Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1818

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Letters 1-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Letter 1 Summary

Content Warning: Both the source material and guide contain references to suicide, murder (including the violent death of a child), and body horror.

In a letter to his sister, Mrs. Margaret Saville, in December of a year in the 18th century, Robert Walton writes that he arrived in St. Petersburg safely and that he is confident in his “undertaking” as he journeys to the North Pole. The cold wind feels like a “wind of promise” (1), and he cannot imagine the North Pole to be anything but a “region of beauty and delight,” a place where “the sun is forever visible” (1). He expects great wonder in this land and hopes to “satiate [his] ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited” (2). These thoughts prevent him from fearing danger. He hopes to “discover a passage near the pole” that will allow travel between countries, and he anticipates “the inestimable benefit which [he] shall confer on all mankind” (2).

Walton has wanted to take this voyage since he was a child. He read voraciously as a child even though he did not receive a strong education. He decided to venture to the North Pole six years ago when he traveled the North Sea with whalers. During this time, he hardened himself to sea voyage by enduring “cold, famine, thirst, and want of sleep” (3). He believes his hard work entitles him “to accomplish some great purpose” (3). To Walton, glory is preferable to wealth. He hopes he will be a good leader—that he possesses sufficient grit and charisma to keep morale high.

Walton intends to hire a ship in the Russian town of Arkhangelsk, or Archangel, and enlist sailors to join him. His only sadness is that it will be months or years before he sees his sister again.

Letter 2 Summary

Three months later, in March, Walton writes to Margaret that he hired a ship and is in the process of hiring sailors. He regrets that he does not have a friend to share in his joy and comfort him in his sadness. He also regrets his lack of education and feels that at 28 years old, he is “more illiterate than many schoolboys of fifteen” (5).

Walton’s sailors are courageous and eager for glory. One sailor, having saved enough money to marry a Russian woman, gave his fortune to a poor man with whom his bride was in love so her father would consent to their marriage. Walton believes that though this man is “noble” for his good deed, the fact that the sailor is “wholly uneducated […] detracts from the interest and sympathy which otherwise he would command” (6).

Walton is waiting to set sail until the weather grows more accommodating. He assures Margaret he “shall do nothing rashly” and will act with “prudence and considerateness” (7). He is thrilled to travel “to unexplored regions” and learn the ocean’s “dangerous mysteries” (7).

Walton hopes to see Margaret again and asks that she continue to write to him. He loves his sister and hopes she will remember him “with affection” if they do not meet again.

Letter 3 Summary

In a July letter, Walton tells Margaret that he is “well advanced” in his voyage. He is sad that he will not see England for years, but he is excited about the voyage ahead. The sailors “are bold and apparently firm of purpose” (8); they do not fear the ice sheets or any other dangers. He once again assures Margaret that he “will not rashly encounter danger” but rather “will be cool, persevering, and prudent” (8).

Walton is convinced that “success shall crown [his] endeavours” because he has already come quite far: “What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man?” (8).

Letter 4 Summary

In August, Walton writes of a strange incident that occurred a week before. The ship was “nearly surrounded by ice” and heavy fog (9). Suddenly, the sailors saw “a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs” (9). In the carriage was a man “apparently of gigantic stature” (9). They watched the carriage until it disappeared. As the ship was far from land, the sailors were perplexed. The ice parted, and they decided to set sail again in the morning.

The next day, the sailors pulled a man named Victor Frankenstein from a sheet of ice. Walton was surprised when Frankenstein asked where the ship was headed. When Walton responded that they were going to the North Pole, Frankenstein allowed himself to be brought on board.

Frankenstein was nearly dead from cold and hunger, and the sailors set to reviving him. After two days, Frankenstein could speak again. Though “[h]is eyes have generally an expression of wildness, and even madness,” he showed “benevolence and sweetness” (11). It was clear to Walton that Frankenstein was “melancholy and despairing” (11).

The lieutenant asked what Frankenstein was doing on the ice. Frankenstein replied, “To seek one who fled from me” (11). When the lieutenant said they saw the other carriage, Frankenstein was interested to hear more.

Walton tells Margaret that Frankenstein appears agitated but “his manners are so conciliating and gentle” (12). Walton is beginning “to love him as a brother” and believes “[h]e must have been a noble creature in his better days” (12).

After recovering, Frankenstein stood on deck, watching for the carriage. When Walton told him he would sacrifice his fortune for the success of his voyage because “[o]ne man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge” (13), Frankenstein became upset and asked if Walton shared his “madness.” When Walton told Frankenstein he longed for a friend, the man grew sad and said he “once had a friend” (14).

Walton tells Margaret that Frankenstein will share his own story in the hopes that Walton will “deduce an apt moral” (15). Walton intends to write a transcription of what Frankenstein says.

Letters 1-4 Analysis

Walton’s letters to his sister establish one of the most important themes in Frankenstein: The Dangers of Knowledge. Walton is eager to discover “a part of the world never before visited” and learn about “unexplored regions” (2), and he experiences a “trembling sensation, half pleasurable and half fearful” when he thinks of “the inestimable benefit which [he] shall confer on all mankind” (7, 2). His fear is telling—a warning against pursuing his ambitions. His letters also establish the motif of light. Walton’s excitement that these lands, where “the sun is forever visible” (1), offer “eternal light” suggests that light represents knowledge. The goodness and purity conventionally associated with light somewhat temper the suggestion that Walton is reaching too high, but the word “eternal,” in its association with divinity, also hints at the hubris of Walton’s desires for limitless knowledge.

Though Walton asserts that his interest in sea voyages is the result of his poet’s imagination, it becomes clear that his quest is also driven by insecurity about his lack of education. Walton was forced to educate himself, as his “education was neglected” (2); he finds this to be a great “evil” and is embarrassed that he is no more literate than a teenager. Knowledge and fine education are, to Walton, of paramount importance, and he judges all men by the quality he wishes he had. He has a haughty, judgmental perception of other uneducated men; he tells Margaret that the sailor who donated his fortune to his bride’s lover is “noble” but less sympathetic because of he is “wholly uneducated.” In contrast, his admiration of Frankenstein borders on worship. Frankenstein speaks with “unparalleled eloquence” and “gentle” manners, and Walton suspects that “[h]e must have been a noble creature in his better days” (12). These hints that Walton’s academic regrets skew his perception of others also explain why he is so desperate to make his mark on scientific understanding.

In fact, despite his assurances that he “will be cool, persevering, and prudent” (8), Walton appears overly confident and naive. While he knows his voyage is dangerous, he is convinced of his own success, believing that nothing “can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man” (8). Though this is his first voyage as captain, Walton feels his dedication and lifelong desire for adventure entitle him “to accomplish some great purpose” (3). In his eyes, his men too are “madly desirous of glory” (5), and they are undaunted by the dangers they face: they are “firm of purpose” despite the sheets of ice that threaten to capsize their ship (8).

These sentiments horrify Frankenstein. When Walton tells Frankenstein that he would “sacrifice [his] fortune” and even his “existence” to guarantee success—calling it “a small price to pay for the acquirement of knowledge”—Frankenstein grows agitated that Walton has “drunk also of the intoxicating draught” (13). It is then that Frankenstein, who also once sought knowledge, decides to tell his story, hoping Walton will gain something useful from it. Even before Frankenstein begins, however, his “emaciated” appearance and “wretched” condition—his belief that he has “lost everything and cannot begin life anew” (14)—are a warning about the repercussions of the blind pursuit of knowledge and glory. In Walton and his fearless men, Frankenstein sees his past self: a young, naive man.

Walton’s letters also introduce Shelley’s use of pathetic fallacy, a literary device wherein a writer attributes human emotions to the natural world. As he walks around St. Petersburg, Walton enjoys the breeze, believing it to be a “wind of promise” (1). As the novel progresses, Frankenstein too will project his mood onto nature.