Summary
Summary English 214 Exam: Frankenstein notes & quotes (colour coded by themes)
- Course
- Institution
- Book
Exam notes for english studies 214 frankenstein exam. includes notes, analysis and a quote bank colour-coded by theme.
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
Seller
Follow
taylorross3040
Content preview
FRANKENSTEIN• Destabilised binary of human and non-human
• Uncanny: both familiar and disturbingly foreign
• Polyvalent: multiple perspectives (mediated by epistolary form)
UNCANNY
• Intended to be ideal but ends up monstrously ugly
• Begins with compassion, deteriorates to anger and vengeance (both equally
human emotions)
• His uncanniness comes from his familiarity; what is actually disturbing is how
familiar he is to us - how human he is
• Slippery narrative: literary tool to discomfort reader (evokes anxiety)
PROMETHEUS
• God bound to rock whose liver was taken by an eagle everyday (tenacity)
• Victor plays god (lightning & electricity symbols) and echoes Satan in his
creation of his own hell
• Victor & Walton’s romanticised masculine construction alludes to a promethean
characterisation, but the lack of focus on them unsettles this norm
NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
• Outer narrative encloses multiple narratives (poly-vocal)
• Creature’s narrative is at the heart <3
• Complex narrative: embedded stories, flashbacks, etc. (disorienting)
• Who is the protagonist? No singular hero emphasises relationality over
individuality
• Embedded narrative emphasises confusion & suggests secrecy
EPISTOLARY FORM
• Overarching frame (letters)
• Creates distance (both temporal and geographical) & disorganisation
, RETROSPECTIVE NARRATIVE
• Events happened in past
• Breaking of letter conventions + the lapses of time blur the past and present
(discomforts us)
• Although the events are past, they are being described in the present, and they
are unresolved, which makes them uncanny
NARRATIVE INDETERMINACY
• Undefined (she never says who is talking or when they are talking)
• Ending is ambiguous (not knowing if monster lives on or kills himself reflects
narrative indeterminacy)
• Media res (middle of action) = disorientating effect
MIRRORING
• Doppelganger allusion presented by the ghostly mirroring of the pair
• Blurred line between Victor and the creature
• Victor is isolated by the creature’s burden just like how the creature is isolated as
a whole
• Narrative doubling
• Victor gets engaged at same time as creature decides he wants a mate
• Both enslaved by each-others existence
MORE SUBTLE FORMS OF DOUBLING
• When victor thinks of the creature he often appears
• The breaking of victors promise (to build a mate) precipitates the making of the
creature’s promise (to kill Elizabeth)
• Victor’s imprisonment mirrors creature’s trapped existence: lost, confused, treated
cruelly, criminalised unjustly.
• Except that Victor receives no punishment (despite him being equally if not
principally guilty) and his punishment is his entire existence
• Victor commits to hunting down the creature the same way the creature had to
hunt down him
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller taylorross3040. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $5.69. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
75632 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now