Literature: Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
Frankenstein is Mary Shelley's 1818 Gothic novel, a GCSE English Literature 19th-century novel set text (AQA Paper 1 Section B, or the equivalent Edexcel component) about Victor Frankenstein, whose ambition to create life leads him to abandon his Creature, with catastrophic results for them both. Exam questions give a printed extract and ask how Shelley presents a character or theme in that extract and across the whole novel, testing knowledge of the text (AO1), analysis of Shelley's language, structure and the novel's frame narrative (AO2), and understanding of Romantic and scientific context (AO3).
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Read the printed extract closely, annotating Shelley's imagery, narrative voice and structure before planning your answer.
- Identify two or three techniques with a clear, explainable effect, such as pathetic fallacy, first-person narration or the frame narrative, rather than simply listing quotations.
- Move outward from the extract to the whole novel, choosing moments that develop or contrast with what the extract shows, tracking whether it is Walton's, Victor's or the Creature's voice.
- Link analysis to Romantic and scientific context, such as Galvanism, the sublime and ideas about ambition and responsibility, where it genuinely deepens the point.
- Use precise subject terminology, such as frame narrative, foil, the sublime and hubris, accurately rather than for decoration.
- Plan a clear structure, with an introduction stating your line of argument, points moving through the extract then the novel, and a brief conclusion, before you start writing.
Worked example
After the Creature is rejected by his creator, he tells Victor: 'I am malicious because I am miserable.' Explain how this line presents the Creature.
- Identify the technique: the balanced, causal structure 'malicious because...miserable' presents his cruelty as an effect with a clear cause, not an innate quality.
- Note the first-person voice: because the Creature narrates this section himself within Victor's account, the reader hears his reasoning directly rather than only Victor's judgement of him.
- Explain the effect: this reframes him from the silent monster of the early chapters into a being who understands and can articulate his own suffering, inviting sympathy.
- Link to the wider novel: this follows his account of being rejected by Victor at his creation and again by the De Lacey family despite his attempts to help them, showing a consistent pattern of rejection before revenge.
- Link to context: Shelley draws on Enlightenment ideas about nature versus nurture, suggesting the Creature's violence is created by society's treatment of him rather than being an inherent Gothic evil.
- Final answer: the line presents the Creature as a product of rejection rather than a natural monster, using a causal structure and his own reasoned first-person voice to shift responsibility for his violence back onto Victor and the society that repeatedly refuses him.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1Who is the recipient of the letters that frame the novel?Show answer
Answer: Margaret Saville, Robert Walton's sister.
Q2Where does Victor first create and reject the Creature?Show answer
Answer: In his apartment in Ingolstadt, where he has been studying.
Q3Identify the technique in Victor's description of the Alps: 'the immense mountains and precipices...the palaces of nature.'Show answer
Answer: The sublime/imagery - awe-inspiring, overwhelming natural landscape reflecting Victor's turbulent emotions.
Q4Who is wrongly executed for the murder of Victor's brother William?Show answer
Answer: Justine Moritz, the family's servant.
Q5True or false: Victor completes the female companion the Creature demands.Show answer
Answer: False - he begins the work but destroys it before finishing, fearing the consequences.
Q6Give one piece of evidence that Victor abandons responsibility for his creation.Show answer
Answer: He flees his apartment in horror the moment the Creature opens its eyes, leaving it to fend for itself with no guidance.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a English exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
State four things that happen to the Creature that contribute to his eventual violence.
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 4 available
Explain how Shelley presents the Creature in the line from the worked example above: 'I am malicious because I am miserable.'
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 6 available
'Victor Frankenstein is more of a monster than his Creature.' To what extent do you agree?
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Nothing ticked yet - 5 available
See real English past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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