Discuss the significance of the shifts in narrative perspective in Frankenstein. What is the effect of presenting different characters viewpoints, especially those of Victor and the monster?

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Question: (25 Marks)

1. Discuss the significance of the shifts in narrative perspective in Frankenstein. What is the effect of presenting different characters' viewpoints, especially those of Victor and the monster?

Answer

Mary Shelley uses many different narrators inside her story, including Walton, through letters, followed by Victor, and in Volume 2, the Monster themselves. It has various effects on the flow of the story, and its main effect is that it helps the reader to understand the characters in the novel much more easily and also provide the perspectives of various people, to get a feel of what society was at that time, and also to break certain stigmas that were present at that time. This can be seen in all three narrators in the book- Robert Walton, another fellow mad scientist, Victor, the protagonist and the Monster, the main antagonist.

Firstly, the main use of Walton in the story helps us understand how a scientist during that time period perceives another scientist with the same intentions and sacrifices as himself. This is because in those ages, when we think of scientists, people often think that they are mad and abandon all of their families