Class Notes, the last on "Frankenstein"

- About the ending - was this to be expected? Was it boring? It was a little expected, if not boring. I didn't expect Walton would talk to the monster - clearly, the monster didn't think so, either. Since this is a dramatic novel, what could be more dramatic than Victor dying, and the monster exiling himself to the far North where he might die? This is what I imagine would have happened if this story were more realistic: Walton's ship gets thoroughly stuck, and Victor dies because of the cold. Rumors of cannibalism drift through the crew as its members weaken. The story never leaves the area, and the ship rots in the ice. The end.

- Does Victor contradict himself when, after refusing to tell Walton how to create a monster like he did, he instructs the crew to persevere in the expedition? Victor believes in ACCOMPLISHMENT and HUMAN WILL; this is not in opposition to not telling Walton the recipe for "Frankenstein Monsters a la mode." Victor does not want his mistake repeated by someone else making a monster, but he does want civilization and human ability to reach its limits and beyond.

- Tomorrow: "The Lifted Veil" - an attack on the Romantic hero.


- On the 'hero' I created on HeroMachine:

I created a version of Elizabeth. She was all that was still good and decent about Victor: she was the focus and the source of unconditional love and companionship, towards Victor and his family; she was a protective, guarding presence in his life, to whom he intended to trust the horrible secret of the monster after they were married, and who, I think, has a hidden reservoir of heroism and determination. The lantern in her left hand represents that kind of light, a power of insight and goodness. The shield in her right hand indicates her protectiveness. The lynx I think might be the secret daring and aggression she has within, but who, as a genteel woman, she has to hide.