I met a syndic at the bank yesterday; he was detailing a loan with a client.

"Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction." (Shelly 27)

"He was an uncouth man, but deeply embued in the secrets of his science" (Shelly 31).

"When my father returned from Milan, he found playing with me in the hall of our villa a child fairer than pictured cherub-" (Shelley 21).

Considering the fact that he has essentially isolated himself from the world, do you think this will cause him to show signs of psychiatric patients and attack the people that are close to him and trying to help him?

Without the 2 professors from the university, would Victor's obsession be as extreme? Explain.

"Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs" (Shelly 40).

In the quote, Victor is realizing that he has a lot more power than he thinks. He realizes that he can create life and use it to make more beings. The quote helps amplify the motif of Hubris because this significant event will only fuel his arrogance even more, potentially leading to his downfall. There is an intense passion in Victor to continue to discover new scientific things, which relates to the Gothic Romantisism trait of being intensely passionate about things which eventually lead to his downfall. Do you think chapter 4 marks a shift in Victor?

"A mind of moderate capacity which closely pursues one study must infallibly arrive at great proficiency in that study" (Shelly 36).

Definition- feel or express strong disapproval of (something).

Even though Clerval was being kind enough to take care of Victor and protect his family from the information of Victor not being well, do you think Victor would have turned on him in his confusion and "sick" the monster on him, or could it lead to Victor wanting to protect Clerval if the monster were to attack? (If his sickness continued).

"At length lassitude succeeded to the tumult I had before endured; and I threw myself on the bed in the clothes, endeavoring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness" (43).

Do you believe that if Victor had taken time to find his monster that he would have been the one to die or would there have been a different outcome?

Question: If the book was rewritten and Victor confessed that his creature killed his brother, do you think Elizabeth would've believed him?

"Mont Blanc, the supreme and magnificent Mont Blanc, raised itself from the surrounding aiguilles, and its tremendous dome overlooked the valley" (82).

Prognosticated: to foretell or prophesy a future event

Convalescence: time spent recovering from an illness or medical treatment

"I took their word for all that they averred, and I became their disciple" (Shelley 25).

Precipitous: dangerously high or steep

"I took their word for all that they averred, and I became their disciple" (Shelley 25).

"His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips" (Shelley 43).

Was Victor's fate determined in his earlier years when he first took an interest in science or when he was inspired again in college to pursue it more heavily? Why?

"But I was enchanted by the appearance of the hut; here the snow and rain could not penetrate; the ground was dry; and it presented to me then as exquisite and divine a retreat as Pandæmonium appeared to the dæmons of hell after their sufferings in the lake of fire"(Shelley 93).

How would the monster have known where to find Victor's home and brother?

Would you leave your family in this situation or would you stay? Why?

How do you think the family will react once and if the monster ultimately decides to show himself to the cottage family and try to live among people?

Do you believe it is ever possible for The Creature to be accepted by a community? Why or why not?

The high overwrought emotions expressed by Victor highlights the Gothic Romanticism genre. Victor is upset and frustrated at the monster that he created because he killed his brother. It's ironic in a way because Victor was the one who created the monster who killed his brother, yet he blames the monster for murder. This highlights the motif Hubris because Victor remains stuck up and blames others for his faults. How do you think the monster is feeling through this chapter when he's telling his story?

How does Victor's first reaction to the monster on the mountain differ from when he sees the monster's behavior and communication?

indulgence means the action or fact of indulging.

If the Creature hadn't educated himself in many subjects and learnt how to communicate, would he be better off than he is?

"A few days after, the Turk entered his daughters apartment, and told her hastily that he had no reason to believe that his residence at Leghorn had been divulged..." (114).

"Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?" (Shelley 124)

In this scene, the monster is begging Victor to build another monster so that he won't be so lonely. The agonizing pain felt by the monster represents the Gothic romanticism genre well. This highlights the motif of responsibility because now Victor is responsible for creating another monster because of the mistake he made. The story of the monsters life made Victor sympathize the creature and have the compassion to make another monster. Do you think Victor made the right move in agreeing to create another monster?

Definition: (of a deity) having unlimited power; able to do anything.

Do believe if the family had listened to the monster, and allowed him to express himself, they would accept him?

"The picture I present to you is peaceful and human, and you must feel that you could deny it only in the wantonness of power and cruelty" ( Shelley 134-135).

Where do you think the monster would be if the thing that started all of this, Victor abandoning him, never happened? What would become of the monster in this instance if these chains of events never occured?

Repentance means the action of repenting, sincere regret or remorse.

"Tell me, therefore, whether you object to an immediate solemnisation of the marriage" (139).

"Sometimes, indeed, I felt a wish for happiness; and thought, with melancholy delight, of my beloved cousin; or longed, with devouring maladie du pays, to see once more the blue lake and rapid Rhone that had been so dear to me in early childhood: but my general state of feeling was torpor in which a prison was as welcome a residence as the divinest scene of nature; and these fits were seldom interrupted but by paroxysms of anguish and despair" (Shelley 170)

"This lady died; but her lessons were indelibly impressed on the mind of Safie, who sickened at the prospect of again returning to Asia and being immured within the walls of a harem, allowed only to occupy herself with infantile amusements, ill-suited to the temper of her soul, now accustomed to grand ideas and a noble emulation for virtue" (Shelley 111-112).

"I feared the vengeance of the disappointed fiend, yet I was unable to overcome my repugnance to the task which was enjoined me" (Shelley 138).

How do you think the novel would've changed if Safie didn't go to live with the De Lacey's?

Why does Victor's father encourage him to marry Elizabeth, even though they are basically siblings?

Recompense: compensation or reward given for loss or harm suffered or effort made

Exordium: the beginning or introductory part, especially of a discourse or treatise.

Despite creating the creature, where else does Victor fail to follow social moral rules or norms?

This quote highlights the motif Life and Death. Victor gave Life to the creature, and now that monster is killing other people, in this case Henry. This related to the monster theory "The monster always escapes" because every time the monster kills, he runs away and someone else is blamed for his actions

Question: Why does Victor interpret the threat "I shall be with you on your wedding night" as a threat against his own life rather than Elizabeth's?

Why do you think that Victor feels so deeply responsible for his actions even though he could've prevented most of it by complying with the monster?

If Victor were to create the female companion for Frankenstein, how would she react to the monster? How would she react to her own deformations and interaction with humans?

Do you think Victor is a bad friend for not looking out for Henry or is his actions reasonable to save his own life?

Invective: insulting, abusive, or highly critical language

How do you think the cottagers will react to the Monster's appearance, and will the monster ever be accepted in the novel?

What is the importance of nature to Victor?

Definition- (of a person or their efforts) persisting tirelessly.

"during my illness, some idea of this kind had presented itself to my imagination, the remembrance of which I preserved in my convalescence" (172).

How come Victor never told Elizabeth the truth, even though he said that he would confess to his madness on their wedding night?

If The Monster did not kill William, or William accepted the Monster, how would the plot have changed?

What do you think Maragret's reaction is to her brother's travels?

Do you believe there will ever be ways to cheat death, even slightly?

Do you believe that if Victor's mother had not died due to her sickness, he would have been less deep in his unhealthy isolation and obsession with his research?

Antipathy- a deep-seated feeling of dislike; aversion.

Why did the monster kill his brother, revenge, misplaced emotions, or another thing?

desponding-become dejected and lose confidence.

If Victor had told Elizabeth about the monster and its part in William's death, do you think that she would have believed him?

Refinement-cultured elegance in behavior or manner.

"But, besides, I could not bring myself to disclose a secret which would fill my hearer with consternation and make fear and unnatural horror the inmates of his breast."

"M. Krempe was not equally docile; and in my condition at that time, of almost insupportable sensitiveness, his harsh blunt encomiums gave me even more pain than the benevolent approbation of M. Waldman" (Shelley 54).

"A woman deposed that she lived near the beach and was standing at the door of her cottage, waiting for the return of the fishermen..." (Shelley 163).

"but the deadly languor and coldness of the limbs told me that what I now held in my arms had ceased to be the Elizabeth whom I had loved and cherished" (Shelley 183).

Sublime- tending to inspire awe usually because of elevated quality (as of beauty, nobility, or grandeur) or transcendent excellence

Adversary-of, relating to, or involving an enemy or adversary

Do you think Victor could have saved Elizabeth by telling her the honest truth? Explain.