster then attempts to persuade Victor to listen to its story. It notes how even its own creator hates him, thus assuring that no other human will have empathy towards him. He says that Victor as his creator- owes him at least that, as even accused criminals have the opportunity to speak for themselves. The monster notes that he was once a good person, but has been turned evil by misery due to being incapable of enjoying life as humans do. It also tells Victor that the responsibility will fall on the man to determine whether the monster will leave humanity alone and live in peace, or continue to destroy what Victor holds dear.

The monster directs them to a hut where Victor won’t be so affected by the cold. While following the monster, Victor decides that it has good reasons to demand an audience. He also wants to be assured that it was him that killed William. It’s here where the perspective of the book turns to the monster as he tells Victor his story.

Chapter 11

The monster begins to describe his existence from the very beginning, how- after taking some clothes from Victor’s apartment- fled from it in fear. His dull senses perceive the moon and objects, and he soon learns that he can eat berries. As his eyes sharpen, he sees and hears birds chirping, and then attempts to express himself verbally, as well. He is fascinated by the sun and moon. He spots a fire left over by some beggars and begins to learn about how it gives light and warmth, but also gives pain. He attempts to imitate what he saw the beggars do when cooking food, and cooks nuts and berries to varying levels of success.

As food in the area gets scarce, he decides to move on, travelling three days through the forest until he reaches open fields. There, he finds snow and a small hut. Inside the hut is an old man whom- when the monster comes inside- runs away in fear, leaving his breakfast behind. The monster likes that the hut protects him from the elements and enjoys the farmer’s food. He spends the night there and sets out the next morning.

He comes upon a city and is enchanted by it, noticing the vegetables and food laid out in windows and gardens. He attempts to enter a house, but is immediately driven away by panicked villages as they pelt him with rocks and other things. He goes back to the open country, where he finds a small hovel next to a cottage. The hovel is made of wood, doesn’t have a floor, and is so small that the monster can barely sit up in it, but his previous experience with humans makes him anxious to enter the cottage.

He sets up the cottage to be more convenient, closing the cracks that let in the breeze and placing clean hay on the floor. He notices that the wall of the hovel made up by the cottage includes a window that is now boarded up. There’s a hole large enough for him to see through though, and he watches his human neighbors.

There’s an older man who plays an instrument, along with a young woman and young man who live there, as well. The older man looks happy, but both the younger ones seem somewhat sad. One night he watches the man play the instrument and the woman starts to cry. The older man consoles her, causing the monster to have emotions he has not yet had. He watches the young man help the older one on some walks in front of the cottage, and then hears him read to the other two one night, though the monster doesn’t understand the words being said nor the concept. He is also interested in how they’re able to create light past daytime.

Chapter 12

The monster is tempted to join the family, but remains scared of humans. He comes to learn that the older man is blind, which is why he often plays his instrument or just sits and thinks. He spots the two younger people crying, though he doesn’t understand why as they have home and food. It turns out they live poverty, surviving with what little they grow and a cow that doesn’t give much milk. The monster had often taken food from them to survive himself, but after seeing the younger folk give the older one food without having any themselves, he stops the practice and goes back to gathering nuts, berries and roots from the forest. The monster attempts to help by taking the young man’s tools one night and cutting down lots of firewood. He’s happy to see their pleasant reaction the morning after.

The monster sees that they’re able to use speech to communicate to each other and attempts to imitate them. While he doesn’t learn language properly, he does come to know that the young man is called Felix, the young woman is called Agatha and that they are both children of the older man. Felix works for a neighboring farmer as he often leaves for entire days bringing back food. Though Felix is markedly sadder than his sister and father, he also seems to make the most effort at being cheerful, sincerely enjoying his father’s company and making life easier for his sister. The monster admires their beauty and manners, as when other humans stop by- a rare occurrence- they are ruder in manner. The monster desires to meet the family, but knows he must become eloquent enough to make them overlook his hideousness.

He continues to live there through the winter, performing the duties that he sees Felix do- like clearing the pathway of snow and chopping wood. He hears the siblings remark upon the acts as done by a ‘good spirit,’ but doesn’t understand them. He fantasizes about being accepted by them and how the moment will happen when it finally does. Though he thinks little of his speaking voice, he continues to practice. He looks upon the family with immense admiration, thinking they will decide his fate somehow.

Chapter 13

The monster skips forward in time to spring to tell another part of his story. While watching the family sit around while the father plays guitar and noticing that Felix is again quite sad, the monster notices two riders approach- one of which is clothed and veiled. Felix quickly gets up and kisses the stranger’s hand and calls her his sweet Arabian. Dismissing the rider, the woman- named Safie- enters the house. Everybody in the home rejoices, but the monster notices that Safie and the family don’t understand each other. He takes the opportunity to learn what they attempt to teach her. He again tries to understand their conversation, but fails.

As the months continue, the monster learns the language quickly, learning about human society as well due to the books that Felix uses to teach Safie. The monster hears of humans acting nobly and wickedly, wondering how they were capable of such extremes. He also becomes more depressed as he knows that not only does he not have property, but also his physical form is monstrous and he has no family like the one he watches. Having seen no one else like him, he becomes distinctly aware of his solitude.

Chapter 14

The monster then decides to tell the story of the people in the cottage. Their surname is De Lacey, and they used to be upper class residents of Paris. A Turkish merchant named Muhammadan is one day arrested by the government on some trumped up charges- the monster receives the impression that it was due to his religion and wealth. The injustice of his arrest is evident to many Parisian residents, and Felix happens to be in court on the day of his conviction. Felix decides to help Muhammadan escape and happens to meet his beautiful daughter- Safie- while speaking to him. Safie’s mother was a Christian European who married Muhammadan after being enslaved for some time. She taught Safie her religion and an independence that wasn’t allowed for women in Islamic countries.

Safie admires Felix’s character, and the two start a budding romance that is encouraged by her father as a way to further entice Felix to help him. Felix draws up a plan that includes getting passports under the names of his father and sister. The two themselves help by announcing they’ll be going on a trip and then secluding themselves in the city. The night before Muhammadan’s execution, Felix gets the man out and picks up Safie along the way. They manage to get to Northwestern Italy where Felix receives the news that his father and sister were arrested. He tells Muhammadan that he should continue his flight if he gets a chance, but to leave Safie in Italy if he does. When Felix returns to Paris, he is jailed with his family for five months, which causes them to lose their fortune and be exiled. It is then that they find the cottage in Germany.

Once Muhammadan hears of Felix getting imprisoned, he tells Safie to stop thinking of him. Muhammadan never wanted his daughter to marry Felix as he couldn’t stand the idea of her marrying a Christian European. He ends up having to leave quickly as he fears his location has been given away, but leaves Safie behind to manage his property and wealth, which had not yet arrived in Italy. Safie manages to learn where the De Laceys went after their exile, and takes one of her father’s servants from the local area that understands Arabic and sets off to find them. The servant ends up dying quite close to the De Lacey’s cottage, but the woman who lived in the home they were staying in helps Safie find her way there.

Muhammadan sent only a pittance of money to the family as thanks, and it was this- along with losing Safie- that had Felix so depressed for such a long time. The monster understands that this is why Safie’s arrival to the cottage was so valuable to Felix.

Chapter 15

As the residents of the cottage are always kind and generous to each other, the monster only understands evil as a far off concept. This begins to change as one night in the forest he chances upon a pouch with some clothes and three books. Having learned to read from watching Safie’s lessons, he starts to read these works. The first book that he reflects on is The Sorrows of Werter- an epistolary novel about a man who commits suicide after finding out his love won’t be requited. The monster admires the novel’s protagonist, and sympathizes with the feelings of love that drive him to his own death.

The second book is Plutarch’s Lives- a book of collected biographies of Greeks and Romans. The monster begins to understand virtue and cruelty more, desiring to enact the former and forget the latter. The last book is Paradise Lost- an epic that dramatizes the first few stories of Genesis from the Bible. The monster takes these books as he has taken the others- historical accounts. His imagination is excited by the concept of a god, but is confused as to who he relates more to, Adam or Satan.

The monster had taken some clothes from Victor’s apartment when he fled, and realizes that in the pockets are papers that are Victor’s journals of the four months leading up to the monster’s awakening. The monster become depressed upon reading them, but gains hope in considering that the De Lacey’s might accept him once he reveals himself to them.

Winter comes again, and the monster notes that it has been one year since his awakening. Safie had brought some jewels and money when she left Italy, so life is a little easier on the family as they hire servants. He finally builds up the courage and gets the chance to approach the family when the children go on a long walk and the servants are at a fair, leaving the blind father alone by his request. The monster knocks on the door and has a conversation with him, describing his situation of how he wants to be accepted by some kind people, but feels they will hate him due to prejudice. The old man agrees to listen to the monster’s story and help in any way he can, feeling sympathetic due to his own unjust treatment. The monster begins to sob when suddenly he hears the Felix, Agatha, and Safie walking up. The monster panics and grabs the old man’s arm, begging for help.

Agatha faints when she sees the monster, and Safie runs away. Felix pulls the monster off of his father and starts to hit him with a stick. The monster runs away and manages to hide back in the hovel due to the family’s distraction.

Chapter 16

When night comes, the monster heads off into the woods to weep. He feels anger, sadness, and regret. After some howling, he realizes that what he should’ve done was to get into the father’s good graces and then have him be the one to do the introductions to the family. The monster feels as if the situation is still repairable and decides to go back after hiding in the woods for the day. The following morning, he notices that the cottage is empty. Felix comes by the house later in the day with another man, and the monster hears him cancelling his lease on the cottage.

The monster is filled with sadness at first, and then rage as his sense of abandonment grows. When night comes again, he destroys the cottage by lighting it on fire. He realizes that the only person that he should be angry towards is the one that gave him life, who is also the only person to whom he could turn for mercy and answers. Having discovered Victor’s home from his journals, the monster heads out to find him.

He moves his way through the forest, arriving in Switzerland when spring starts. While walking on a particularly sunny day, the monster begins to feel happiness again, moving him to tears. He comes upon a river and waits behind the tree line. A woman appears to be cheerfully running when she slips into the strong river. The monster doesn’t hesitate in rescuing her, attempting to revive her when the man she was running with takes her from the monster’s arm. The monster is confused and follows the man until the latter turns around and fires a gun. The monster is wounded, and again swears war upon all humanity for repaying his kindness with violence.

Two months later, he reaches Geneva, where he sees a young boy playing in the woods while resting. The monster gets the idea that the child might be unprejudiced and could be formed into a companion. He grabs the young boy and reveals that his father is Frankenstein, making the child William Frankenstein. The monster strangles the boy and rejoices in the death, knowing it will make Frankenstein despair. He takes the necklace the boy wears and sneaks away to a barn where he sees a woman- Justine- sleeping. The monster is angry with her as he knows that no woman will ever love him. He places the locket in her dress and escapes knowing enough about human laws to know that she will be considered suspect for the murder.

The monster says that he has one request of Victor- to build a woman as deformed as him so as to have a companion.

Chapter 17

The monster explains that the only reason he is malicious is because he is miserable and lonely. He claims that if here were to have an equally deformed companion, neither would be happy, but at least they wouldn’t be alone. He says that he will move to South America and leave humans alone if he is granted this request. Denied, he will continue to make Victor’s life a misery and make him wish he were never born. Victor is unsure of the value of the creature’s promise and is still angry over the death of William, but sees reason in the creature’s argument. Victor consents to the wish and starts heading down the mountain.

The monster’s story took an entire day for it’s telling, and walking down, Victor begins to despair his circumstances. Arriving home, he knows that he needs to make another creation for the sake of the ones he loves.

Chapter 18

Victor’s dour disposition makes his father ask him if his mood is due to feeling like he is being forced to marry Elizabeth. Victor affirms that it isn’t, but does want to delay the marriage. He makes up an excuse to go to England, where he needs to go to get information for creating another monster and to have a place away from his family to do so. His father agrees to the trip, glad to see Victor taking an interest in travel considering recent events, but he an Elizabeth arrange for Henry to join along.

After meeting up with Henry the two head north where the latter praised landscape and its people for the beauty they contained. Victor breaks the tale by beginning to wax nostalgic about his friend- who he reveals is dead. He apologizes to Robert then continues. The two men eventually reach England with no outstanding events.

Chapter 19

Once they arrive, Victor immediately begins gathering the information he needs to build another monster. Henry is busy using his entrepreneurial skills and language abilities to start new businesses in India and is often occupied. A letter from a friend that had stayed with the Frankensteins invites the travelling companions up to Scotland, to which the two agree to visit and pass along particular cities on the way.

Travelling north, they stop along Oxford, Windsor, Westmoreland and Cumberland. While Victor watches his friend enjoy new experiences, he himself had his mind occupied on the monster. He wonders if it's at home waiting to kill his family or about to kill Henry as a sign of impatience. When they finally reach Perth, Victor insists on separating from Henry for a couple of months. The latter agrees with some hesitation, and Victor rents a small cottage on an island whose residents are so poor that they don’t bother him at all, just happy to have some money.

There, Victor begins his work on the next monster. While eagerness to be rid of the monster motivates him initially, the horror of his work starts to weigh on him.

Chapter 20

Victor stops to think through the consequences of his current actions. While the monster had promised to move to the New World and leave humans alone, this current one he was making had not agreed to any terms. This new monster’s personality was unpredictable, and could very well choose to not honor the deal or be a creature that merely enjoyed pain and the suffering of others. And what if the monsters wanted children and created a race of things that would eventually destroy humans? While considering all these possibilities, Victor notices that the monster is staring at him through a window. Victor snaps and destroys the body of the she-monster, causing the monster to howl. It swears vengeance on Victor, promising to be with him on his wedding night.

Victor receives a letter from Henry, informing the former that the latter has pressing business in London to attend and would appreciate the company of his friend if only for a little bit. Victor is ready to go, but has to get rid of the evidence of his experiments. He packs everything away- body parts and chemistry tools alike- and sails out in the evening to sink it all in the ocean. Enjoying the evening there, he decides to lie down in the boat for rest.

He awakes to find himself in the middle of the day and surrounded on all sides by water. He panics and begins to start rowing, thinking about dying in the middle of the ocean and the monster murdering his loved ones to sate its desire in place of murdering Victor. After some time, he spots land and rows in. Disheveled, he lands to a surprised group of people and finds out that its Ireland. After some confusion, Victor finds out he is under suspicion for the death of a man who was found on that shore murdered that past night and is arrested.

Chapter 21

Brought to Magistrate Kirwin’s office, witnesses arrive to have their testimony heard. The man who discovered the body speaks, explaining how he was returning home from fishing with his son and brother-in-law when he tripped over the body. They assumed it was a drowned corpse that had washed ashore, but found that it was neither wet nor cold. They took it to a nearby house to attempt to revive it, but the man was most assuredly dead, with only black finger marks around the neck indicating the cause of death. The brother-in-law gave the same testimony, adding that he saw a boat exactly like the one Victor had out in the sea with one person. The people assume it’s possible that Victor dumped the body on the shore and was forced to return due to strong winds, ending up near where he dumped the body as he was unfamiliar with the town. Victor is shown the body, and it’s revealed that the corpse is that of Henry Clerval.

After some dramatics and falling unconscious, Victor goes into a sickness that lasts two months. He rambles about murdering Henry, William, and Justine, and asks the jailers in the prison to help him kill the monster. As he does this all in Swedish, only the magistrate understands him.

Two months having passed, Victor finally becomes lucid again and speaks to the magistrate. The magistrate knows that Victor’s innocence can be proven, and also informs him that his father has arrived. They talk and Victor slowly starts to get better. He attends a trial that affirms his innocence and is released, allowing him and his father to go home. While sailing back, Victor continues to be wracked by guilt and fear.

Chapter 22

Victor continues to express guilt over the deaths he has inadvertently caused, though his father thinks they are just a bit of delirium that remains from the sickness. When in Paris, he receives a letter from Elizabeth telling him that he is not obligated to marry her if he doesn’t want to as all she wants is for him to be happy. The message reminds Victor of the monster’s threat of being there on his wedding night, and realizes that the monster will hurt people whether he gets married or not, so there’s no point in delaying what little happiness he can give to others and have himself if misery is inevitable. He writes back to affirm his lover for her.

When he gets back, the marriage is quickly arranged. Victor’s father manages to get from the Austrian government- who had possession of some of Elizabeth’s rebel father’s property- a bit of riverside land in North Italy where the couple will spend their honeymoon. Victor starts arming himself in case the monster comes to take his revenge, and his anxiety continues increases. The couple leaves the wedding right after the ceremony and set sail down the river.

Chapter 23

They arrive at the house, and Victor prepares for a fight with the monster. He tells Elizabeth to go to bed early as he waits up searching the house and surrounding area. He then hears a scream from her and goes to her room to find that she has been strangled. He faints and awakes surrounded by inn workers. He goes back up to the room to find the monster staring at him through the window and grinning. Victor fires off a shot, but misses. They search the surrounding area but don’t find whatever Victor was shooting at. He returns to Geneva that day as he is scared that the monster will continue its rampage upon his other family members. Upon hearing the news of Elizabeth’s death, Victor’s father becomes sick and dies within a few days.

Victor is again arrested and remembers the experience only as a haze. When he comes to, he goes to the local magistrate to tell him his story and ask for help. The magistrate seems interested, but when asked to use his official powers to track down such a fantastic creature, he begins to patronize Victor, saying he will if he can but most likely the monster is out of man’s reach. Victor remains resolved to chase the monster down, with or without anyone’s help.

Chapter 24

Victor takes some money and jewelry, then packs up some gear and heads out to look for the monsters. He has no idea where to head, but ends up at the grave of his family members. There, the monster mocks his despair from afar and the chase begins. From the Mediterranean, to central Asia to Russia, Victor chased the monster. The monster would often leave little clues or outright insults to Victor, beckoning him onward, further north. Victor bought, traded, and hunted for food from the increasingly impoverished people along the way.

Victor reveals that he has been this far north for about three weeks, chasing the figure in the distance when the ship had found him and his dead sled team. Victor admits that had they not been going north, he wouldn’t have joined them- preferring to die in pursuit rather than give up. Victor asks Robert to kill the monster if he happens to see him.

Robert’s Letters

The novel then return to the letters of Robert Walton to describe contemporary events. A week has passed since they’ve picked up Victor. Robert recalls from an earlier letter that he much desired a friend on this trip and seems to have found that potential friend in Victor, which makes him sad to see that Victor is convinced he will die soon. Robert attempts to cheer him up with the possibility of a new life, but Victor says that not only would it never be as good as the one he could’ve had, but that he doesn’t deserve it.

The ice returns to surround the ship, causing it to stop. The possibility of mutiny arises, and a group of men come to speak to Robert while he is visiting Victor. They ask him that if they do get out of this situation and that he will turn the ship around and head back. Robert doesn’t answer immediately, allowing Victor to speak up. He tells them that this trip was undertaken for the very purpose of its danger and that they risk being called cowards and failures if they return. Robert asks them to think about what was said, but the next letter indicates that the men decided that turning back was preferable, to which Robert concedes.

The ice finally breaks, and they turn the ship around. Upon hearing that they are no longer heading North, Victor attempts to leave the ship, but faints just from standing up too quickly. The ship’s doctor informs him that Victor is on the verge of death. Victor tells Robert that he doesn’t regret his actions, as though the monster was right in deserving happiness, Victor had a greater obligation to the human race. He asks him again to kill the monster if he happens upon him, but understands that it may not happen. Victor dies soon after.

The letter mentions Robert hearing noises around the ship and going to examine. The next paragraph describes how he ran into the monster looking over Victor’s dead body. They then have a conversation, where Robert wants to blame the monster for the death and misery he has caused. The monster concedes that he has chosen to do horrible things, but wonders aloud how much of his fate was determined. The monster feels justified in his revenge as his creator dared to have happiness while denying his creation any sort despite being obliged to do so. The monster asks why it was that Robert doesn’t equally blame Felix for being so quick to judge and abandon, or the man who shot the monster after it had saved a drowning girl. The monster says that it is his own death that will end the misery, and that he plans to go further north and burn himself on a funeral pyre so as to make sure his body will never give any clues to someone else as to how to make another like him. He jumps out the window and floats away on a piece of ice.