Frankenstein-Birch

Caroline's dad dies

1 CE

After having been sick for so long, Caroline's father dies, leaving her an orphan. Frankenstein's father being friends with Beaufort left Caroline in his care, and just 2 short years later the two marry. (pg. 28)

Elizabeth is adopted

1 CE

While Victor's family is traveling in Milan, they come across a peasant family with a beautiful child. Victor's mother desperately wants a child and decides to adopt the girl, calling her Victor's cousin and surprise. (pg. 29)

Chapters

Period: 1 CE to 24

Victor becomes interested in natural philosphy

2

While the other members of his family try to discourage him, Victor became enthralled in natural philosophy. He focused on the works of Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Magnus. He viewed the world as something to dissect and study and this separated from his peers interested in more traditional subjects. (pg. 34)

Victor witnesses a lightnight strike

2

At fifteen years old, Victor traveled to Belrive with his family where he saw lightning strike an old tree stump. This amazing and beautiful event became his inspiration for the use of electricity on his creature. (pg. 36)

Victor goes to college

3

At seventeen years old, Victor's family sent him away to college in Ingolstadt. Here, he inquired more about natural philosophy and the works he loved as a child. However, his teachers disapproved of the old works and tried to derail his studies, telling him to "begin you studies entirely anew." (pg. 41)

Victor's mother dies

3

After Elizabeth caught scarlet fever, Victor's mother fell ill in trying to care for her. He said she died "calmly" and this was the only death in his lifetime not caused by his creation. He began to experience the dark emotions that came with death, and sought to find a cure or reversal for this. (pg. 38)

Victor creates a plan to animate the dead

4

Sparked by the witness of his mother's death and longing to bring her back, Victor begins to plan how he could reanimate a nonliving organism. Recalling his experience with lightning nearly a decade prior, he decided this will be his stimulus. This intense focus, though, began to make him ill and he grew even more distant from his family. (pg. 49)

Victor excels at university

4

Victor spent two years solidly involved in college, paying not one visit home. He applied himself well and built new instruments for the lab. However, he became increasingly curious about life and death and the power it held. (pg. 45)

Ch 1-5 and letters character development

5

From Victor's blissful childhood, to haunted adulthood, this larege time span reveals the origins of some of his most prominent character traits. Victor takes possession over Elizabeth in the beginning, but later isolates himself from friends and family in college. Most everyone tries to persuade him away from studying nature, but this never deters him and he becomes interested in the beauty of nature that struck a tree down with lightning, but savagely tore his mother away from him.

Clerval comes to Ingolstadt to study and nurses Victor back to health

5

The only connection Victor has to his home, Clerval comes to study and finds Victor sickly. He kindly cares for Victor, but never learns of the monster. (pg. 52)

The creature comes to life and scares off Victor

5

Finally, Victor succeeded but he was so terrified of the hideous creature he crated that he ran away. Frightened by ominous nightmares and his impending doom, he fell ill. He regretted creating such a monster and fears anyone will find out. (pg. 51)

Victor's teacher talks to Clerval and Frankenstein

6

"'Why, M. Clerval, I assure you he has oustripped us all...' continued he, observing my face expressing suffering." (pg. 66)

Frankenstein's regret

6

"Ever since that fatal night, the end of my labours and the beginning of my misfortunes." (pg. 65)

Victor sees the monster in the forest

7

"A flash of lightning illuminated the object and discovered its shape plainly to me; it gigantic structure and the deformity of its aspect." (pg. 73)

Justine accused of murdering William

7

"Indeed, who could credit that Justine Moritz, who so aimable and fond of all the family, could suddenly suddenly become capable of so frightening, so appalling a crime?' (pg. 76)

Justine's on trial

8

"A thousand times rather would I have confessed myself guilty of the crime ascribed of Justine." (pg. 78)

Justine is dead

8

"I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow up on the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts."(pg. 85)

Victor feels guilty for Justine's death

9

"I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense such as no language can describe."(pg. 86)

Victor retreats to nature

9

"It was during an access of this kind that i left my home, and bending my steps towards the near Alpine valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such scenes, to forget myself and my ephemeral, because human, sorrows."(pg. 89)

Victor is consoled by nature

10

"these sublime and magnificent scenes of feeling, and afforded me the greatest consolation that I was capable of receiving." (pg 92)

Monster begins to tell his story

10

"But I contented to listen; and seating myself by the fire which my odious companion had lighted, he thus began his tale." (pg. 97)

The monster found the hut

11

"But I was enchanted by the appearance of the hut; here the snow and rain could not penetrate, the ground was dry." (pg. 101)

The monster finds the cottage and is in awe

11

"It was a lovely sight, even to me, poor wretch who had never beheld aught beautiful sight before." (pg. 103)

The creature becomes self-aware of his own emotions

12

"My spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past were blotted with memory, the present tranquil, and the future guided by bright rays of hope and anticipations of joy." (pg.110)

The creature learns to speak

12

"these thoughts exhilarated me and led me to apply with fresh ardour to acquiring the art of language." (pg,109)

Safie comes to the village

13

"The lady was dressed in a dark suit and covered with a thick black veil. Agatha asked a question, to which the stranger only replied by pronouncing, in a sweet accent, the name of Felix." (pg. 111)

Monster understands language and communication

13

"The stranger learned about 20 words at the first lesson; most of them, indeed, were those which I had before understood, but I profited by the others." (pg. 112)

The demise of Felix

14

"The government of France were greatly enraged at the escape of their victim and spared no pains to detect and punish his deliverer. The plot of Felix was quickly discovered, and De Lacey and Agatha were thrown into prison." (pg. 120)

An explanation of Safie's father

14

"The father of Safie had been the cause of their ruin. He was a Turkish merchant and had inhabited Paris for many years when, for some reason which I could not learn, he became obnoxious to the government." (pg. 117)

Ch 6-14 character development

14

Victor witnesses the death of two more people he loves at the hands of his creation. He remains selfish and disconnected from the world, but begins to feel more and more guilty. By running away he further relies on nature to calm him. He creates a new connection with the monster in hearing his tale, understanding more of the creature's suffering than he did at the beginning of chapter six.

The creature learns from books

15

While hiding in a hut observing the cottagers, the creature comes across three books that influence him: Plutarch's Lives, Sorrows of Werter, and Paradise Lost. The creature connects most to the latter, in which he finds a struggle with identifying as either Adam or Satan cast down from God. This was another step in trying to become more human and civil. (pg. 115)

The monster kills William

16

After trying to save a young girl and being shot, the monster becomes furiosu and confused why people would punish him for doing good. He makes his way to Geneva where he meets William, who tells him he knows Frankesntein. Enraged by the thought of his creator, the monster kills William and frames Justine with the boy's locket. (pg. 126)

The monster makes a deal with Frankenstein to build him a female comapnion

17

After completing his tale, the monster explains his life is so wrong and sorrowful because he doesn't have a companion. It says that it needs Victor to create a female companion so they can relate to each other and even vows to move to South America. To ensure Victor stays true to the deal, it says it'll watch over him for progress. (pg. 130)

Victor makes plans to travel for a research trip

18

Victor briefly returns home to Geneva to visit family and tell them he will be going away again. His father fears he doesn't want to marry Elizabeth, but he reassures him this is not the issue. After the trip, he says, he vows to marry her. (pg. 135)

Clerval and Victor travel Europe

19

Victor travels with his best friend and research partner, Clerval. He sees his old self in Clerval: wide-eyed, curious, and hopeful. All the while, he thoroughly experiences the beauty of nature which he discusses in great detail. (pg. 141)

Victor destroys the female monster

20

Fearing what would happen if the monsters reproduced and created a demon race, Victor dumps the female monster's body into a body of water and abandons the project. Furious, the monster confronts his creator and threatens to be with him on his wedding night as a plot of revenge. (pg. 149)

Ch 15-20 character development

20

In these five chapters, we see the progression of the monster from innocent and curious to evil and set on revenge after being punished for being mistaken for an evil act. Victor becomes wary of the monster and ultimately causes the murders of the monster as he denied him a mate. He is isolated once more as he leaves his family for months and cannot share the hardships he goes through, like the monster does.

Victor accused of murdering Henry

21

"Nothing indeed could be more unfortunate and agonizing than the strange chances that have lately occurred... so unaccountable a manner and paced, as it were, by some fiend across your path." (pg. 171)

Victor's father brings him back home and tries to sympathize with him

22

"My father's care and attentions were indefatigable; but he did not know the origin of my sufferings, and sought erroneous methods to remedy the incurable ill." (pg. 164)

The monster murders Elizabeth

23

"The murderous mark of the fiend's grasp was on her neck, and breath had ceased to issue from her lips." (pg. 186)

Victor decided to track down the monster

24

"I pursued him; and for many months this had been my task." (pg. 191)

The monster finds Victor and decides to leave to die(letters)

24

"I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly, and exult in the agony of the torturing flames." (pg. 197)

Ch 21-24 and letters character development

24

Victor reached the breaking point in these final chapters, losing his father and wife shortly after his best friend. This gives him the drive to hunt down the monster, which he encourages Walton to do, as well as accomplish his own dream. This continued stress and burden ultimately lead to his demise, and theoretically the end of his creation as well.