By the time the characters of Safie and her family are introduced in Chapter XIV, it is clear that Frankenstein is a novel composed of narratives within narratives: Robert Walton is writing a letter to his sister in which Victor Frankenstein is narrating his creature’s narration of Safie’s story!
In your view, how does this labyrinthine narrative structure impact the novel’s commentary on one (or more) of its major themes or messages? Why do you think Mary Shelley constructs the story in this way? And what makes Safie’s story at all relevant to the conflict between Victor Frankenstein and his monstrous creation?
Category: English 1302
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Title: “The Labyrinthine Narrative Structure of Frankenstein and its Impact on Themes and Characters”
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Title: “The Power and Consequences of Invention and Creation in Frankenstein”
What do the concepts of “invention” and “creation” mean to Victor Frankenstein? Consider especially the way Frankenstein describes his schooling and his experiments into the nature of life and death – not to mention his creation of new life out of dead body parts soon thereafter. How do Frankenstein’s thoughts compare to Mary Shelley’s discussion of artistic invention in the Author’s Introduction?