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For Thursday: Frankenstein, Chapters 6 to Book 2, Chapter 6 (pp.60-118)

Witches' Sabbath by Goya 

As always, try to read carefully and with detail rather than skimming to the end. Reading a book is never about the finish line, but what you find and encounter along the way. But try to get as close to page 118 as possible for our next class.

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: In Book 1, Chapter 7, Victor and Elizabeth interview Justine in prison, and learn of her false confession, made in danger of eternal torment. Why doesn't Victor, who knows the truth, tell the court what he knows? And why might this passage be consistent with other passages of abandonment in the novel?

Q2: How does Elizabeth change over the course of these chapters? Victor notes that "She was no longer that happy creature," and that she had "become grave." Is it just the death of her loved ones that causes this change? As one of the few women in the novel, why might her character be significant to the novel, and not just a footnote? You might also consider what she does say when she’s actually allowed to speak.

Q3: One of the great debates of the 18th century was about the inner nature of men and women: were they a 'blank slate,' which was simply imprinted with their immediate surroundings? Or did they come into this world fully formed, with morals, values, and inclinations toward good or evil? How is the Creature a way of testing this theory in a dramatic way? As a truly blank slate (reanimated body parts), what does Shelley feel is the intrinsic nature of men and women?

Q4: How does the Creature's narrative compare and/or differ from Victor's? Does it sound like a completely new voice and a new perspective? Given that Victor is his 'father,' do they share certain traits and mannerisms? Is there anything suspicious about the Creature's story, which again is told completely by Victor through Walton's dictation? 

Q5: At the end of Volume 1, Victor claims that “I bore a hell within me, which nothing could extinguish.” How literally should we take this statement? Is this Victor’s subconscious admission that the Creature is part of him, or an expression of his own inner nature? What clues or inconsistencies seem to support this reading? Do you think Shelley wanted to leave this possibility open in the novel?

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