Recap / Frankenstein

In the 18th century, Captain Robert Walton leads an expedition into the arctic to reach the north pole. His is a journey fraught with danger, and along the way, Walton's ship becomes stranded on a large ice field. While the crew set about trying to free the ship from the ice, Walton sees a strange sight: a large man on a dog-driven sled traveling north. A few days later, the ship's crew takes on an ailing man found unconscious on an ice floe. When the man comes to, he introduces himself as Victor Frankenstein.

Victor Frankenstein was born the son of Alphonse Frankenstein, a well-regarded physician. His was a happy childhood raised among loving parents and a dear friend, Elizabeth Lavenza, the daughter of a family friend whom the Frankensteins adopted. As he grew, Victor developed an interest in the sciences, particularly in finding practical applications for electricity. Following an outbreak of scarlet fever that claims his mother's life, Victor sets off for Ingolstadt to study at a university.

During his studies at Ingolstadt, Victor set about on a groundbreaking new project: creating life from death, reanimating the deceased. Over the course of a year, Victor set himself to the grim task of collecting raw materials from cemeteries, his obsession with this project taking its toll on his mind and causing him to lose touch with his family back in Geneva. In the end, Victor succeeds in his endeavors and creates what he describes as a "monster". Afterwards, Victor wanders the streets until he is found by his friend Henry Clerval, who nurses him back to health. When Victor returns to his home, however, the monster is nowhere to be seen...

In time, Victor recovers and resumes his studies at the university, only to be called back home by tragic news: his younger brother, William, has been murdered! On his way back home, Victor catches sight of what may well be his monster, and he becomes consumed by the fear that his monster is the murderer. When he returns home, he learns that Justine Moritz, the family's housekeeper, had been accused of the murder. While Victor is certain of Justine's innocence, she is ultimately convicted and hung at the gallows.

Consumed by guilt over being responsible for two innocent deaths, Victor takes a tour of Mount Montavert to cleanse his soul. It is in his travels that he is confronted by his monster. While Victor is prepared to defend himself, the monster proves to be well-spoken and articulate, and convinces his creator to hear his story...

After being brought to life, the monster fled from Ingolstadt, his grotesque appearance making him the subject of fear and hatred among the town's residents. He would live in the forest for a time, scavenging for food and taking shelter in a hovel attached to the home of the De Lacey family, once a pillar of French society, now an impoverished family of farmers. The monster would watch the family, picking up their language and learning their history while observing their family dynamic, and help them in secret with their crops. He would also teach himself to read books, in particular the books he had taken from Victor's coat. In time, the monster mustered the courage to approach the family, and struck up a conversation with the elderly grandfather whose blindness allowed him to talk with the monster as an equal. Unfortunately, the son of the family would attack him and drive him away.

Disillusioned with humanity, the monster would use Victor's journal to make his way to Geneva, where he encountered William. Realizing who William was, the monster strangled him, then planted Justine's locket on him to frame her for the murder. While the monster hated Victor for creating him, he refrains from harming him because Victor is the only man capable of realizing his desire for a mate, a woman who would be just like him and love him for who he was. Thus, the monster issues his ultimatum: make his mate, or risk losing everything and everyone he loved.

Victor reluctantly agrees at first, setting up a laboratory on a deserted island in the Orkney Island chain to conduct his grim work in private. However, his fear over the possibility of creating a creature more evil than his first creation drives him to destroy the half-finished mate. The monster, witnessing the destruction of his mate, makes an ominous promise to Victor: "I will be with you on your wedding night."

After returning home to Geneva, Victor marries Elizabeth. Unfortunately, the monster fulfills his promise and strangles Elizabeth to death. Driven by vengeance, Victor pursued the creature to the north, eventually making his way to the Arctic, where he would fall victim to hypothermia and exhaustion and, eventually, be found by Captain Walton's crew...

A few days afterwards, Victor Frankenstein passes away. Not long after, Walton finds the monster on the ship mourning his creator. Having grown tired of humanity and his own pitiful existence, the monster vows to remain in the Arctic until he eventually dies. Walton watches as the monster departs on a drifting ice floe, never to be seen again...