Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

1. Is Robert Walton's ambition similar to Frankenstein's, as Frankenstein believes?
2. Why is the fifteen-year-old Frankenstein so impressed with the oak tree destroyed by lightning in a thunderstorm?
3. Why does Frankenstein become obsessed with creating life?
4. Why is Frankenstein filled with disgust, calling the monster "my enemy," as soon as he has created him? (p. 62)
5. What does the monster think his creator owes him?
6. Why does Frankenstein agree to create a bride for the monster, then procrastinate and finally break his promise?
7. Why can't Frankenstein tell anyone—even his father or Elizabeth—why he blames himself for the deaths of William, Justine, and Henry Clerval?
8. Why doesn't Frankenstein realize that the monster's pledge "I shall be with you on your wedding-night" threatens Elizabeth as well as himself? (p. 173)
9. Why does Frankenstein find new purpose in life when he decides to seek revenge on the monster "until he or I shall perish in mortal conflict"? (p. 206)
10. Why are Frankenstein and his monster both ultimately miserable, bereft of human companionship, and obsessed with revenge? Are they in the same situation at the end of the novel?
11. Why doesn't Walton kill the monster when he has the chance?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Penguin Classics. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.