Frankenstein: Viewpoint and narration
14 lenses on viewpoint and narration for Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 E11 E12 E13 E14
E1. Person and tense: first or third, past or present. Count
First person, past tense. In the narration, past forms come 1,909 times and present forms 324 times.
E2. Whose viewpoint is each chapter? Both
first person. See the full lens on the book page.
E3. Share of the book told by each viewpoint character. Both
Walton narrates the frame (chapters 1 to 4, 28). Victor tells the bulk of the story (chapters 5 to 27), with the creature speaking chapters 15 to 20. Victor dominates roughly 70 per cent; Walton and the creature share the rest.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 5, Ch 15, Ch 28
E4. Narrative distance: close inside a head, or far off? AI
The narrative stays close inside Victor's mind during his obsession and guilt, using his thoughts and feelings directly. The creature's account is also intimate, showing his learning and despair. Walton's frame is more distant, observing Victor from outside.
Chapters: Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 20, Ch 27
Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction. (Ch 6, para 16)
Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed? (Ch 20, para 1)
E5. Strict viewpoint or head hopping? AI
The book maintains strict viewpoint within each section. Walton speaks in letters; Victor narrates his own experience; the creature tells his own tale to Victor. No head hopping occurs, though the creature's account is reported speech within Victor's narration.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 5, Ch 14, Ch 15
E6. Is the narrator reliable? Where are the cracks? AI
Victor is unreliable in his self-justification. He claims ignorance of the creature's whereabouts but later learns the creature watched him. He hides his knowledge of William's murder from authorities. Walton accepts Victor's tale without question, showing his own bias toward ambition.
Chapters: Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 23, Ch 24
I resolved to remain silent. (Ch 11, para 32)
Thus spoke my prophetic soul, as, torn by remorse, horror, and despair, I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts. (Ch 12, para 33)
E7. Frames and tales within tales. AI
The book uses nested frames: Walton's letters contain Victor's narrative, which contains the creature's account (chapters 15 to 20), which includes the De Lacey family's history (chapter 18). This creates three layers of storytelling.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 4, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 18, Ch 28
Some time elapsed before I learned the history of my friends. It was one which could not fail to impress itself deeply on my mind (Ch 18, para 1)
Felix visited the grate at night and made known to the prisoner his intentions in his favour (Ch 18, para 4)
E8. Narrator asides and addresses to the reader. Both
3 paragraphs where the narrator seems to speak to the reader or about the telling. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 7, para 17: Such were the professor’s words—rather let me say such the words of the fate—enounced to destroy me. As he went on I felt as if my soul were …
Ch 21, para 7: “I intended to reason. This passion is detrimental to me, for you do not reflect that you are the cause of its excess. If any being felt emotions …
Ch 27, para 15: But why should I dwell upon the incidents that followed this last overwhelming event? Mine has been a tale of horrors; I have reached their acme, and what …
Walton addresses his sister Margaret throughout letters (chapters 1 to 4, 28). Victor addresses Walton directly in chapter 4 and speaks to him throughout. The creature addresses Victor in chapters 14 to 21. These asides create intimacy and appeal for judgment.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 4, Ch 14, Ch 28
To seek one who fled from me. (Ch 4, para 14)
Prepare to hear of occurrences which are usually deemed marvellous. (Ch 4, para 36)
E9. Documents used: letters, diaries, reports, by type and sender. Both
How often each kind of document is named in the narration. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Document | Mentions |
|---|---|
| will | 41 |
| letter | 25 |
| journal | 4 |
| note | 2 |
| manuscript | 1 |
| report | 1 |
Letters dominate: Walton writes four letters to his sister (chapters 1 to 4); Elizabeth writes to Victor (chapter 10); Victor's father writes announcing William's death (chapter 11); Elizabeth writes again before the wedding (chapter 26). Letters provide exposition and emotional beats.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 26
You have been ill, very ill, and even the constant letters of dear kind Henry are not sufficient to reassure me on your account. (Ch 10, para 3)
Tell me, dearest Victor. Answer me, I conjure you by our mutual happiness, with simple truth—Do you not love another? (Ch 26, para 14)
E10. What the narrator hides, and where the reader knows more than the lead. AI
Victor hides his knowledge that the creature killed William and Justine. The reader knows the creature's account (chapters 15 to 20) before Victor fully grasps the creature's intelligence and eloquence. Walton never learns the creature's final words or suicide.
Chapters: Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 15, Ch 20, Ch 28
I resolved to remain silent. (Ch 11, para 32)
I bent over her and placed the portrait securely in one of the folds of her dress. She moved again, and I fled (Ch 20, para 36)
E11. Free indirect style: where the narrator slips into a character's voice. AI
Free indirect style appears when Victor's despair colours the narration: 'Nothing is more painful to the human mind than...the dead calmness of inaction' (chapter 13). The creature's voice bleeds into his account: 'Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link' (chapter 19).
Chapters: Ch 13, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 27
Nothing is more painful to the human mind than, after the feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows and deprives the soul both of hope and fear. (Ch 13, para 1)
Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect (Ch 19, para 7)
E12. How thought is shown: tagged, italic or blended. Count
Thought is mostly shown with tags like thought, reflected, wondered.
| Tag | Times |
|---|---|
| thought | 61 |
| reflected | 13 |
| wondered | 0 |
| said to himself | 0 |
| said to herself | 0 |
| asked himself | 0 |
| asked herself | 0 |
| told himself | 0 |
E13. What triggers each change of viewpoint? AI
Viewpoint shifts when Walton rescues Victor (chapter 4), prompting Victor to begin his tale. The creature takes over in chapter 14 when Victor agrees to hear him. Walton returns in chapter 28 after Victor's death. Each shift is marked by a clear handoff of speech.
Chapters: Ch 4, Ch 14, Ch 28
To seek one who fled from me. (Ch 4, para 14)
Prepare to hear of occurrences which are usually deemed marvellous. (Ch 4, para 36)
E14. Hindsight: where an older narrator comments on events. AI
Victor frequently comments with hindsight: 'Destiny was too potent' (chapter 6); 'Thus ended a day memorable to me; it decided my future destiny' (chapter 7). He reflects on his blindness to the creature's presence and his failure to act responsibly.
Chapters: Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 12, Ch 26
Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction. (Ch 6, para 16)
Thus ended a day memorable to me; it decided my future destiny. (Ch 7, para 21)
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