- 开头部分 … LETTER I.
This opening section frames the novel's premise and launches Robert Walton's Arctic expedition narrative. The Preface defends the tale as founded on an event "supposed, by Dr. Darwin, and some of the physiological writers of Germany, as not of impossible occurrence," preserving "the truth of the elementary principles of human nature" while innovating on combinations, and recounts its origin in the "summer of 1816 in the environs of Geneva" among ghost stories. Letter I, addressed to Mrs. Saville from St. Petersburgh, Dec. 11th, 17—, details Walton's resolve to reach the pole, his whaling apprenticeship, and plans to hire a ship at Archangel, sailing in June. It carries through to his departure preparations; the voyage itself and Victor Frankenstein's story belong to later letters and volumes.
Why does Walton imagine the pole as a region of beauty rather than frost?
Where and when did the author say the story was begun?
- LETTER II. … LETTER III.
Walton's letters from Archangel and the high latitude record his preparations and early progress toward "unexplored regions," answering whether he wavers in his resolutions and what sustains him. He laments having "no friend" to "sympathize with me," describes his lieutenant's "wonderful courage" and the master's "heroically generous" renunciation of his Russian mistress, and admits being "self-educated" and "more illiterate than many school-boys of fifteen." He concludes his resolutions are "as fixed as fate," sailing once weather permits, and reports in Letter III that he is "safe, and well advanced," his men undismayed by "floating sheets of ice." The section carries through to embarkation and early voyage; the creature's narrative, Victor Frankenstein's account, and the consequences of the enterprise belong to later parts.
- LETTER IV.
Walton's journal of August 5th–19th records the ship's entrapment in ice, the sighting of a "being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature" on a sledge, and the rescue of a second traveller — an European, "dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering," who "capitulated for his safety" before coming aboard. The narrative moves from wonder at the "apparition" to Walton's growing love for the stranger, "so gentle, yet so wise," who seeks "one who fled from me" and calls him "the dæmon." It concludes with the stranger's offer to relate his misfortunes, which Walton resolves to record "as nearly as possible in his own words." The letter carries through to the promise of that narrative; the tale itself, and the "powers and occurrences" it contains, are left to the stranger's own account. Key terms: the northern pole, the ground sea, the sledge, friendship, "internal evidence of the truth."
- FRANKENSTEIN; OR, THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. … CHAPTER I.
Victor Frankenstein narrates his Genevese origins, his father's marriage to Caroline Beaufort, the adoption of Elizabeth Lavenza, and friendship with Henry Clerval, then traces "the birth of that passion" for natural philosophy — Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, Albertus Magnus, the thunder-storm near Belrive — arguing that his father's cursory dismissal, rather than explanation, left him to "wild fancies." The chapter closes on the harmonious domestic circle before "misfortune had tainted my mind," leaving the creation itself, Ingolstadt, and the "tale of misery" to later chapters. Key terms: natural philosophy, philosopher's stone, elixir of life, electricity.
- CHAPTER II.
This chapter traces Victor Frankenstein's transition from Geneva to the university of Ingolstadt at seventeen, framed by "the first misfortune of my life"—his mother's death from scarlet fever after attending Elizabeth. It develops through his melancholy departure, his repugnance to strangers, and his encounters with two professors: M. Krempe, who dismisses his reading of Albertus Magnus and Paracelsus as "nonsense," and M. Waldman, whose panegyric upon modern chemistry converts him. It concludes that this day "decided my future destiny," directing him to apply to every branch of natural philosophy. It stops at his enrollment and laboratory instruction, leaving the actual experiments and creation to later chapters.
- CHAPTER III.
This chapter traces Victor Frankenstein's turn to chemistry at Ingolstadt under M. Waldman and M. Krempe, his two years of rapid improvement and chemical instrument discoveries, and his shift to physiology, where he asks "whence did the principle of life proceed?" and, after studying anatomy and "the natural decay and corruption of the human body," discovers "the cause of generation and life" and becomes "capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter." It covers his decision to create a being "of a gigantic stature," about eight feet high, and his secret toil in a solitary workshop, ending as the work nears completion and his health fails. The actual secret of animation is withheld; the creation's completion and consequences belong to Chapter IV.
- CHAPTER IV.
This chapter narrates the "accomplishment of my toils": on a "dreary night of November" Victor Frankenstein infuses "a spark of being into the lifeless thing," then recoils in "breathless horror and disgust" at the creature's "dull yellow eye," "yellow skin," and "straight black lips." It traces his night of "wildest dreams" (Elizabeth, the "corpse of my dead mother"), his flight through Ingolstadt past the "church of Ingolstadt," and the arrival of the "Swiss diligence" bringing "Henry Clerval." Victor's "nervous fever" confines him "several months," nursed solely by Clerval, until "a divine spring" restores him; the chapter closes with Clerval producing "a letter... from your cousin." It leaves the creature's fate and the letter's contents to later chapters.
How did Henry Clerval come to be in Ingolstadt and nurse Victor through his illness?
What did Victor dream about the night after the creature's animation?
- CHAPTER V.
This chapter opens with Elizabeth Lavenza's letter from Geneva, March 18th, 17—, reporting family health, Ernest's proposed profession, Justine Moritz's history, and gossip, then follows Victor's convalescence at Ingolstadt: his antipathy to natural philosophy, visits to professors M. Waldman and M. Krempe, joint study of Persian, Arabic, and Hebrew with Clerval, and a pedestrian tour ending in "unbridled joy and hilarity." It carries through to the Sunday return to college and stops before Chapter VI. Key terms: Ingolstadt, Geneva, Clerval, Justine Moritz, Cornelius Agrippa. The creation's aftermath and Justine's later fate are left to other parts.
- CHAPTER VI.
This chapter opens with Alphonse Frankenstein's letter announcing that "William is dead!—that sweet child... he is murdered!" and traces Victor's journey home, where he glimpses "the wretch, the filthy dæmon to whom I had given life" scaling Mont Salêve and resolves to "remain silent" about the true murderer. It carries through to the accusation of "Justine Moritz," whose trial is set for that day, with the miniature of Caroline Beaufort found in her pocket as the damning evidence. Victor insists "Justine is innocent," and the chapter closes with Elizabeth's plea to "justify my poor guiltless Justine," leaving the trial's outcome and verdict to Chapter VII.
- CHAPTER VII.
This chapter covers the trial, condemnation, and prison visit of Justine, accused of murdering the child William. It opens with the family attending court and moves through the circumstantial evidence against her — her night out, the market-woman's testimony, the picture found in her pocket — then her defence, Elizabeth's address to the court, and the black ballots condemning her. It carries through to Justine's confession that she "confessed a lie" to obtain absolution from her confessor, and closes with Victor's private anguish as "the true murderer." Key figures: Justine, Elizabeth, Victor, William, the confessor, the judges. It leaves the dæmon's own account and Victor's later confrontations to other chapters.
- FRANKENSTEIN; OR, THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. … CHAPTER I.
Opening Volume II, this chapter traces Victor's "remorse and the sense of guilt" after "Justine died," showing how "the dead calmness of inaction and certainty" replaces hope and fear, and how his "abhorrence of this fiend" mixes with thoughts of suicide restrained by love of "the heroic and suffering Elizabeth." It carries the family from Geneva to Belrive and on the excursion to "the valley of Chamounix," ending with Victor at his window watching "the pallid lightning that played over Mont Blânc." The monster's own account, and any confrontation with him, are left to later chapters. Key terms: remorse, solitude, the fiend, William and Justine, Elizabeth, Ernest, the Arve.
- CHAPTER II.
This chapter covers Victor Frankenstein's excursion to Montanvert and his confrontation with the "wretch whom I had created." It begins with a fine day at the source of the Arveiron, turns to a rain-depressed morning driving Victor alone up the "sea of ice," and reaches its climax when the "figure of a man" appears "with superhuman speed." The dæmon argues he "was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend," demanding a hearing before Victor destroys "the work of your hands." Victor, moved by "curiosity, and compassion," consents to listen. The chapter ends at the "hut upon the mountain," where the creature "began his tale" — the story itself is left to Chapter III. Key terms: Montanvert, Mont Blânc, the glacier, the "fallen angel," the "duties of a creator towards his creature."
- CHAPTER III.
The Creature narrates "the original æra of my being," tracing how "a strange multiplicity of sensations" gradually resolved into distinct perception: light, hunger, cold, the discovery of fire, and the "pleasant songs of the birds." The narrative moves from the forest near Ingolstadt to a shepherd's hut, a village where he is attacked, and finally a hovel adjoining a cottage, where he observes the De Lacey family — an old man, a young girl, and a youth — through a chink, feeling "a mixture of pain and pleasure" at their kindness. It closes as the family "extinguished their lights, and retired." The chapter covers only his earliest sensory education and first human contact; his acquisition of language, the family's history, and his creator's fate belong to later chapters.
- CHAPTER IV.
This chapter narrates the creature's winter and spring among the cottagers — the blind father, Agatha, and Felix — as he secretly assists their labours, steals no longer once he sees their poverty, and begins to learn their language, acquiring the words fire, milk, bread, wood, and the names of the cottagers themselves. It develops his growing love for these "superior beings" and his plan to win their favour despite his deformity, discovered when he views himself in a transparent pool. It concludes with spring's arrival and his hope gilded by "bright rays of hope." The chapter carries through to the end of spring; his actual presentation to the family and their reception of him are left to later chapters.
- CHAPTER V.
The creature narrates how Safie's arrival at the cottage lets him and the "Arabian" learn language together, using Volney's Ruins of Empires as the textbook; through Felix's instruction he gains "a cursory knowledge of history," the "division of property," and "rank, descent, and noble blood," then turns these lessons on himself to ask "What was I?" — concluding he is "a monster, a blot upon the earth," with "no money, no friends, no kind of property," and that "sorrow only increased with knowledge." The chapter runs from spring's arrival through two months of study, ending as he prepares to explain "to what these feelings tended"; the cottagers' own story and his subsequent actions are left to later chapters.
- CHAPTER VI.
The Creature recounts "the history of my friends," the De Lacey family, from their affluence in Paris to their exile in a German cottage. The narrative traces how the "Turkish merchant," father of Safie, was condemned to death unjustly; how Felix vowed to deliver him, won Safie's love, and engineered the escape across Mont Cenis to Leghorn; and how the Turk's ingratitude, the family's imprisonment and loss of fortune, and Safie's own flight from a harem prospect brought them to poverty. It closes with Safie's arrival at her lover's cottage. Key figures: De Lacey, Felix, Agatha, Safie, the Turk; institutions: the French government, a convent at Leghorn. The Creature's own acquisition of language and his later appeal to the family are left to other chapters.
- CHAPTER VII.
The creature recounts how his "intellect" developed after finding a leathern portmanteau containing Paradise Lost, Plutarch's Lives, and the Sorrows of Werter, which produced "an infinity of new images and feelings" and prompted his questions "Who was I? What was I?" He reads your journal of the four months preceding "my creation," cursing his "accursed origin," then resolves to introduce himself to the blind old man De Lacy. The trial fails: Felix, Safie, and Agatha return, Agatha faints, and he escapes to his hovel. The chapter carries through to this failed interview; his subsequent demands on Frankenstein belong to later chapters.
- CHAPTER VIII.
The Creature narrates his abandonment after the De Lacy family flees the cottage, his burning of it, his journey to Geneva, and his escalating "everlasting war against the species." He recounts saving a girl from a river only to be shot, strangling William Frankenstein ("my first victim"), and planting the portrait on Justine — events whose trials fall elsewhere. The chapter closes with his demand that Victor create "a companion... of the same species, and have the same defects," leaving Victor's response to later chapters. Key terms: "rage and revenge," "hell within me," De Lacy, Felix, Safie, Agatha, the Arabian, M. Frankenstein, Geneva, the portrait.
- CHAPTER IX.
This chapter opens with the being's demand that Victor "create a female for me," and traces Victor's refusal, the fiend's counter-argument that he is "malicious because I am miserable," and Victor's eventual consent "on your solemn oath to quit Europe for ever." It closes with Victor's descent to Chamounix and return to Geneva, where "the promise I had made to the dæmon weighed upon my mind." Key terms include the "interchange of sympathies," the proposed exile to "the vast wilds of South America," and the "ice caves of the glaciers." The chapter carries through to Victor's passive acquiescence in family arrangements; the actual creation of the female, and the consequences of that labour, are left to later chapters.
- FRANKENSTEIN; OR, THE MODERN PROMETHEUS. … CHAPTER I.
Victor, returned to Geneva, cannot "collect the courage to recommence my work" on a female creature, yet fears "the vengeance of the disappointed fiend." His father, conjecturing the cause of his gloom, urges an immediate marriage to Elizabeth; Victor, bound by his "unhappy promise," instead proposes a two-year tour to England to consult "an English philosopher," concealing his true motive. Departing in August with Clerval, he descends the Rhine to Rotterdam and reaches London by December, resolving to "fulfil my promise while abroad." The chapter carries through to his arrival at the Thames; the actual creation of the female, and the monster's fate, are left to later chapters.
- CHAPTER II.
This chapter traces Victor Frankenstein's travels through London, Windsor, Oxford, Matlock, Cumberland, Edinburgh, and finally a remote Orkney island, where he devotes himself to "collect the materials necessary for my new creation." The narrative develops through his anguished company with Henry Clerval, his dread of the "dæmon's disappointment," and his revulsion at the "filthy process" of his second experiment, concluding with his labour "considerably advanced" but haunted by "obscure forebodings of evil." Key figures include Clerval, Elizabeth, William, Justine, and Hampden; institutions include Oxford's colleges and Edinburgh's new town. The chapter begins with their arrival in London and ends at the Orkney hut; the actual completion of the work and the creature's appearance are left to later chapters.
- CHAPTER III.
This chapter covers Victor's refusal to create a female companion and the monster's vow of revenge. It begins in the laboratory where Victor, reflecting on the "race of devils" that might propagate, tears the half-finished creature to pieces; the monster then appears at the casement and, after a confrontation, declares "I shall be with you on your wedding-night." Victor packs his chemical instruments, casts the relics into the sea, and is driven by a north-east wind to Ireland, where he is arrested on suspicion of murder and taken to Mr. Kirwin. The chapter carries through to Victor's arrival before the magistrate; the trial and its outcome are left to Chapter IV.
- CHAPTER IV.
This chapter narrates Victor Frankenstein's arrest, imprisonment, and acquittal for the murder of Henry Clerval. It opens with his introduction to the magistrate, Mr. Kirwin, and the depositions of fishermen and witnesses who found the strangled body, then turns on Victor's recognition of Clerval and his ensuing two-month fever, during which he raves of murdering William, Justine, and Clerval. Mr. Kirwin's kindness, the arrival of Victor's father, and the grand jury's rejection of the bill — proved by his presence on the Orkney Islands — lead to liberation. It closes with the voyage from Ireland to Holyhead; the creature's pursuit and Geneva's resolution belong to later chapters.
- CHAPTER V.
This chapter traces Victor's return from Ireland to Geneva and his fatal decision to proceed with his marriage to Elizabeth Lavenza. It opens with the journey to Havre and Paris, where Elizabeth's letter revives the fiend's threat—"I will be with you on your wedding-night!"—which Victor resolves to face rather than postpone. He marries Elizabeth, and the chapter closes as they land at Evian, his "cares and fears" reviving. Key figures include Victor's father, Clerval, Justine, and the monster; the charge of murder and the secret of the wretch he created remain unconfessed. The wedding-night catastrophe itself is left to Chapter VI.
- CHAPTER VI.
This chapter narrates the destruction of Elizabeth on her bridal bier and the deaths of William, Justine, Clerval, and Victor's father, tracing Victor's descent into a dungeon, his release, and his awakening to revenge. It develops from the storm-lit vigil at the inn through the monster's jeer at the open window, the hopeless pursuit by boats and nets, and Victor's return to Geneva, where his father sinks under the tidings and dies in his arms. It concludes with Victor's deposition before a criminal judge in the town, who listens with attention and kindness but reverts to incredulity, leaving Victor to devote himself to the monster's destruction. Key terms: the fiend, the monster, the lake, the Alps, the magistrate, revenge.
- CHAPTER VII.
This chapter carries Victor Frankenstein's narration from his vow of vengeance at the Geneva cemetery through his pursuit of the "fiend" across Tartary, Russia, and the frozen northern ocean, ending with his death aboard Walton's ship and the creature's final self-condemnation beside the corpse. It answers how the pursuit unfolded — the inscriptions left on trees and stone, the sledge journey, the ice breaking between them — and concludes with Victor's dying charge that Walton destroy the monster, and the creature's vow to "consume to ashes this miserable frame." Key figures are Victor, Walton, Margaret, Elizabeth, Clerval, William, Justine, and the dæmon. The creature's own formation and earlier history are left to other parts of the book.