Madness, Guilt, and Isolation – Victor on Trial

Focused Excerpt A: Victor’s Interrogation and Breakdown

Source: Frankenstein (1818), Volume III, Chapter 21, Page 100

“The first part of this deposition did not in the least interest me; but when the mark of the fingers was mentioned, I remembered the murder of my brother, and felt myself extremely agitated; my limbs trembled, and a mist came over my eyes...”

Annotation Instructions: 

• Underline any physical response Victor describes, such as trembling, fainting, or weakness 

• Circle any language that suggests confusion or distorted memory 

• In the margin, respond in one sentence: Is this a reliable narrator? Why or why not?

Focused Excerpt B: Victor’s Sea Voyage and Hallucination

Source: Frankenstein (1818), Volume III, Chapter 22, Page 105

“Oppressed by the recollection of my various misfortunes, I now swallowed double my usual quantity, and soon slept profoundly. But sleep did not afford me respite from thought and misery. I felt the fiend’s grasp in my neck and could not free myself from it; groans and cries rang in my ears, and a feeling as of deadly weight sunk upon my chest...”

Annotation Instructions: 

1. Highlight any hallucinatory or dreamlike descriptions that suggest Victor is losing touch with reality 

2. Star any reference to the creature’s presence that may be symbolic rather than literal 

FFW: What emotion is Shelley trying to make the reader feel in this moment?

Notebook:

• What part of Victor’s body “speaks” the guilt that he will not voice? 

• What does Shelley achieve by never allowing Victor to name the creature directly?

• What happens when guilt is never expressed through confession, only through imagery and sensation?

Partner Discussion Prompts (three minutes per partner)

• Which moment in the text was the most disturbing or emotionally intense and why 

• Do you believe Victor is hiding the truth, or has he lost his ability to understand it clearly 

• What moment reveals Shelley’s view on guilt, punishment, or self-destruction

Visual Thinking Task

Draw a line graph that tracks Victor’s emotional intensity across pages 99 to 106. 

Label your x-axis with page numbers and your y-axis with emotional intensity (one is numb, ten is collapse). 

At each turning point, write a short phrase or quote that shows the change (for example: “faints during deposition” or “imagines being strangled”). 

Below your graph, write one sentence interpreting Shelley’s purpose in showing these mood shifts

Claim Writing Prompt

Choose one excerpt from today’s reading. Write a short paragraph that argues how Shelley uses imagery, setting, and physical symptoms to express Victor’s guilt.

Your paragraph should:

• Begin with an interpretive claim about guilt or mental collapse 

• Include at least one direct quote with a correct page number 

• Explain how Shelley’s language creates emotional impact or narrative unreliability 

• Conclude with a sentence that reflects on what this moment reveals about Victor as a character and narrator