Frankenstein: Walton and Victor's Early Life

• Frankenstein is an epistolary novel, told through letters from Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret Saville, detailing his voyage and encounters.
• Robert Walton is an ambitious explorer on a voyage to discover a northern passage to the Pacific, driven by a thirst for knowledge and glory.
• Walton feels isolated and longs for a friend who shares his intellectual curiosity and ambition.

Encountering Victor Frankenstein

• Walton's ship becomes trapped in ice, during which the crew spots a dog sled driven by a gigantic figure.
• Shortly after, they rescue Victor Frankenstein, who is near death and exhausted from chasing the giant figure.
• Walton befriends Victor and nurses him back to health, hoping to find a kindred spirit.

Victor's Early Life and Family

• Victor Frankenstein recounts his early life, growing up in Geneva with a loving and supportive family.
• Alphonse Frankenstein, Victor's father, is a respected public figure who values honor and family.
• Caroline Beaufort, Victor's mother, is a woman of great kindness and compassion, devoted to her family after enduring hardship.
• Elizabeth Lavenza, an orphan, is adopted by the Frankenstein family and becomes Victor's beloved companion and cousin.
• Victor describes Elizabeth as a beautiful, gentle, and nurturing presence in his life.
• Henry Clerval is Victor's childhood friend, characterized by his romantic and imaginative nature, in contrast to Victor's scientific pursuits.

Victor's Passion for Science

• As a child, Victor is fascinated by the works of alchemists like Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus, seeking the secrets of nature.
• Despite his father's dismissive attitude towards alchemy, Victor remains captivated by the possibility of unlocking nature's mysteries.
• A violent thunderstorm sparks Victor's interest in the power of electricity, leading him to abandon alchemy for the study of natural philosophy and chemistry.

Education at Ingolstadt

• Victor's parents send him to the University of Ingolstadt to study natural philosophy and chemistry.
• He finds himself initially unimpressed with the university's professors, whom he considers narrow-minded and uninspiring.
• However, he is eventually drawn to the lectures of Professor Waldman, who encourages Victor's pursuit of scientific knowledge.
• Waldman introduces Victor to the wonders of modern chemistry and inspires him to delve deeper into the secrets of life and creation.
• Victor also attends lectures by Professor Krempe, who dismisses Victor's earlier interest in alchemy, pushing him towards accepted sciences.

Obsession with the Creation of Life

• Driven by ambition and a desire to conquer death, Victor becomes obsessed with discovering the secret of life.
• He spends countless hours in his laboratory, studying anatomy and chemistry, seeking to understand the spark of life.
• Victor isolates himself from his family and friends, neglecting his health and well-being as he becomes increasingly consumed by his work.
• He wants to find a way to renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption.
• Victor becomes fascinated by the mysteries of the human frame, and after days and nights in vaults and charnel houses, he succeeds in discovering the cause of generation and life.

The Creation of the Creature

• After years of research and experimentation, Victor succeeds in bringing a lifeless body to life.
• The creature he creates is grotesque and horrifying, far from the beautiful being Victor had envisioned.
• Overcome with disgust and terror, Victor abandons his creation and flees from his laboratory.
• Victor rushes out of the room and nervously paces in his bedroom.
• After falling asleep Victor has a nightmare about Elizabeth turning into the corpse of his mother.
• He is awoken by the Creature standing over his bed, reaching out to him.

Consequences and Remorse

• Victor is deeply traumatized by his creation and suffers a nervous breakdown.
• He is nursed back to health by Henry Clerval, who arrives in Ingolstadt to study with him.
• Victor tries to put the experience behind him, but he is haunted by the memory of the creature and the implications of his actions.
• Receiving a letter from his father detailing the death of his youngest brother William, Victor returns to Geneva filled with dread.
• Victor felt he had no right to ask about the details, yet he couldn't stop himself from questioning his father.
• Word spreads that William was wearing a valuable miniature portrait of his mother when he was killed, and it was missing from his body.