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Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley
PROLOGUE Robert Walton lived at the end of the eighteenth century and had one great ambition in life - to sail the seas
surrounding the North Pole and to
discover a passage through them. He
travelled to the port of Archangel, in the
north-east of Russia, bought a ship, chose
a suitable crew and set off on his voyage. One
day, as they were sailing through the ice,
they saw a strange sight. A sledge, pulled
by dogs, was travelling northward. In the sledge, guiding the dogs, sat a huge man. They watched him through their telescopes until he was out of sight. The next morning, on a block of ice floating beside their boat, they found a similar sledge. On the sledge was a man, almost frozen to death, exhausted and very thin. The crew carried him onto the ship and looked after him until he was better. The man's name was Victor Frankenstein and this is the story
he told Robert Walton when he was able to
talk. A strange and tragic story told by a
dying man on a ship surrounded by ice...
6 VICTOR'S EARLY YEARS
CHAPTER ONE 1 Victor's Early Years Frankenstein sat up and began to talk in a low voice. "My family is a very well- known and respected family in the city of Geneva in Switzerland. My father got married late in life, to a woman much younger than himself. She was the daughter of a close friend who had fallen into unfortunate circumstances and whom my father helped until he died. My parents spent a lot of time travelling and when I was about five years old we were together in Italy. One day, while walking, we passed a poor farm and on this farm lived a farmer, his wife and their five children. One of the children looked very different from the others. She was not dark and strong like them but fair-haired and delicate. Her name was Elizabeth. She was the daughter of an Italian nobleman. Her mother had died giving birth and her father had been killed fighting for his country. The farmer and his wife had agreed to take the child into their family and to look after her. My parents offered to adopt her and bring her up as their own child. So Elizabeth came to live with us. She called my parents uncle and aunt and 7
Frankenstein family portrait she called me cousin. Everyone loved her, including myself. She was sweet and gentle and always had time for me, for the family, and for our friends. Two years later my parents had a second son, Ernest, and after him came my youngest brother William. My parents gave up travelling and we
settled in Switzerland. We had a house in Geneva and another in the
country, not far from Geneva, where we lived most of the time. We led a very quiet life. I did not mix with the boys of my age, but I did have one very close friend, Henry Clerval. He was the son of a Geneva merchant; he loved excitement and danger and he read a great deal. He made up stories and tried to make us act them out. I had a happy childhood. I loved learning, but above all I
would get married. I hope that your father will live to see it happen.
Elizabeth, you must take my place and look after the children for me."
Some weeks later I left for Ingolstadt. Henry Clerval tried to persuade
his father to let him go with me, but his father refused. He did not want
his son to study, he wanted him to be a merchant. The night
before I left, we all stayed up late, talking. The next morning
everyone was there to say goodbye to me. I promised that I would write often. I felt very sad and also very nervous; I was alone and I would have to make new friends at university, which I knew would be difficult for me.
But during my long journey I began to look forward to studying
and gaining knowledge.
The day after I arrived, I introduced myself to the professor of natural
philosophy, Dr Krempe. He gave me several books to
FRANKENSTEIN read and told me that I would also study chemistry with another professor, Professor Waldman. I did not like Dr Krempe and I decided not to go to his lectures. But I did go to hear Professor Waldman, and what he said immediately caught my attention and my interest. From that moment, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to explore unknown paths and to solve the deepest mysteries of creation. I told Professor Waldman that I wanted to become a man of science. He took me to his laboratory and explained to me how to use the
various machines there. He gave me a list of books to read and I left. It was a memorable day for me; it decided my future fate. I spent my days reading books, going to lectures and getting to know the men of science in the university. I made a real friend in Professor Waldman. I learned very quickly because I worked so hard. Two years passed like this and I did not even go home to Geneva. At the end of two years I succeeded in improving some scientific instruments and the other students and professors admired and respected me. I felt that I had learned as much as I could in Ingolstadt, and I began to think about returning home to Geneva. But then something happened that made me decide to stay longer. CHAPTER THREE - The Discovery What interested me most was the structure of the human body and what it is that gives us life. I decided to concentrate on these two areas of
study. I felt I had to learn about death as well as life, and spent
many days and nights studying what happened to a body after
death. Suddenly, in the middle of all this darkness, I saw the light - I discovered the secret of life. It was so simple that I was amazed that it had not been discovered before." "What is the secret of life?" interrupted Walton. "Please tell me." For the first time Frankenstein broke off and a shadow crossed his face. 10 THE CREATION OF A MONSTER "Wait," he said. "I cannot tell you. Listen, and you will understand why...
Then the moment arrived. It was one o'clock on a cold, wet November night when the storm began. Black clouds filled the 11 THE CREATION OF A MONSTER sky, thunder crashed and then, finally, came the lightning. My candle had nearly burned out when the sky lit up and there was a noise as if hell itself had opened. For a few seconds, nothing. Then I saw the dull yellow eye of my creature open; it breathed hard and its entire body trembled. He had shiny, long, black hair, good features and perfect white teeth, but suddenly I noticed that the muscles and arteries of his body could be seen through his thin, yellow skin. He had watery, colourless eyes and his lips,
instead of being pink and healthy, remained thin, cracked and
black. It was a catastrophe! I had worked so hard to create a beautiful creature and I had failed! What had I done? My beautiful dream disappeared and I was filled with horror and disgust. I could not look at the being I had created
and I ran out of the room and into my bedroom. When I finally fell asleep, I
dreamt of Elizabeth. I dreamt she was walking through Ingolstadt.
Surprised and delighted, I kissed her but as I did so, she fell down dead.
Her features changed and I was looking at my dead mother. I woke up suddenly, sweating terribly and shaking in terror. Then I saw the monster, holding back the curtain of my bed. He was staring at me and smiling strangely. He stretched his hand out towards me, as if he
wanted to touch me, but I screamed in terror and leapt out of bed. I
ran straight down the stairs and out of the house.
I spent the rest of the night outside in the courtyard, in
terrible fear. I was very weak and filled with horror. I was also
bitterly disappointed. I had dreamt of creating a being full of
goodness and beauty, but I had failed completely.
The morning finally came, grey and wet. At six o'clock, I went out into the street and walked around, soaked by the rain. I did not dare to return to my room. Eventually I stopped at the inn and noticed a coach arriving. Henry Clerval got out of the coach and walked towards me. "My dear Frankenstein," he exclaimed, "how happy I am to see you! How lucky that you should be standing here just as I arrive!" NEN TEIN I was delighted to see Clerval! Seeing him made me think of my father, Elizabeth and home. In a moment, I forgot my horror and
misfortune and, for the first time in months, I felt calm and happy. I
welcomed him warmly, and we went together to my
room. CHAPTER FIVE- Clerval's Visit On the way to my college, Henry told me why he was in Ingolstadt. "It was very difficult for me to persuade my father to let me come here to study," he said, "but I finally succeeded. Oh, Victor, I can't tell you how happy I am to be here!" "How are my father and brothers and Elizabeth?" I asked, "and
I was very ill for several months and during that time Henry was my nurse. He knew that my father was too old to travel and that Elizabeth would be very upset to see me so ill, so he did not tell them. I thought I saw the monster constantly and raved about him all the time. Henry must have thought I was mad, but he nursed me day and night. Without him I would probably have died. I got better slowly and began to feel like my old self again. "Dear friend," I said to Henry one day, "you have looked after me for months instead of studying, as you wished. How can I ever thank you?” “You can thank me by getting well as fast as you can," replied Henry. “And as you seem to be in such good spirits, perhaps I can speak to you about a certain subject." I began to tremble. Did he want to talk about the monster?
"You should write to your father and Elizabeth. They do not know
how ill you have been and they are worried by your long
silence." I told him that I would write to them and he gave me a letter which had arrived from Elizabeth. CHAPTER SIX - Dreadful News Elizabeth wrote about my family's concern for my health and their joy that I was, at last, getting better. They were waiting eagerly for me to go home and see them. My father was well. My brother Ernest was waiting to go into the army. Justine, a young girl from the village, had come to help at the house and William, my youngest brother, had grown in my absence into a fine little boy, tall for his age. 15 FRANKENSTEIN
I immediately wrote back, though the effort tired me very much. Two weeks later I was finally strong enough to leave my room. I introduced Clerval to all the university people I knew and helped him to begin his studies. I was supposed to return to Geneva at the end of autumn, but my departure was delayed. Then it became impossible to travel because of the snow, so my journey to Geneva was put off until the following
spring. I was very disappointed at having to wait so long to see
my family. When spring finally arrived I was very excited at the
thought of going home. A letter arrived from my father. I opened it quickly, happy to have news from home. But, when I had finished reading the letter, I threw it down on the table, covered my face with my hands and burst into tears. "Frankenstein!" exclaimed Henry. "What has happened to make you so unhappy?" I gave him the letter to read. My father had told me some terrible news to prepare me for a very sad homecoming. My little brother, William, had been murdered. My father, brothers and Elizabeth had gone for a walk. It was getting dark when they started to think of returning home, but they could not find Ernest and William, who had run ahead. Ernest eventually returned and told them that they had been playing
hide-and-seek and that William had gone off to hide. Ernest had
tried to find him but could not. He waited a long time for William to
return, but he did not come back. My father, Ernest and Elizabeth spent the whole night looking for him. At five o'clock in the morning
they found William lying dead in some grass. The murderer's
fingerprints were on his neck. He had been wearing a gold chain
house – six years after leaving for Ingolstadt. I told the servants not to
disturb the family and went into the library to wait for them to wake up.
My brother, Ernest, was the first to appear, and tears began to pour
down his face when he saw me. I tried to calm him and asked how my
father and Elizabeth were. "Elizabeth blames herself for William's death," he told me, "and she is suffering terribly. But, since the murderer has been discovered....”
"What!" I exclaimed. "That is impossible! I saw him. He was free
last night!" "I do not know what you mean," replied Ernest. "But now that we know who the murderer is, we are suffering even more. No one believed it at
first, and even now Elizabeth refuses to believe that it is true, despite the
evidence. Who would have thought that our sweet, loving Justine
could commit such a terrible crime?"
I could not believe my ears. Justine Moritz a murderer! But my brother told me about the evidence against her. On the morning that my brother's murder was discovered, Justine had fallen ill and had to stay in bed for several days. During this time, one of the servants examined the clothes Justine had been wearing on the night of the murder, and found the gold
chain and picture that William had been wearing in her pocket. The
servant
18 THE TRIAL immediately went to the police and Justine was arrested. Just as Ernest finished, my father came into the room. He looked ill and unhappy but tried to give me a warm welcome. I told him I was sure that Justine could not have done such a terrible thing. I could see that he also did
not believe that Justine was guilty of murder. "The trial is today," he said. "Let us hope that she will be set free." Elizabeth entered the room. She was even more beautiful now, but her face was covered in sadness. She welcomed me with great affection. "My dear cousin," she said, "your arrival fills me with hope. Perhaps you will find some way of proving that Justine is innocent. I cannot bear to think that she is guilty." "Do not worry, my dear Elizabeth," I said. "It will be proved that she is innocent. There is nothing to fear." CHAPTER SEVEN - The Trial The trial began at eleven o'clock in the morning. As I sat in court waiting for it to start, I was in a terrible state. I could not bear to think that the monster I created might cause Justine's death, as well as my brother's.
When Justine came into court, she appeared quite calm. She was
dressed as if for a funeral, and looked very serious, but beautiful. She looked over to where we were sitting and smiled at us sadly, but affectionately.
At first, many witnesses were called. Several strange facts
combined against Justine to prove that she was guilty. She had
been out the whole of the night on which the murder had been
committed. The next morning she was seen by a woman not far from the place where William had been found. The woman
asked her what she was doing there, but Justine gave a very
confused answer. She returned to the house at eight o'clock, and said that she had spent the night looking for William. She asked 19
village not far from Geneva. As she was returning home about nine o'clock, she met a man who asked her if she had seen the lost boy. She was alarmed by the news and spent the next few hours looking for him. By then the gates of Geneva were shut and so she spent the night in a barn. When she woke up the next morning, she found William's gold chain and the picture lying next to her in the straw. She had no idea how it came to be there.
Elizabeth then spoke of Justine's good character and told the court
that she had known Justine for many years and could not believe that she
had committed such a terrible crime. But it did no good; I could see from the faces of the judges and the people in the court that they had
already decided that Justine was guilty.
The next morning I returned to court and spoke to one of the officers. He told me that the judges had voted and Justine had been found guilty. She had even confessed and was to be put to
death the next day.
Justine asked to see Elizabeth, and I went with her. We went into the prison and saw Justine sitting on some straw. Her hands were chained together and she was crying. When she saw Elizabeth, she cried even more
and said, "Please do not believe that I am guilty. I only confessed so that God would forgive me and not send me to hell. And now I am a liar!" "Do not worry," said Elizabeth. "I believe you and I will go and tell the judges what you have just told me. I am sure they will believe me." But the judges refused to listen to Elizabeth and the next day Justine was hanged. How I suffered! Two innocent people had died because of me. My once happy home was a sad place now. I was full of despair and guilt; I could not sleep and I could not bear to be with other people. My father was worried by the change in me and tried to help me, but I did not want to be
