Frankenstein di Mary Shelley, Sintesi del corso di Inglese

Scarica Frankenstein di Mary Shelley e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! FRANKENSTEIN by mary shelley A short synopsis of the plot Dr Frankenstein is a brilliant scientist, who is obsessed with the idea of gaining control over life and death, refusing the limits of contemporary science. He does his research alone. One day he succeeds in bringing to life a monster he has created with the organs of dead men. However, even Frankenstein is scared when he sees the result of his mad fantasy. The monster escapes from the laboratory and appears some time later in the Swiss Alps, where he is rejected by all the men that he meets. He is rejected because of his ugliness and also because he doesn’t look human. His need to communicate with others is frustrated and he becomes very angry towards everybody. His anger builds up and leads to a tragic climax: he kills Frankenstein's best friend, his little brother and his wife. The monster takes refuge at the North Pole because he knows that only there, in a place of total desolation, he will kill nobody else. Dr Frankenstein follows him, intending to kill his creation. But it is the doctor himself who is mortally wounded by the monster. The monster accuses Dr Frankenstein and the rest of mankind of lacking all compassion. The story ends with the monster being carried away on a block of ice in the Arctic sea. Style and Narration Frankenstein is narrated in the first-person (using language like “I”, “my” etc.) by different characters at different points in the novel. The novel begins with narration from Captain Walton, who is writing a series of letters to his sister Margaret. The point of view then switches to Victor Frankenstein, who tells Walton about his life and why he was in the Arctic. When Walton encounters Victor, he wonders if he is mad, because of his wild appearance and desperate story. By listening to Victor’s story Walton understands his experiences. When Victor reaches the point in his story where he describes meeting with the monster, the point of view switches again: this time to the monster, who narrates in the first person, describing his experiences. Both Victor and the reader expect the monster to be barbaric, violent, and inhuman, but his narrative shows him to be intelligent, sensitive, and capable of feeling human emotions like empathy and love. After that, the point of view returns to Victor, who continues his story. The novel ends with a return to Walton’s point of view and first person narration. The change in narrators and the different points of view are central to the novel’s theme: looking beyond appearances to reflect on what may lie beneath. Main Characters Victor Frankenstein The protagonist and narrator of the main portion of the story. Studying in Ingolstadt, Victor discovers the secret of life and creates an intelligent but scary monster. The monster scares and repels him. Victor keeps his creation of the monster a secret, he feels guilty and ashamed. He realizes he cannot stop the monster from ruining his life and the lives of others. The monster The monster is very tall and big and ugly, and he is the creation of Victor Frankenstein. Intelligent and sensitive, the monster attempts to integrate himself into human social patterns, but all who see him shun him. His feeling of abandonment compels him to seek revenge against his creator. Robert Walton The Arctic explorer whose letters open and close Frankenstein. Walton picks Victor Frankenstein up off the ice, helps nurse him back to health, and hears Victor’s story. He records the incredible tale in a series of letters addressed to his sister, Margaret Saville, in England. Alphonse Frankenstein Victor’s father, very sympathetic toward his son. Alphonse consoles Victor in moments of pain and encourages him to remember the importance of family. My father and sister were sad and ill. I felt horrible and guilty, and the only thing that helped me was walking in the mountains. I wanted to kill the monster. One day, after climbing a mountain, I saw a man running towards me: it was the monster! He told me he was very unhappy. He was good at the beginning, but he became bad because of unhappiness. He was unhappy because everyone hated him, and he was always alone. He told me I had played with life and death and that this was bad. He asked me to do what he said or he would kill everyone I loved: he wanted me to listen to his story. Then, after listening, I could decide to kill him. I decided to listen. I felt I had to listen because I was his creator. Part 4 - The Creature’s Narrative (Ricorda che qui la voce narrante cambia, e’ il mostro che parla) I don’t remember how my life started. I remember seeing, hearing, smelling all at the same time. I took a coat and I escaped. When I escaped from the apartment I went to the forest in Ingolstadt. In the forest, I heard the birds singing, I observed the moon and I found a fire. I was hungry and thirsty, so I decided to leave the forest and look for food. I found a hut, but the man in it screamed and ran away when he saw me. I ate his food, slept and then went to a village. Everybody was scared of me there. So I ran to the countryside and found a hut where I could hide. I was happy to escape the violence of human beings. The hut was beside a house, and I could see inside the house through a hole: the people were sad, they played beautiful music. There were three: Felix, Agatha and the father. I felt sad, I wanted to be with people too. I discovered why they were sad: they were very poor, and the old man in the hut was blind. I spent the winter in the hut, observing the family. I understood they used sounds to communicate, and I started learning some words (nota: ricorda che e’ come se il mostro fosse un neonato, non conosce nessuna lingua - la impara ascoltando la famiglia che osserva dal buco nel muro della capanna). At night, the son Felix made some different sounds, and soon I understood he was reading from a book. I wanted to meet the people in the cottage, but first I wanted to learn the language: maybe they wouldn’t be scared of my ugly looks if I could speak. One day a dark haired girl arrived. Felix was happy. She didn’t speak the same language, they called her ‘sweet Arabian’. Her name was Safie. Now the people in the cottage were happy. Safie was learning the language, and by observing I learnt it too. Felix used a book to teach her: “Ruins of the Empire”. I learnt about history because of the book. I started to be very sad because I had nobody: the words in the cottage were not for me, I had no friends, no property, I was alone. I wished I had stayed in the woods. Part 5 - The Creature’s Narrative (Ricorda che qui la voce narrante e’ ancora il mostro) I discovered the story of the cottagers (la famiglia che vive nel cottage che il mostro “spia” dal buco nel muro). The father was a rich man from Paris. Safie was the daughter of a rich Turkish merchant condemned to death in Paris. Felix decided to help him escape prison, and he fell in love with his daughter, Safie. Safie was the daughter of a Christian Arab woman and she had more liberties than Muslim women. She did not want to return to Asia to live in a harem if her father died. On the day of the escape, the Turkish man and Sadie left Paris with the father and Agatha’s passports. The father and Agatha hid in Paris. But the father and Agatha were arrested. Felix had to return to Paris. In the meanwhile, the Turkish merchant wanted his daughter to go back to Turkey, so Felix could not marry her. She didn’t want to go, so she sold her jewels and started looking for Felix. One day I found a bag of books in the woods. I was happy to read the books. But they also made me sad. I started thinking about my condition: who was I? What was I? Where did I come from? My body was big and ugly. I was alone. The coat I took when I escaped from the apartment had papers in its pocket. I read them: they were your diary in the 4 months before you created me. Why did you create me like this? Even you are horrified. You abandoned me. Winter arrived, I felt very sad and lonely. I wanted to show myself to the cottagers. I decided to enter when the father was alone because he was blind, and he could not be scared by my ugly body. He let me enter and I told him I was French and was looking for some help from friends. But I told him my friends were prejudiced, and they would not believe me. He was kind, and wanted to hear my story. I told him he and his family were my friends and he could help me. But Agatha, Felix and Safie arrived. They were so scared of me. They beat me up. I felt so angry at you, my creator: why did you make me this way? You are my enemy. You are the cause of my suffering. I ran away, when I came back the cottagers had left. I was angry so I burned the cottage. I decided to look for you in Geneva (ricorda che il mostro sta parlando con Frankenstein). During my trip, one day I saw a girl falling into the river. I went into the water to help her but her husband shot me. He thought I wanted to kill her. I was hurt and angry, I swore revenge on all humankind. The following morning I saw a child. I thought he would not be scared by me, but he started crying. When the child told me he was a Frankenstein, I knew he was from my enemy’s family. I put my hands around his neck to silence me, but he suffocated and died. I understood that I could also cause pain to you, my creator. I took a locket from the child’s neck and I ran away. I found a young girl in a barn, and put the locket in her pocket: I thought she should suffer for the murder, because all women hurt me. They never smiled for me, only for other men. After that, I came to the mountains alone. Frankenstein, you are the only one who can make me happy: create me a wife, so I will not be lonely anymore. Part 6 – Frankenstein’s Narrative (Qui ritorna la voce narrante di Frankenstein) At first I was horrified and did not want to do it. But then I realised the monster was lonely, and I agreed to help him. He promised he would leave Europe with his wife and live in the forests of South America. I returned to Geneva but did not start working on the wife. My father asked me if I wanted to marry Elizabeth. I loved her and wanted to marry, but first I had to make a wife for the monster. I decided to do this in England, far from my family. I travelled there with my friend Henry Clerval. We spent some months in London, Clerval was planning to travel to India. I was scared that the monster had followed me. I knew he was angry that I had not kept my promise. I told Clerval I wanted to travel alone for two months. I was scared the monster would hurt him, or my family. I went to the Orkney islands and started working on the wife for the monster. I hated this work. What if she refused to leave Europe with the monster? What if she didn’t like him? I had already created one devil, I was scared I was creating another one. What if they had children and created more monsters? One night, I looked up and saw the monster at the window, looking at me working: his face was ugly. I decided to destroy the half-finished wife. He screamed in pain. He came to my door. He said I had to finish and keep my promise, because he could make me suffer. He said I had made him bad: he wanted revenge. He said he would murder me on my wedding night, so I was scared for Elizabeth. I decided to go back to London to see Clerval before his trip to India. But first I took a boat to get rid of the pieces of the monster’s wife from my lab. When I went out at night I fell asleep on the boat. When I woke up I didn’t know where I was. I arrived at a town in Ireland. The local people told me I had to see Mr Kirwind, the magistrate: there was a murder the night before. Part 7 – Frankenstein’s Narrative After talking to the magistrate, they took me to see the body: it was my friend