New
New
Year 8

Exploring the character of Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’

I can explain how Mary Shelley presents Frankenstein as a hubristic character by looking at selected extracts from the novel ‘Frankenstein’.

New
New
Year 8

Exploring the character of Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’

I can explain how Mary Shelley presents Frankenstein as a hubristic character by looking at selected extracts from the novel ‘Frankenstein’.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Victor Frankenstein is portrayed as a highly hubristic and arrogant character who plays God.
  2. Victor relentlessly pursues knowledge to its limits, to the detriment of his own sanity, and the lives of others.
  3. Shelley uses hyperbolic language to characterise Frankenstein as hubristic.
  4. Frankenstein regrets his hubris and ambition, acknowledging that it has destroyed him physically and mentally.
  5. Shelley warns us of the corruptive nature of ambition, especially when pursued by those without respect for boundaries.

Keywords

  • Hubris - excessive pride or arrogance

  • Playing God - taking control of decisions or interventions that should be reserved for God

  • Hyperbolic language - language that exaggerates

  • To corrupt - has the power to make people behave immorally or wickedly

  • To pursue - to try and obtain something - to chase after something

Common misconception

Pupils do not appreciate the extent of Frankenstein's immorality.

In pursuit of knowledge, Frankenstein broke natural and political laws. He robbed graves and tortured live animals to achieve his ambition.

It might be interesting to explore the novel's alternative title with the students: 'The Modern Prometheus'. Extra reading about Prometheus could be given and universal ideas about greed and ambition discussed.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You need access to a copy of selected extracts from Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' all of which can be found in the slide deck.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of serious crime

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which colours might we expect to see in a Gothic text?
pink
Correct answer: black
Correct answer: red
blue
silver
Q2.
Which of the following creatures might feature in a Gothic text?
Correct answer: black cat
mouse
dolphin
Correct answer: bat
dog
Q3.
In the text 'Frankenstein', what does Victor Frankenstein attempt to create?
a cat
a dog
a baby
Correct answer: a man
a ghost
Q4.
In 'Frankenstein', what does the creature ask Frankenstein for in the novel?
a sister
Correct answer: a mate
a child
a pet
Q5.
What might the phrase 'playing God' mean?
turning one's back on faith and God
dressing up as God
Correct answer: performing acts that only God should be able to do
making alliances with the devil
denying the existence of God
Q6.
Which of the following is not a Gothic convention we see in 'Frankenstein'?
mutliple narrators
extreme violence
excessive emotional states
Correct answer: ghosts and spirits
battles between good and evil

6 Questions

Q1.
What is the name of the protagonist in Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein'?
Vic Frankenstein
Vilhelm Frankenstein
Velma Frankenstein
Correct answer: Victor Frankenstein
Vincent Frankenstein
Q2.
In 'Frankenstein', what method does Shelley use to show Frankenstein's hubris: "I was surprised...that I alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret."
Correct answer: personal pronoun
repetition
onomatopoeia
alliteration
simile
Q3.
Which of the following methods does Shelley use to portray Frankenstein as arrogant in the novel 'Frankenstein'?
Correct answer: hyperbolic language
mirroring
onomatopoeia
extended metaphor
rhetorical questions
Q4.
How does Victor's experiment affect him in the novel 'Frankenstein'?
Correct answer: it makes him become very pale and thin
he becomes very popular and surrounds himself with people
Correct answer: he suffers from flashbacks to the night he brought the monster to life
he gains lots of personal satisfaction from his experiment
he becomes even more proud and hubristic
Q5.
Complete the quotation from the novel 'Frankenstein': Victor warns Walton: "how dangerous is the acquirement of ".
Correct Answer: knowledge, knowledge., Knowledge, Knowledge., 'knowledge'
Q6.
In showing us the impact of Victor's experiment on his physical and mental health in 'Frankenstein', what is Shelley trying to teach us?
the importance of ambition
the true value of knowledge
the pain of losing loved ones
Correct answer: the corruptive nature of ambition
the transformative power of knowledge