Ch.18-20 "Frankenstein (Day 11))

Reading Day:

Chapters 18-20

+Corresponding reading guide questions

index

chapter 18 summary

chapter 19 summary

chapter 18 & 19 reading guide questions

chapter 20 reading guide questions

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Chapter 18 Summary

We will be reading a summary of this chapter in lieu of reading it in full. See below:

Victor procrastinates on fulfilling his promise to make his creature a lady friend. Papa Frankenstein, still not knowing the cause of Victor’s misery, suggests that he marry Elizabeth sooner rather than later, hoping that will raise Victor’s spirits. Victor is excited at this prospect, but feels that he “must perform [his] engagement and let the monster depart with his mate before [he] allowed [himself] to enjoy the delight of a union from which [he] expected peace” (192).To this end, Victor plans to confine himself to solitude somewhere in England to complete his task then marry Elizabeth as soon as he returns to Geneva. Clerval, however, joins him. At first, Victor thinks that this is a bad thing because he needs to complete his work in solitude but then he reasons that Clerval’s presence may prevent the creature from heckling him as he worked (“If I were alone, would he not at times force his abhorred presence on me to remind me of task or to contemplate its progress?” (193).

Chapter 19 Summary

We will be reading a summary of this chapter in lieu of reading it in full. See below:

Victor feels distant from fellow mankind with the exception of his dear friend Clerval who accompanies him on a tour of England visiting people and seeing the sights. Victor is still pointedly avoiding working on his creation for months and fluctuates between admiring the scenes and despairing about the task to come. He finally separates from Clerval to work in solitude in the countryside. He details the start of his new project: “Sometimes I could not prevail on myself to enter my laboratory for several days, and at other times I toiled day and night in order to complete my work. It was, indeed, a filthy process I was engaged. During my first experiment, a kind of enthusiastic frenzy had blinded me to the horror of my employment; my mind was intently fixed on the consummation of my labour, and my eyes were shut to the horror of my proceedings. But now I went to it in cold blood, and my heart often sickened at the work of my hands” (208).

What does Victor’s father encourage him to do? How does Victor feel?

reading guide questions: Chapters 18 & 19

If you were absent, please complete on a separate sheet of paper and staple to your Reading Guide when you return.

Where does Victor go at the end of the chapter? What is Victor’s purpose at this place?

What does Victor do with his newest (female) creation and why?

reading guide questions: Chapter 20

How does the Creature respond to Victor’s decision and what threats are made?

If you were absent, please complete on a separate sheet of paper and staple to your Reading Guide when you return.

How does Victor interpret the Creature’s threat that he “shall be with [him] on [his] wedding-night?”