Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Frankenstein and his father stop in Paris so he can rest. His father wants him to “seek amusement in society,” but Frankenstein, though he considers his “fellow brethren” to be “creatures of an angelic nature,” feels that he has “no right to share their intercourse” (169). He continues to say he is at fault for the deaths, but his father does not understand these claims, and Frankenstein refrains from confessing to the creature’s existence.

Frankenstein receives a letter from Elizabeth expressing concern that he does not in fact want to marry her. He is reminded of the creature’s promise to be with him on his wedding night. If he is killed, he believes, at least he will be in peace. He assures Elizabeth that he wants to marry her and that he has a dreadful secret he will reveal to her the day after they are married.

Once home, Frankenstein suffers nervousness that only Elizabeth can soothe. The wedding is planned for 10 days later. As the wedding grows closer, Frankenstein cannot help but feel his “heart sink.” Elizabeth too is somber, as if “past misfortunes had impressed that what now appear[s] certain and tangible happiness might soon dissipate into an airy dream” (175). Frankenstein arms himself so he can fight the creature.

The day of the wedding contains Frankenstein’s “last moments […] of happiness” (176). He and Elizabeth travel by water toward Austria. Elizabeth comments that she has a sense of impending disaster, but she has decided not to listen to it. She comments on the beauty of Mont Blanc as they travel along the lake. They finally reach the shore.

That night, as Frankenstein and Elizabeth settle at an inn, a storm descends. Frankenstein feels “anxious and watchful” (178). He considers how frightening a battle between himself and the creature will be for Elizabeth, so he encourages her to go to bed. Frankenstein looks around for the creature but does not find him. He hears a scream from the bedroom, where he finds Elizabeth dead. Uncertain how he could “behold this and live,” he ponders how life “clings closest where it is most hated” (179). When he awakens from a faint, people in the inn bring him to Elizabeth’s body. Marks on her neck indicate she was strangled. He sees the creature’s grinning face in the window and runs after him, but the creature escapes. People search for him outside, to no avail. As Frankenstein looks at Elizabeth’s body, he considers that his father and Ernest are not safe. He takes a boat on the lake to begin his journey home and ponders memories from happier times.

When he returns home, his father is “in the decline of life” and soon dies in his arms (181). Frankenstein is “possessed by a maddening rage” when he thinks of the creature and begins preparing to find him (182). When he tells a judge that he knows who killed his family and relates the story of the creature, the judge accuses Frankenstein of “delirium.” Frankenstein vows that he will destroy the creature himself.

Frankenstein’s purpose now is to destroy the creature. He visits the cemetery where his father, William, and Elizabeth are buried and laments that he is alive while they are dead. When he hears the creature laugh, Frankenstein chases after him—and never stops.

Frankenstein’s only joy is in sleep, when he sees his loved ones in dreams. Frankenstein obtains a dogsled and begins gaining on the creature. When his dogs begin dying, he loses hope, but the sight of the creature in the distance spurs him forward. He is separated from the creature when the ice cracks, leaving “a tumultuous sea” between them (191). At the point of death, he sees Walton’s ship. He decides to embark only if they are going northward. Frankenstein begs Walton that if he dies, Walton will remember his dead loved ones and destroy the creature.

Frankenstein finds solace only in being alone. He tells Walton how, when he was younger, he believed he was “destined for some great enterprise” (194). However, despite his “lofty ambition,” he is like the “archangel who aspired to omnipotence” but is “chained in an eternal hell” (194).

The story continues with more letters from Walton to his sister Margaret. He writes that he has no doubt Frankenstein was telling the truth. As such, he tried to get Frankenstein to reveal the secret of life that allowed him to create the creature, but he refused. Walton then expresses concern that his ship is blocked in by ice and he may not survive. He fears the lives of his crew are also in danger and that if they die, his “mad schemes are the cause” (196).

Several men die of the cold, and Frankenstein’s health declines. Walton’s men mutiny, demanding that if they survive, they head southward, but Frankenstein chastises them for their cowardice. Just before his death, with visions of his loved ones before him, he warns Walton to “avoid ambition.”

When Walton later approaches Frankenstein’s body, he sees the creature standing over it. The creature expresses remorse and wishes he could ask Frankenstein for forgiveness. Walton chastises him for not listening to his conscience earlier, and the creature replies that he suffered more in killing than Frankenstein did himself. He “pitied Frankenstein” but was angry that Frankenstein expected to have happiness while he himself was miserable.

The creature says he is beyond seeking human compassion now, for “crime has degraded [him] beneath the meanest animal” (203). He claims to hate himself more than anyone else could and tells Walton he will go to the northernmost point on Earth and consume himself in fire. With these thoughts, the creature leaves the ship and is quickly swallowed by darkness.