frankenstein essay topics pdf

Frankenstein: Essay Samples

Welcome to Frankenstein Essay Samples page prepared by our editorial team! Here you’ll find a number of great ideas for your Frankenstein essay! Absolutely free essays & research papers on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Examples of all topics and paper genres.

📝 Frankenstein: Essay Samples List

Frankenstein , by Mary Shelley , is famous all over the world. School and college students are often asked to write about the novel. On this page, you can find a collection of free sample essays and research papers that focus on Frankenstein . Literary analysis , compare & contrast essays, papers devoted to Frankenstein ’s characters & themes, and much more. You are welcome to use these texts for inspiration while you work on your own Frankenstein essay.

• Feminism in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Genre: Critical Analysis Essay Words: 2280 Focused on: Frankenstein ’s Themes Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Elizabeth Lavenza , Justine Moritz
• Frankenstein’s Historical Context: Review of “In Frankenstein’s Shadow” by Chris Baldrick Genre: Critical Writing Words: 1114 Focused on: Historical Context of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: the Monster
• Science & Nature in Frankenstein & Blade Runner Genre: Essay Words: Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein , Compare & Contrast Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Romanticism in Frankenstein: the Use of Poetry in the Novel’s Narrative Genre: Essay Words: 1655 Focused on: Literary analysis of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, Henry Clerval
• The Dangers of Science in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Genre: Essay Words: 1098 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a Tragedy Genre: Essay Words: 540 Focused on: Literary analysis of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein
• Frankenstein: a Deconstructive Reading Genre: Essay Words: 2445 Focused on: Literary analysis of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Ethics as a Theme in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Genre: Essay Words: 901 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’: Chapter 18 Analysis Genre: Essay Words: 567 Focused on: Literary analysis of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Elisabeth Lavenza
• The Role of Women in Frankenstein Genre: Essay Words: 883 Focused on: Frankenstein Characters Characters mentioned: Caroline Beaufort, Elizabeth Lavenza, Justine Moritz
• On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer vs. Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus: Compare & Contrast Genre: Essay Words: 739 Focused on: Compare & Contrast Characters mentioned: the Monster
• Macbeth & Frankenstein: Compare & Contrast Genre: Essay Words: 2327 Focused on: Compare & Contrast Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Dr. Frankenstein & His Monster: Compare & Contrast Genre: Research Paper Words: 1365 Focused on: Compare & Contrast, Frankenstein Characters Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Education vs. Family in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Genre: Essay Words: 1652 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein
• Victor Frankenstein vs. the Creature: Compare & Contrast Genre: Research Paper Words: 1104 Focused on: Compare & Contrast, Frankenstein Characters Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Frankenstein: Monster’s Appearance & Visual Interpretations Genre: Essay Words: 812 Focused on: Frankenstein Characters Characters mentioned: the Monster
• Doctor Frankenstein: Hero, Villain, or Something in Between? Genre: Essay Words: 897 Focused on: Frankenstein Characters Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: 1994 Movie Analysis Genre: Essay Words: 1084 Focused on: Compare & Contrast Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Elizabeth Lavenza
• Frankenstein vs. Great Expectations: Compare & Contrast Genre: Essay Words: 2540 Focused on: Compare & Contrast, Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Robert Walton
• Innocence of Frankenstein’s Monster Genre: Term Paper Words: 2777 Focused on: Frankenstein Characters Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Robert Walton
• Knowledge as the Main Theme in Frankenstein Genre: Term Paper Words: 2934 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Robert Walton, Henry Clerval, Elisabeth Lavenza, Willian Frankenstein
• Responsibility as a Theme in Frankenstein Genre: Essay Words: 619 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein
• Homosexuality in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Genre: Research Paper Words: 2340 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Henry Clerval
• Frankenstein & the Context of Enlightenment Genre: Historical Context of Frankenstein Words: 1458 Focused on: Compare & Contrast Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Frankenstein: the Theme of Birth Genre: Essay Words: 1743 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Frankenstein: Critical Reflections by Ginn & Hetherington Genre: Essay Words: 677 Focused on: Compare & Contrast Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Loneliness & Isolation in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Genre: Essay Words: 609 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein
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Study Guide Menu

• Plot Summary
• Summary & Analysis
• Literary Devices & Symbols
• Essay Samples
• Essay Topics
• Questions & Answers
• Mary Shelley: Biography
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Bibliography

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Frankenstein

88 pages • 2 hours read

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Letters 1-4

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-16

Chapters 17-20

Chapters 21-24

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Further Reading & Resources

Discussion Questions

How does the creature’s revenge against Frankenstein ultimately lead to Frankenstein’s becoming like the creature?

Discuss the role of nature in the novel. What causes alienation from nature, and what is the result? How does one reconnect with nature? How does the grandeur of nature simultaneously comfort and alienate one further?

What is the role of women in the novel? Consider Elizabeth, Justine, Safie, Agatha, and even Robert’s sister Margaret. How does their passivity demonstrate 19th-century ideals for women?

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Frankenstein

Mary shelley, everything you need for every book you read..

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Frankenstein: Introduction

Frankenstein: plot summary, frankenstein: detailed summary & analysis, frankenstein: themes, frankenstein: quotes, frankenstein: characters, frankenstein: symbols, frankenstein: literary devices, frankenstein: quizzes, frankenstein: theme wheel, brief biography of mary shelley.

Historical Context of Frankenstein

Other books related to frankenstein.

• Full Title: Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus
• When Published: 1818
• Literary Period: Switzerland and London, England: 1816–1817
• Genre: Gothic novel
• Setting: Switzerland, France, England, Scotland, and the North Pole in the 18th century
• Climax: The Monster's murder of Elizabeth Lavenza on her wedding night to Victor
• Antagonist: The Monster
• Point of View: Frankenstein is told through a few layers of first person narratives. Walton is the primary narrator, who then recounts Victor's first-person narrative. In addition, Victor's narrative contains the monster's first person story as well as letters from other characters.

Extra Credit for Frankenstein

A ghost story. On a stormy night in June of 1816, Mary Shelley, her husband, and a few other companions, including the Romantic poet Lord Byron, decided to try to write their own ghost stories, but Shelley couldn't come up with any ideas. A few nights later, she had a dream in which she envisioned "the pale student of unhallowed arts" kneeling beside his creation—the monster. She began writing the story that became Frankenstein the next morning.

The Tale of Two Frankensteins. Shelley published the first edition of Frankenstein anonymously, perhaps due to her concern that such a grim and violent tale would not be well received by her audience if they knew her gender. She revised the novel and published it under her real name in 1831. Some key differences exist between the editions, namely that in the first edition, Elizabeth is Alphonse's niece and, therefore, Victor's cousin. (In the 1831 edition, the more popular version and the one used in this Outline, the Frankensteins adopt Elizabeth from another family).

Frankenstein

By mary shelley, frankenstein essay questions.

Discuss similarities between Frankenstein's monster and the text of the novel as a whole.

Both the monster and the text of the novel are objects that have been created by salvaging older materials. In the case of the monster, Frankenstein built his body out of dead body parts; he also learned how to think, read, and speak from old literary texts. Similarly, the overall text is held together by references and allusions to various poems and literary works. As such, we see that both objects are something new that have been synthesized from a collection of old components.

How might the novel be read as a commentary on scientific progress?

Frankenstein, a young scientist filled with ambition, becomes obsessed with the possibility to create life -- something that science has yet to accomplish. Ultimately, he is able to do so; through this act, he achieves what we would typically conceive of as 'scientific progress', because he has expanded the scope of what science allows humanity to do. However, this act of 'progress' has almost entirely negative consequences: the monster subsumes the entirety of Frankenstein's life, murders innocents, and achieves no perceptible good for society. One might say, therefore, that the novel reflects a thesis that not all potential scientific advancements are progressive of necessity.

What relation does the novel's alternate title, The Modern Prometheus, bear to the story?

Frankenstein is a Promethean analogue: just as Prometheus stole fire from the gods, so too did Frankenstein 'steal' from the domain of nature by learning the secret to create life by himself. Just as the gods for this crime punished Prometheus, Frankenstein receives nothing but misery from his creation, and ultimately dies in an attempt to destroy what he made. In this way, Shelley's novel really is a modern retelling of the Prometheus myth.

What does the novel gain from having so many levels of narration? Why do you suppose it might have been structured with so many embedded narratives?

One noteworthy aspect that this structure affords the novel is that it adds to the parallelism between the monster and overall text. The novel is a patchwork of various perspectives and testimony, be they various narrators or the voices conveyed through various letters. This makes the overall narrative a dubious patchwork of the experiences of different people, similarly to the way in which the monster's body is literally composed of parts of many different deceased people.

This structure also creates a deep sense of irony within the text. It is a text overtly concerned with scientific standards of proof; however, the multiple narrators and secondhand information directly undercut the degree to which the reader has grounds to believe the narrative. Like the moral sphere of the narrative's events, this is a puzzle that the novel compels the reader to resolve.

Do you think that the monster has free will? Provide textual examples in support of your claim.

[Multiple answers can be argued. This is merely one example.]

Assuming the truth of Frankenstein's testimony, the monster does not have free will. Frankenstein says that "the stages of the discovery [with respect to learning how to give life to inanimate tissue] were distinct and probable," which implies that there was explicit scientific grounding for every aspect of the creation process (Volume I, Chapter 4). If we take this claim seriously, then we can plausibly infer that the underlying mechanisms of the monster's brain and body were entirely designed by Frankenstein -- whether or not Frankenstein was consciously aware of the ramifications of his design. With regards to the creatures mind, we know that the majority of his sentiments and schemas of thought were coopted from the three books by which he learned how to read -- Paradise Lost, Plutarch's Lives, and The Sorrows of Werter . We therefore have plausible grounds to claim that external forces ultimately determine all aspects of the monster’s behavior.

Frankenstein Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Frankenstein is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What decisions and discoveries go into Frankenstein’s creation? What does he learn first, and which parts of the process take longer?

There is so much in your questions. This is only a short answer space. Victor Frankenstein studies biology and metaphysics first. Victor dreams of creating a new species: to renew life.

Explain about the gigantic figure in Frankenstein?

Are you referring to the creature? What specifically do you need to know?

Consider the monsters motivations for tracking down Frankenstein. Why does the master switch out his creator according to the text?

I'm sorry, your question requires additional information. Please provide a chapter number.

Study Guide for Frankenstein

Frankenstein study guide contains a biography of Mary Shelley, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Frankenstein
• Frankenstein Summary
• Frankenstein Video
• Character List

Essays for Frankenstein

Frankenstein essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Frankenstein
• Egotism, Personal Glory, and the Pursuit for Immortality
• Frankenstein and the Essence Of the Romantic Quest
• Like Father Like Son: Imitation and Creation
• Frankenstein's Discovery

Lesson Plan for Frankenstein

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Frankenstein
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Frankenstein Bibliography

E-Text of Frankenstein

Frankenstein e-text contains the full text of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

• Letters 1-4
• Chapters 1-4
• Chapters 5-8
• Chapters 9-12
• Chapters 13-16

Wikipedia Entries for Frankenstein

• Introduction
• Author's background
• Literary influences
• Composition