Frankenstein and the Epistolary Novel Form - 1386 Words

Q: â€Å"Examine the effect of the epistolary form of writing throughout the novel Frankenstein. Do you think the epistolary novel form of writing are an effective form of telling the story? How does the epistolary form affect plot development and character development?† Mary Shelly, the author of the novel Frankenstein, writes Frankenstein in epistolary form which is an effective way of integrating the reader into the story, introducing writer bias [character development], and furthering the theme of communication. The epistolary form of writing allows the reader to feel as if they are receiving an actual account of the story. This type of writing makes the reader feel as if the character is writing to them. The plot seems more realistic and†¦show more content†¦Waltons final decision to turn back after listening to his crew also mitigates the harshness of Victor Frankensteins story. The epistolary structure of the novel and the subsequent use of multiple narrators forces the reader to judge for themselves what is true and what is dramatized from the letters. Due to the story being retold from the point of view of Victor the reader is more likely to understand why Victor and Walton deem the monster a malevolent and insensitive brute. (Favert 1) We must begin to read Frankenstein more as a well-wrought baggy monster of correspondences, and less as a singular, alien phenomenon. If we read it as an interactive combination of tales, rather than one linear narrative, we can refrain from casting the novelist into the narrow role of a young girl with so very hideous an idea. Frankenstein is Mary Shelleys novel; it is no more her story than Waltons, Victors or the monsters. Within the text, the various narrators slide from their own stories into the histories of others, and with each movement, we are asked to extend our willing suspension of disbelief. As the novel multiplies its story-tellers and listeners, it renews the problem of narrative authority. Whose story do we believe? -- the novel defuses such a question. The fantastic nature of the stories preclude rational explanation or judgment, and we do not,Show MoreRelatedHow Is Gothic Illustrated in Frankenstein Up to Chapter 11807 Words   |  4 PagesHow is the got hic illustrated in Frankenstein up to chapter 11? The gothic genre has many defining qualities and features, and as a gothic novel, Frankenstein (or the Modern Prometheus) exhibits some of these traits. However, due to the time period in which it was written by Mary Shelley there are also many features of Romanticism apparent in the novel, such as the emphasis on the beauty and restorative powers of nature in chapters 8 and 9. 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