Frankenstien form, language and structure

Form:

• The three-volume novel became a standard publishing format in nineteenth century England.
• Instead of the common Trilogy of novels, it was published in three sections or instalments.
• The form became particularly successful in mid-Victorian times.
• The price of each volume remained stable at half a guinea for most of the nineteenth century — roughly equivalent to around £20.
• The cost of a single novel then was one and a half guineas (approximately £60).
• The use of multiple narrators is typical of Gothic fiction.
• The testimony of various narrators could be a method to add plausibility to a tale which otherwise lacks truth to life.
•  It also provides a range of perceptions to events, allowing us a more rounded view of what occurs.
• The connected narratives grow organically from one another: it is impossible to extricate them one from the other — the monster’s narrative is part of Frankenstein’s narrative and vice versa.
• Shelley’s novel clearly has strong claims to be the first great science fiction novel.
• Science-Fiction techniques include: dystopian possibilities, the heroic fantasy of the hero, its reliance on horror, the paranormal and scientific advance.

Language:

• Shelley creates verbal ties between Frankenstein and the monster.
• Through such verbal echoes, she emphasises the connections between creator and creature:

 The monster: ‘I, like the archfiend, bore a hell within me’ (p. 138).

Frankenstein: ‘I was cursed by some devil and carried about with me my eternal hell’ (p. 207).

• Shelley  makes use of the word ‘consummate’ with regard to Victor’s wedding night — it is to be the night that the monster consummates his crime, as well as the night that Frankenstein and Elizabeth consummate their marriage.  – Double meaning.

Frankenstein: ‘I would sell my life dearly, and not shrink from the conflict until my own life, or that of my adversary, was extinguished’ (p. 198)

The Monster: ‘you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us’ (p. 102).

• Shelley’s use of this technique establishes the intimate connection between Frankenstein and his monster.
• Even though they are in many ways isolated one from the other, Shelley uses verbal ties to emphasise the inevitable connections between the creator and his creature at an unconscious level.
• BIBLIAL IMAGERY: nature of Shelley’s tale of creation (Genesis) and apocalypse (Revelation) — the first and last books of the Bible.
• The words of the monster to his creator on the ‘sea of ice’ and elsewhere have the tone of the prophetic books of the Old Testament.
• Frankenstein ironically sees himself as humanity’s only potential saviour, but in seeking to destroy the monster and to prevent the continuation of his species by refusing to create a companion, he seals his own fate.
• LANGUAGE OF HEAVEN & HELL: As common in the Gothic Genre, Frankenstein often makes use of opposites and contrasts.
• Hellish Language is used such as ‘fiend’ and ‘diabolical’ when referring to the monster and heavenly language in the context of Victor’s mother and Elizabeth

STRUCTURE:

• V-shaped Structure: Walton, Frankenstein, Monster, Frankenstein, Walton
• This suggests that Walton’s narrative is the surface of the novel’s events — it is the narrative ‘present’ with which the novel begins and ends.
• Below that surface lies Victor Frankenstein’s tale — a cautionary tale relating to Walton’s potential future.
• At the ‘deepest’ point of the tale lies the monster’s narrative, embodying the deepest and darkest psychological forces of the novel.
• The V may thus suggest a descent into darkness and re-emergence from it.
• The open V also suggests an open-ended conclusion to the tale.
• We are left uncertain as to the monster’s fate and we are also uncertain of Walton’s future.
• Frankenstein’s highly ambiguous closing observations on scientific exploration leave us doubting whether Walton will notice the warning.
• Chinese Boxes: Unlike the open-ended possibilities of the V shape, this view suggests a closed ending to the novel with Walton.
• The close parallels between the two men suggest close links between their narratives, especially as Victor’s narrative is scribed by Walton.
• Again, this signals the inescapable ties between the two characters.
• The monster can be seen as the forbidden ‘box’ at the heart of Shelley’s tale, which Frankenstein foolishly opens, allowing turmoil to spill out into the world.
• Concentric Rings: The monster’s narrative is completely enclosed within Frankenstein’s, which is enclosed within Walton’s frame story.
• Again, this emphasises the inescapable interactions between all three narratives and points to the monster as the core of Frankenstein.
• Whereas the ‘V’ implies a linear movement through the novel, and the boxes imply a movement inwards from Walton through Frankenstein to the monster, this model implies a movement outwards from the monster, making him the driving force of the novel.
• Walton’s first sighting of the monster comes before he has met Victor, and therefore the monster leads Victor in Walton’s imagination; it is the monster that drives Frankenstein’s insane pursuit and fuels his desire for revenge; and it is the ‘monster’ of scientific ambition in Frankenstein that leads to the sorry events we see.
• Shelley also employs the device of doubling and doubling of plot devices.
•  This links to one of the great features of Gothic fiction — cyclical repetition.
• Through repetition and alteration, Shelley structures the text to ensure that the tale has an inevitable and unavoidable logic.