Frankenstein By Mary Shelley A Discussion and Analysis

Throughout this discussion, I shall attempt to specify the various characters within Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein as well as how the main characters interdepend. Frankenstein utilizes an interesting variety of narrative techniques: the so-called epistolary method, that is the first-person narrative; and the omniscient observer third-person manner, both being used in the course of the story. Throughout the work, Mary Shelley uses an "I" to tell the story, but this "I" represents the point of view of different characters at different times. First, it stands for Walton, then for Frankenstein, then for the monster, then for Frankenstein again, and finally for Walton. Thus, the monster's story is, in effect, situated in the heart of the work, while Walton's leads into that of Frankenstein in the beginning. It should be understood that the novel was written within a specific backdrop which may be characterized as Romanticism. The essential notion of Romanticism stood in direct apposition to the world and its inhabitants as understood on the basis of reason alone. To this ex...