This key facts covers Key Facts within Theme: Responsibility & Abandonment for GCSE English Literature. Revise Theme: Responsibility & Abandonment in Frankenstein for GCSE English Literature with 10 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 10 of 15 in this topic. Use this key facts to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
📋 Key Facts
- Shelley began writing Frankenstein aged 18, at the Villa Diodati, Geneva, summer 1816
- Published anonymously in 1818 (with Percy Shelley's preface); Mary Shelley's name appeared on the 1823 revised edition
- Full title: Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus
- The epigraph is from Milton's Paradise Lost: "Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay / To mould me Man?" — spoken by Adam to God; Shelley applies it to the Creature
- The frame narrative has three embedded narrators: Walton → Victor → the Creature
- Victor creates the Creature in Chapter 5; the Creature speaks his full story from Chapters 11–16
Practice questions for Theme: Responsibility & Abandonment
In the Creature's final speech (Chapter 24), which word does the Creature use to describe himself as something cast off and unwanted — connecting his state directly to Victor's act of abandonment?
How does Shelley present the act of abandonment in Chapter 5 of Frankenstein? Write about the technique she uses and its effect on the reader.