Narrative Technique of “Frankenstein”
Mary Shelley's “Frankenstein” is a novel with a complex narrative structure. It involves framed or
embedded narratives, which has been called a Chinese box structure of stories within stories.
The story is told by the three male narrators which begins with Walton, then Victor and then it
moves to the creature, then back to Victor, and at last to Walton again. The creature's story is
told to us in the novel's centre, framed by Victor Frankenstein’s story, which is framed by Robert
Walton’s epistolary narrative.
Largely, the novel consists of a single story which takes Frankenstein from childhood in Geneva
to his death in the Arctic aboard in Captain Walton's ship. All the action of the novel arises from:
Frankenstein's childhood and education and his creation of the monster and its consequences .
When other stories are told - such as that of the de Laceys, Justine and Elizabeth- they are
subordinate to this central action.
Walton is the primary narrator whose narrative has several dimensions and functions .He
mediates the stories of Victor and the creature, and, at the beginning of the novel, Shelley also
uses him to introduce some of the key themes. The use of letters, journals, and notes which
function as the different character's testimonies renders the novel's realism. The story thus
appears to be an account of actual events.The novel raises questions of the progress of
science and Mary Shelly’s treatment of science could be seen as an implicit warning against the
possible dangers inherent in the technological developments of modern science.
Since there is no omniscient narrator to guide the reader in the understanding and interpretation
of the story, and of the different accounts offered, it is up to the reader to draw own
conclusions.This could be seen as a deliberate strategy to destabilise the text : each narrator is
telling a version of the story ,not ‘the’ version, and the reader is therefore invited to question the
accounts offered. This is also why the story has been, and can be interpreted, in so many ways
with various perspectives; with no omniscient narrator, the ambiguity with which the story is told
is vibrant and the narrator's credibility is questioned.
Mary Shelley chooses an all-male voice to tell the story that creates a certain distance between
author and the narrator. Anne K Millor assigns Mary Shelley’s choice of narration to "anxiety of
authorship": ... a male voice is more legitimate and estimated than a female; that the story will
seem more credible if it is told in a male voice.."
Mary Shelley's “Frankenstein” is a novel with a complex narrative structure. It involves framed or
embedded narratives, which has been called a Chinese box structure of stories within stories.
The story is told by the three male narrators which begins with Walton, then Victor and then it
moves to the creature, then back to Victor, and at last to Walton again. The creature's story is
told to us in the novel's centre, framed by Victor Frankenstein’s story, which is framed by Robert
Walton’s epistolary narrative.
Largely, the novel consists of a single story which takes Frankenstein from childhood in Geneva
to his death in the Arctic aboard in Captain Walton's ship. All the action of the novel arises from:
Frankenstein's childhood and education and his creation of the monster and its consequences .
When other stories are told - such as that of the de Laceys, Justine and Elizabeth- they are
subordinate to this central action.
Walton is the primary narrator whose narrative has several dimensions and functions .He
mediates the stories of Victor and the creature, and, at the beginning of the novel, Shelley also
uses him to introduce some of the key themes. The use of letters, journals, and notes which
function as the different character's testimonies renders the novel's realism. The story thus
appears to be an account of actual events.The novel raises questions of the progress of
science and Mary Shelly’s treatment of science could be seen as an implicit warning against the
possible dangers inherent in the technological developments of modern science.
Since there is no omniscient narrator to guide the reader in the understanding and interpretation
of the story, and of the different accounts offered, it is up to the reader to draw own
conclusions.This could be seen as a deliberate strategy to destabilise the text : each narrator is
telling a version of the story ,not ‘the’ version, and the reader is therefore invited to question the
accounts offered. This is also why the story has been, and can be interpreted, in so many ways
with various perspectives; with no omniscient narrator, the ambiguity with which the story is told
is vibrant and the narrator's credibility is questioned.
Mary Shelley chooses an all-male voice to tell the story that creates a certain distance between
author and the narrator. Anne K Millor assigns Mary Shelley’s choice of narration to "anxiety of
authorship": ... a male voice is more legitimate and estimated than a female; that the story will
seem more credible if it is told in a male voice.."
