4. What is the structure, or form, of the novel? 
It is an epistolary novel. This means it is written as a series of letters. 
 
5. Who was writing the letters? 
They were written by Robert Walton. 
 
6. To whom were the letters written? 
They were written to Walton’s sister, Mrs. Margaret Saville, in England. 
 
7. Where was the writer, and why was he there? 
He was in the Arctic, exploring unknown regions. 
 
8. How did he meet Victor Frankenstein? 
He and the crew found Frankenstein stuck on a large piece of ice. They rescued him and 
brought him aboard their vessel. 
 
9. How did Robert feel about his guest? 
He liked Frankenstein, and hoped they would become friends. 
 
10. Why was Frankenstein in the Arctic? 
He was pursuing the creature. 
 

Frankenstein

 Chapters 1-5 

1. Who told this part of the story? 
Victor Frankenstein told his story to Robert Walton. 
 
2. How did Elizabeth come to live with the Frankensteins? 
Caroline Frankenstein saw her with a peasant family, and offered to raise her in better 
circumstances. 
 
3. Who was Frankenstein’s closest friend? 
It was Henry Clerval. 
 
4. What was one of the themes of the writers who influenced Frankenstein? 
The authors he liked wrote about raising ghosts or devils. He tried to mimic them. 
 
5. What natural phenomena influenced Frankenstein? 
He watched a tree being hit by lightning during a storm. He became interested in the theories of 
electricity and galvanism. 
 
6. What two major events happened to Frankenstein when he was seventeen? 
His mother died and he went to the university at Ingolstadt to study. 
 
7. What goal did Frankenstein decide to pursue? 
He wanted to try to renew life in a corpse, to “bestow animation upon lifeless matter.” 
 
8. How did Frankenstein feel when his experiment succeeded, and the creature came to life? 
He was horrified and disgusted. 
 
9. What happened to Frankenstein the day after he completed his creation?