The Gothic novel "Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus" is the result of Mary Shelley's travels to Geneva, Switzerland, with her future husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, Dr. John Polidori and Lord Byron, themselves famous authors, and an entertaining contest between those friends about who could write the best horror story. Conceived of a nightmare after reading German ghost stories by the fire and conversing about Darwinism, occult ideas, galvanism and science, the only nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley put this piece of art down on paper and published it anonymously in 1818.
Frankenstein is a novel with a complex narrative structure. In the core of the novel the Creature's story is presented to us framed by Victor Frankenstein's story which itself is enframed by Robert Walton's epistolary narrative. The overall structure of the novel is symmetrical: it begins with the letters of Walton, shifts to Victor's tale, then to the Creature's narration, so as to switch to Victor again and end with the records of Walton. In this manner the reader gets different versions of the same story from different perspectives. Mary Shelley's rather atypical approach not to stick to only one narrator and one defined narrative situation throughout the book creates various impressions on the reader of the novel.
The narrative situation of a text describes the structure of how the content, plot, characters and events are being mediated to the reader and is often referred to as the point of view. The narrative situation is one of the main categories in literary analysis. One of the most important academics who concerned himself with the systematisation of narrative structures since the 1950s is the Austrian literary theorist Dr. Franz Karl Stanzel (*1923). There is strong competition by the typology of Gérard Genette since the 1990s, however, Stanzel's theory is being taught to date, which is why it is used in the following analysis of the narrative structure in Frankenstein and its effect on the reader.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Typical Narrative Situations In Novels By Franz K. Stanzel
3. Narrative Situations In Frankenstein And Their Effect
3.1. Frame Narrative
3.2. Robert Walton's Narrative
3.3. Victor Frankenstein's Narrative
3.4. The Creature's Narrative
3.5. Multiperspective Narrative Structure
4. Conclusion
Objectives and Research Focus
This paper examines the complex narrative architecture of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus" using the literary theory of Franz K. Stanzel. The central research question explores how the shifting narrative perspectives—from Robert Walton's epistolary frame to the personal accounts of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature—influence the reader's perception, moral interpretation, and the overall ambiguity of the novel.
- Analysis of narrative mediacy and the "narrative situation" according to Stanzel.
- Examination of the frame narrative and its function in establishing authenticity.
- Evaluation of first-person narration in the accounts of Victor and the Creature.
- Assessment of how multiperspectivity challenges the reader's moral judgment.
- Investigation into the impact of narrative structure on the novel's thematic ambiguity.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1. Frame Narrative
Working from the outside in, the story starts with the epistolary narrative by Robert Walton, the captain of an explorer ship, who writes letters about his endeavours to unravel unknown mysteries of the Arctic to his sister Margaret Saville in England. Walton tells his sister about his meeting a benevolent but curious man named Victor Frankenstein. Walton chronicles the incredible confessions of Frankenstein about a monster he created and abandoned in the letters to his sister, which later become “mock epistolarity” or rather diary entries dedicated to her, as Walton has no possibility to send the letters to England any more. This story-within-a-story contains yet another story. In the actual heart of the book is located the tale of the Creature itself in between the accounts of Victor. And even within this story lies the story about the DeLecays, a family of peasants the Creature observed for a long time. So each of the stories is framed by another one, thus the frame narrative structure in Frankenstein. From outward in, the stories become more significant, dangerous and powerful. The fact that Margaret, the addressee of Walton's letters, is cut off from the chain of narratives by the outermost frame and therefore not in any real danger of anything in the story also causes the reader to be more calm. This is not the most typical Gothic novel, since the person most scared is not the reader, but Victor.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and outlines the importance of narrative structure and Stanzel's theory of narrative situations in analyzing the novel's effect on the reader.
2. Typical Narrative Situations In Novels By Franz K. Stanzel: This chapter defines Stanzel’s typology of narrative situations, specifically focusing on first-person, authorial, and figural narrators and their role in creating an illusion of reality.
3. Narrative Situations In Frankenstein And Their Effect: This core chapter analyzes how the specific framing, individual perspectives of Walton, Victor, and the Creature, and the overall multiperspective structure complicate moral judgment and interpretation.
4. Conclusion: This chapter summarizes how the novel’s complex structure creates ambiguity and avoids didacticism, leaving the text open for diverse interpretations by the reader.
Keywords
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, Franz K. Stanzel, Narrative Structure, Epistolary Novel, First-person Narration, Frame Narrative, Multiperspectivity, Gothic Literature, Point of View, Literary Analysis, Narrative Situations, Moral Ambiguity, Robert Walton, The Creature.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
The paper explores the narrative structure of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" to understand how different narrative perspectives shape the reader's experience and interpretation of the story.
Which theoretical framework is applied?
The analysis is based on the literary theory of Dr. Franz K. Stanzel, specifically his systematization of "narrative situations" and the concept of mediacy in novels.
What is the central research question?
The work investigates how the use of multiple narrative perspectives—the frame narrative and the personal tales of the characters—affects the reader's perception and the moral ambiguity of the novel.
What role does the frame narrative play?
The frame narrative, provided by Robert Walton's letters, establishes the story's initial context and acts as an "interstation" that helps bridge the reader's expectation with the fictional events.
How is the first-person narrative utilized in the book?
First-person narration is used for both Victor Frankenstein and the Creature, allowing the reader to experience their inner thoughts, feelings, and individual justifications for their actions.
Why is the novel considered morally ambivalent?
Because the narrative lacks an omniscient, moralizing narrator, the reader is forced to weigh contradictory perspectives and reach an individual conclusion regarding the themes of science, nature, and evil.
What are the limitations of the narrative structure according to the author?
The paper notes that the extreme similarity in tone and eloquence between the narrators—despite their very different backgrounds—renders the mode of narration somewhat unrealistic.
How does the Creature's narrative influence the reader?
The Creature's narrative is crucial because it provides the reader with insight into his origins and benevolent nature, making it difficult to maintain a simple, unproblematic label of him as a villain.
- Quote paper
- Dorothea Wolschak (Author), 2013, The narrative structure of "Frankenstein". The Modern Prometheus and its effect, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/275971
