Frankenstein Reading Guide: Victor’s Childhood Name______

Vocabulary:

benevolent – (adj) friendly, kind
afflicted – (adj) disadvantaged
disconsolate – (adj)hopeless
penury – (n) poverty

abode – (n) home, house
ample – (adj) enough, sufficient
confiscated – (adj) taken
cherub - (n) angel
apparition – (n) vision, ghost
prevailed – (adj) persisted
rustic – (adj) of the country
Providence – (n) destiny, fate
bestowed – (adj) given, granted

Chapter 1

  1. How does Victor describe his parents’ attitude toward their child (Victor)? (35)
  1. Who is Elizabeth Lavenza and what is her story? (36-37) Comment on Victor’s use of the word “gift” to describe her.

Chapter 2

  1. How does Victor’s statement that “the world was to me a secret which I desired to divine” serve to characterize him? (38)
  1. What is Shelley’s intent when she has Victor characterize Elizabeth as “the saintly soul (who) shone like a shrine-dedicated lamp in our peaceful home?” What role does this characterization establish for Elizabeth? (39)
  1. Who is Henry Clerval and what is his relation to Victor? (39-40)
  1. What sort of science (referred to as "Natural Philosophy") is Victor learning from Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus? How would a modern scientist respond to this sort of thinking? (41-42)
  1. What happens when Victor sees an oak tree destroyed by lightning and hears an explanation? What does Victor then begin to study? (42)
  1. Who or what does he credit for this change in direction? Who or what does he blame for his "utter and terrible destruction"? (43)

Summary of the Reading:

Victor’s Early Life: Chapter 1

Victor begins his story by detailing ______in the Genevese Republic, starting with his father Alphonse’s marriage to______. Victor was their only child for five years, after which they adopted orphaned toddler ______who they present to Victor as “______.” He vows to protect and cherish Elizabeth as his very own possession.

Chapter 2

The Frankensteins have two more sons, ______and______, and settle in Geneva. Unlike his best friend, ______, who wishes to learn about “the virtues of ______and the actions of ______,” Victor desires to learn “the secrets of ______and ______.” Victor becomes enamored of natural philosophy and begins reading obscure authors, delving into “the search of ______and the elixir of life.” A violent lightning storm and the ensuing scientific explanation from a family friend cause Victor to conclude that he should abandon these old-fashioned ideas.