Frankenstein to the end

Chapter 21
1. What had the fisherman tripped over on his way home?
2. What about the fisherman’s story bothered Victor?
3. Why did the people say they had seen one boat with one man in it push off from that part of the shore and then return to almost the same place later on?

4. What conclusion had the people come to about Victor?
5. What causes Victor to become ill again, and what does he rave about during his illness?

6. What is the condition of the place in which Victor finds himself when he gets well?
7. What wish did Victor express?
8. Why is the treatment that Victor receives significant?
9. How had Mr. Kirwin shown kindness to Victor?
10. How did Mr. Kirwin learn of Victor’s innocence?
11. Why did Victor recoil in horror when he was told he had a visitor?
12. Why did Victor have to remain in prison after Mr. Kirwin realized he was innocent?

13. What prevented Victor from taking his life this time?
14. What caused Victor to live through his despair/
15. How did Victor feel about leaving Ireland and why?
16. What was his nightmare before his father awakened him on the boat?

Chapter 22
1. What paradoxical feelings did Victor have about people and their company?
2. Why does Victor continue to keep his secret?
3. How does Victor’s father hear about what Victor has done?
4. What is Victor’s father’s reaction to the truth that he has heard?
5. What tentative conclusion has Elizabeth reached about Victor’s unhappiness?
6. About what did Elizabeth’s letter remind Victor, and what did he expect the creature would do?

7. What does Victor tell Elizabeth he will do on the day after their marriage?
8. Why was Victor denied the satisfaction of reveling in his grief?
9. Why did Victor face his wedding with courage?
10. With what mixed feelings did Victor await his marriage?
11. What happens after the ceremony is finished?
12. What does Elizabeth notice about nature as they near their destination?


Chapter 23
1. Why does Victor ask Elizabeth to go to bed before he does?
2. What horror occurred for Victor as promised on his wedding day?
3. Why does Victor want to return to Geneva as soon as possible?
4. Why is it ironic that Victor says “no creature had ever been so miserable as I was”?
5. What further sorrow awaited Victor after he returned to Geneva?
6. Why does Victor finally tell his story?
7. What does the magistrate promise Victor?
8. What does Victor commit the remainder of his life to doing?
9. What does the magistrate think of Victor’s story now?

Chapter 24.
1. What is the incentive that keeps Victor alive?
2. What promise does Victor make on his family’s grave?
3. Why do you think the creature is satisfied?
4. How does Victor know where the creature is going at all times?
5. Why does Victor think he was able to continue following the creature despite terrible torments?

6. How did the nights aid Victor in his pursuit?
7. When does Victor say he will give up his search?
8. How does Victor feel when he reaches the land of ice and snow?
9. Why were the villagers glad when the creature left them?
10. What gave Victor a burst of energy after one of his dogs had died and all seemed hopeless?

11. What promise does Victor ask Robert to give him?
12. What really convinced Robert of the truth of Victor’s tale?
13. What gives Victor some sense of peace as he relates his tale to Robert?
14. When does Victor say he will die?
15. Why does Robert grow frightened?
16. What realization does Robert come to about his men?
17. What part does Victor play in Robert’s life at this time?
18. Why was their ship in danger, and what did his men want Robert to do?
19. Why is Victor’s tirade to the sailors so completely unexpected? What does it tell about him?

20. What happens to Victor after his speech?
21. What is Robert’s decision and how does it differ from Victor’s?
22. Why does Victor relent and free Robert from any promise he may have enjoined on him?

23. What is Victor’s last bit of advice to Robert?
24. How does the creature react to Victor’s demise?
25. Why does Robert’s compassion turn to scorn?
26. What does the creature think of himself?
27. What does the creature say he will do after he leaves Robert?
28. Who is the monster? Do you feel any sympathy for Victor? For the Creature?

Frankenstein Close Reading Questions

Frankenstein: Reading Schedule February 17
February 17: The four letters in the beginning of the book
February 22: Chs. 1-3
February 24: Chapters 4-7
February 28: Chapters: 8-11
March 8: Chapters: 12-15
March 10: Chapters 16-18
March 14: Chapters: 19-21
March 16: Chapters: 22-23
March 18: Chapters: 24 End
Exam TBA



Letter 1
1. Where is Robert Walton going?
2. What has he been told by other explorers about the place?
3. What does he hope purpose does he hope to accomplish?
4. How did he prepare for this undertaking?
5. Where is he when he writes the first letter, and where does he intend to go?
6. What will he do at the destination when he gets there?
Letter 2.
1. What does Walton say he needs above anything else?
2. What influenced him to choose the lieutenant that he did?
3. What does Walton say sets him apart from other men?
Letter 3
1. What promise does he make to his sister?

Letter 4
1. Why were the men unable to move?
2. What did Walton and his men see?
3. What did the stranger want to know before he came on board the ship?
4. How does Walton describe the stranger’s eyes?
5. Why did the stranger say he had come so far north?
6. What did Walton reveal to this stranger?
7. What do you think the stranger says, “Unhappy man! Do you share my madness?” (Shelley 15).
8. What does the stranger say has happened for him?
9. Why does the stranger decide to tell Walton about his past?

Frankenstein Discussion Questions
Chapter 1
1. What happened to Beaufort and why is this significant in Victor’s life?
2. What kind of person was Caroline Beaufort?
3. Who did Caroline become and what is her relationship to Victor?
4. What seemed to unite Victor’s parents in a very close relationship?
5. How did M Frankenstein treat his wife and why?
6. Why did the Frankensteins travel to Italy?
7. How was Victor treated as a baby?
8. Why did Victor’s mother visit the homes of the poor when they were on the shores of Lake Como?
9. How had the child of different stock come to be living with the poor peasants?
10. Why did the peasants give Elizabeth to the Frankensteins?
Chapter 2
1. How did Victor and Elizabeth differ?
2. What kind of life did Victor’s family lead?
3. What qualities did Victor exhibit as a child?
4. What interested him most?
5. What was Clerval’s interest?
6. What influence kept Victor from becoming a sullen and isolated individual?
7. What caused Victor to choose natural science as his particular area of study?
8. What does Victor’s father unwittingly cause when he denigrates Cornelius Agrippa? Has something similar ever occurred for you?

9. How did Victor come away from his studies?
10. What became Victor’s dream?
11. Why was the thunderstorm significant in Victor’s life?
12. How did Victor feel about his new studies, and what has he later realized about them?

Chapter 3
1. What caused the death of Caroline Frankenstein?
2. Why did Clerval’s father decide that Clerval did not need a university education?
3. What did victor think about M. Krempe and M Waldman?
4. What was the difference between the ancient scientists and the scientist of his time according to M. Waldman?

5. What did M Waldman say the scientist of his time had done?
6. Why does Victor say “Such were the professor’s words – rather let me say such the words of fate – enounced to destroy me” (Shelley 38).

7. What was M Waldman’s opinion of Cornelius Agrippa and Paracelsus?
8. What advice did M. Waldman give Victor at the end of chapter 3?