Frankenstein structure Flashcards
(3 cards)
How does the novel use a cyclical structure?
Both novels also employ cyclical structure to reflect entrapment and the consequences of unchecked power.
Frankenstein, similarly, begins and ends in the Arctic, framing the entire narrative within Walton’s final encounter with Victor and the Creature. This structural circularity suggests that the cycle of obsession, ambition, and revenge is inescapable. Both texts end ambiguously — with Offred stepping “into the darkness within, or else the light,” and the Creature disappearing “in darkness and distance” — reinforcing their shared theme that neither narrative closure nor justice is guaranteed. Cyclical structure, therefore, deepens the sense of ongoing trauma and unresolved conflict in both texts.
Cyclical Elements:
The framing narratives of Walton’s letters at the beginning and end of the novel create a sense of circularity. Walton’s letters both introduce the story and conclude it, echoing a similar theme of ambition and isolation explored within the main narrative.
Sense of Doom:
The circular structure can also contribute to a sense of doom and inevitability, as the story returns to a point similar to its beginning, highlighting the cyclical nature of fate and consequence.
How and why does Shelley make use of an unreliable narrator?
Shelley and Atwood both craft unreliable narrators to reflect psychological trauma and challenge absolute truth. In Frankenstein, Victor frequently withholds information, rationalises his guilt, and portrays himself as a tragic hero — despite causing the Creature’s suffering. His melodramatic language (“I ardently hoped that the gratification of my wishes would not be a serpent to sting me”) invites scepticism, especially once the Creature offers his own more coherent and reflective narrative.
Both narrators are morally ambiguous, and the reader must constantly evaluate their credibility, a technique which reinforces the novels’ broader themes of uncertainty, truth, and power.
How and why does Shelley make use of a framed narrative ?
Both The Handmaid’s Tale and Frankenstein use a framed narrative to shape how the reader interprets truth and voice.
Frankenstein is framed through Walton’s letters to his sister, enclosing Victor’s and the Creature’s stories. This layered structure delays the Creature’s voice and foregrounds Victor’s perspective first, manipulating reader sympathy. Like Atwood, Shelley questions whose version of events is privileged, and how narratives can be distorted through framing. Both authors use this technique to raise doubts about objectivity and to critique the reliability of historical or male-authored records.
