Polyphonic Narrative Voice: 'Frankenstein' features multiple narrators, primarily Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the Creature. This 'many-voiced' approach allows for diverse perspectives on the same events, enriching the reader's understanding but also complicating the search for objective truth.
Russian Doll Narrative (Epistolary Structure): The story is framed by Walton's letters to his sister, within which Victor recounts his story, and within Victor's narrative, the Creature tells his own tale. This nested structure creates layers of mediation, increasing narrative distance and raising questions about reliability.
Narrative Distance and Unreliability: The mediation of the Creature's story through Victor, and Victor's story through Walton, suggests that the inner narratives may be biased or incomplete. Victor, in particular, is presented as an unreliable narrator who 'corrected and augmented' Walton's notes, implying he shaped the story to his own advantage.
Retrospective Narration: Victor's account is told in retrospect, after the tragic events have unfolded. This allows him to reflect on his past actions with a sense of regret, but also enables him to frame his story in a way that elicits sympathy or justifies his choices, further contributing to his unreliability.
Light and Fire: These elements are powerful and recurring motifs. Light often symbolizes knowledge, enlightenment, and scientific discovery, but also has the potential for blindness and destruction. Fire, similarly, represents both the benefits of knowledge (warmth, cooking) and its destructive capacity (burning the cottage, the Creature's internal 'hell').
The Locket: This object, passed from Caroline to Justine and then used by the Creature to frame Justine, symbolizes the tragic interconnectedness of lives destroyed by Victor's creation. It links the deaths and highlights the Creature's growing malevolence.
'Labour': Victor's repeated use of the word 'labour' to describe his work on the Creature is a double entendre, referring both to strenuous effort and the act of childbirth. This motif underscores Victor's attempt to usurp the female role in creation and highlights the unnaturalness of his scientific endeavor.
The Creature's Body: The grotesque physical appearance of the Creature, with its 'pearly white' teeth contrasting with 'watery eyes', symbolizes the horrifying and unnatural outcome of Victor's defiance of nature. It represents the monstrous consequences of unchecked ambition and scientific hubris.
'Devil', 'Daemon', 'Fiend': These epithets, frequently applied to the Creature, symbolize his rejection and 'othering' by society. However, in conjunction with allusions to Milton's 'Paradise Lost', they also evoke sympathy, suggesting he is a 'fallen angel' made malevolent by suffering, rather than inherently evil.
Books and Diction: The Creature's articulate language and his reading of Romantic texts like 'Paradise Lost' and 'The Sorrows of Young Werther' symbolize his intelligence and capacity for empathy, contrasting sharply with Victor's often emotional and less composed speech. This challenges the reader's perception of who is truly 'monstrous'.
Isolated Settings: Shelley frequently uses settings that emphasize isolation, such as Walton's ship trapped in ice, Victor's 'solitary chamber' workshop, and the remote Alps. These settings mirror the characters' emotional and psychological states of loneliness and alienation, reinforcing the theme of isolation.
Gothic Settings: The novel employs classic Gothic settings like dark laboratories, desolate landscapes, and stormy nights to create an atmosphere of fear, mystery, and impending doom. These settings are not merely backdrops but active participants in shaping the narrative's mood.
Pathetic Fallacy: This technique involves attributing human emotions or responses to inanimate nature or objects. For example, the 'rain pattered dismally' during the Creature's creation, and the 'burning out of a candle' symbolizes a loss of light and the creation of darkness, foreshadowing disaster and the Creature's destructive nature.
Link Technique to Effect and Theme: When analyzing a literary technique, always explain how it works, what effect it has on the reader, and which theme it helps to develop. For example, 'Shelley's use of polyphonic narration (technique) creates narrative distance (effect), which allows her to critique the unreliability of powerful voices (theme).'
Identify Authorial Intent: Consider why Shelley chose a particular technique. What message was she trying to convey? How does it reflect her views on society, science, or human nature? This demonstrates a deeper analytical understanding.
Look for Patterns and Contrasts: Pay attention to recurring motifs, symbols, or structural elements. Also, note contrasts, such as the Creature's eloquent speech versus Victor's emotional outbursts, or the benevolent De Laceys versus prejudiced society. These contrasts often highlight key thematic ideas.
Analyze Specific Language: For symbolism, motifs, and pathetic fallacy, focus on the specific words and phrases Shelley uses. Explain their connotations and how they contribute to the overall meaning and atmosphere. For example, the 'sexual connotations' of 'penetrate' in Victor's ambition.