Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Book Club
Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus
8 ways to start a deeper conversation.
Contains spoilers for the entire book.
Discussion topics
Topic 01 of 08
Walton's letters
Why do you think the story is framed by Robert Walton's letters from his voyage to the Arctic?
Keep the conversation going
- What does Walton have in common with Victor when they first meet on the ice?
- How do you read Walton's decision, at the end, to turn his ship back?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.
Discussion topics
Why do you think the story is framed by Robert Walton's letters from his voyage to the Arctic?
Keep the conversation going
- What does Walton have in common with Victor when they first meet on the ice?
- How do you read Walton's decision, at the end, to turn his ship back?
Why does Victor flee from the being he has worked so hard to bring to life?
Keep the conversation going
- Was it the creature's appearance that horrified him, or something in himself?
- What might have happened if Victor had stayed in the room that night?
Why does Victor stay silent while Justine is tried and executed for William's murder?
Keep the conversation going
- What does his silence tell you about where his fear and his loyalties really lie?
- Who do you hold responsible for Justine's death?
How does the creature's time watching the De Lacey family shape who he becomes?
Keep the conversation going
- What does he learn about people from the books he finds, from Paradise Lost to Plutarch?
- How did you feel when the family he loved drove him away?
Is the creature born good and made cruel, or is he responsible for the murders he commits?
Keep the conversation going
- Did your sympathy for him survive what he does to William, Clerval and Elizabeth?
- Which of the two, Victor or the creature, seemed to you the more humane?
Was the creature's demand for a companion a reasonable one, and was Victor right to destroy the second being?
Keep the conversation going
- What does Victor fear might follow if he finishes his work?
- How did you read the creature's promise to be with Victor on his wedding night?
What is the novel saying about ambition and knowledge, and about the people who pursue them alone?
Keep the conversation going
- Why do you think the book is subtitled The Modern Prometheus?
- Does Victor ever take responsibility for what he made, and does he come to regret it?
Who is hunting whom in the final chase, and what do Victor and his creature have left besides each other?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of the creature's grief over Victor's body?
- How did you feel about the creature's last words and his leaving to die alone on the ice?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.