Short summary of Frankenstein

A Short and Simple Summary of Mary Shelley's famous

 novel "Frankenstein".

Through letters, Robert Walton, the captain of a ship moving towards the North Pole, tells his sister back in England the progress of his dangerous mission. Successful early on, the mission is soon interrupted by seas full of ice. Trapped, Walton meet Victor Frankenstein, who has been traveling by dog-drawn sledge across the ice and is weakened by the cold. Walton takes him aboard ship, helps nurse him back to health, and hears the tale of the monster that he created.

Victor first describes his early life in Geneva. At the end of a happy childhood spent in the company of Elizabeth Lavenza and friend Henry Clerval, Victor enters the university of Ingolstadt to study natural philosophy and chemistry. There, he had the desire to discover the secret of life and, after several years of research, becomes convinced that he has found it.
Armed with the knowledge he has long been seeking, Victor spends months in making a creature out of old body parts. One night, in his apartment, he brings his creation to life. When he looks at the monster that he has created, the sight horrifies him. After a horrible night of sleep, interrupted by the spectacle of the monster looming over him, he runs into the streets, eventually wandering in remorse. Victor runs into Henry, who has come to study at the university, and he takes his friend back to his apartment. Though the monster is gone, Victor falls ill. Sickened by his horrific deed, Victor prepares to return to Geneva, to his family, and to health. Just before departing Ingolstadt, he receives a letter from his father informing him that his youngest brother, William, has been murdered. Victor hurries home. While passing through the woods where William was cut into pieces, he catches sight of the monster and becomes convinced that the monster is his brother’s murderer. Arriving in Geneva, Victor finds that Justine Moritz, a kind, gentle girl who had been adopted by the Frankenstein household, has been accused. She is tried, condemned, and executed, despite her assertions of innocence. Victor made his mind that the monster he has created bears responsibility for the death of two innocent loved ones.
Hoping to ease his grief, Victor takes a vacation to the mountains. While he is alone one day, crossing a glacier, the monster comes to him. The monster admits to the murder of William but begs for understanding. The Monster is Lonely in this world, he says that he struck out at William in a desperate attempt to injure Victor, his cruel creator. The monster begs Victor to create a mate or female Monster for him, a monster equally horrible to serve as his sole companion.
Victor refuses at first, horrified by the prospect of creating a second monster. The monster eventually convinces Victor. After returning to Geneva, Victor heads for England, accompanied by Henry, to gather information for the creation of a female monster. Leaving Henry in Scotland, he works at repeating his first success. One night, struck by doubts about the morality of his actions, Victor glances out the window to see the monster glaring in at him with frightening eyes . Horrified by the possible consequences of his work, Victor destroys his new creation. The monster, enraged, vows revenge, swearing that he will be with Victor on Victor’s wedding night.

Later that night, Victor takes a boat out onto a lake and dumps the remains of the second creature in the water. The wind prevents him from returning to the island. In the morning, he finds himself ashore near an unknown town. Upon landing, he is arrested and informed that he will be tried for a murder discovered the previous night. Victor denies any knowledge of the murder, but when shown the body, he is shocked to find his friend Henry Clerval, with the mark of the monster’s fingers on his neck. Victor falls ill, and is kept in prison until his recovery, after which he is free of the crime. After returning to Geneva with his father, Victor marries Elizabeth. He fears the monster’s warning and suspects that he will be murdered on his wedding night. He sends Elizabeth away to wait for him. While he awaits the monster, he hears Elizabeth scream and realizes that the monster had been trying to killing his new bride, not himself. Victor returns home to his father, who dies of grief. Victor vows to devote the rest of his life to finding the monster and taking his revenge, and he soon leaves to begin his search.
Victor tracks the monster northward into the ice. In a dogsled chase, Victor almost catches up with the monster, but the sea beneath them shake and the ice breaks, leaving an unbridgeable gap between them. At this point, Walton meets Victor.
Walton tells the remainder of the story in another series of letters to his sister. Victor, already ill when the two men meet and dies shortly thereafter. When Walton returns, several days later, to the room in which the body lies, he is stunned to see the monster weeping over Victor. The monster tells Walton of his immense solitude, suffering, hatred, and remorse. He asserts that now that his creator has died, he too can end his suffering. The monster then departs for the northernmost ice to die.