"Robert Walton corresponds with his sister by letter as he attempts to fulfill a dream of completing an expedition to the Arctic region from England. While traveling, the boat finds an extremely weary man who is about to perish amidst icebergs on his dogsled. They take him aboard. Once he is recovered from his immediate exposure to the harsh weather, Robert Walton begins to talk to him. They two strike up a friendship‹Walton is very lonely and has long been desiring a companion. The man is desolate and for a while will not talk about what he is doing alone, traversing the Arctic. He has a story that he has kept for a long time. After becoming more comfortable with Walton, he decides to tell him the tale. The speaker is Victor Frankenstein, for whom the book is named. He shifts into the role of narrator for the majority of the story. Victor grows up in an idyllic, peaceful childhood. He is born into a well-off Italian family. His parents are kind, wonderful people, shining examples of the goodness of the human spirit. His father, Alphonse, came to care for his wife, Caroline, when her father, a dear friend of his, passed away. Alphonse placed her under his care and protection, and as time passed they fell in love. He provides for his wife in grand style. Because such kindness is shown to her, Caroline has a giving spirit and frequently visits the poor who live in her area of the Italian countryside. One day she chances upon the home of a family who has a beautiful foster daughter. Her name is Elizabeth Lavenza. The foster family is kind but poor. Caring for Elizabeth is a financial burden. Caroline falls in love with the lovely girl on sight, and adopts her into the Frankenstein family. She is close in age to Victor, and becomes the major emblem of his childhood. Elizabeth is Victor's most adored companion. The parents intend for the children to be close‹as cousins, brother and sister, and in the future, husband and wife.
The childhood years fly by quickly. Two more sons, William and Ernest, are born into the family. At this time, the parents decide to stop traveling around and settle in Geneva. This is the main home in which the children are raised. Victor has school chums, but his favorite friend by far is Henry Clerval. The two are opposite in goals‹Victor has developed a passion for science by reading outdated books, while Henry longs to go into business. Eventually, Victor's parents decide it is time for him to go away to school, and they are to send him to the university in Ingolstadt. Before he can leave his mother passes away. On her deathbed she tells Victor and Elizabeth of her wish to see them together and basically marries them then and there. Victor leaves, sad to part from his loved ones. Life goes on at home. Because Alphonse and Caroline are so generous, Elizabeth learns to be gracious as well. When she is old enough to know her mind, she extends housing and love to a young girl named Justine, whose mother dislikes her and wants to be rid of her. Justine is a servant, but more like a sister to Elizabeth, Ernest and William.
Meanwhile, at school Victor's passion for science increases exponentially. He falls into the hands of Waldman, a chemistry professor, who excites in him ambition and the desire to achieve glory in natural philosophy. Thus begins a consuming sickness. Victor spends day and night in his laboratory. A new interest develops‹in discovering how to generate life in the inanimate. This interest becomes an obsession as Victor embarks upon the creation of a human being. He tells no one of this work. Years go by without him even visiting home. Finally the deed is done. Yet when Victor beholds movement in his creation, who looks rather monstrous, he is revolted by what he has done and runs away. The creature disappears that night, not to be seen for a long time. In the interim, Henry joins Victor at school, and the two attend a study program in languages and poetry. Victor has no desire to ever return to the science that ruled his life. He feels ill whenever he thinks what he has created. The two friends spend massive quantities of time together, enjoying the nature hikes that they both adore. Two years pass in this manner. Victor keeps looking to return home. He is done with his studies. An opportune time never arises. Then, tragic news arrives‹his younger brother William has been murdered. On his way back to Geneva, he inexplicably begins to feel fearful. Upon arriving at his village that night, he strolls the countryside in a lightening storm, mourning the loss of his brother. He then spies a gigantic form‹the creature he built. Instantly he knows that he is the murderer of his brother.
Upon speaking to his family the next morning, Victor learns that Justine is the accused in the murder case. The picture from the locket William was wearing was found on her the morning after the murder. Victor knows she has been framed, but lacks the ability to say so, as he believes his tale will be seen as the ranting of a madman. The family does not want to believe she is guilty. Elizabeth especially is heartbroken. They hope for an acquittal during the trial. Unfortunately she is found guilty and condemned to death. Justine gracefully accepts her fate. In the aftermath of the double tragedy, the family is in shock. While on a therapeutic, solitary hike in the mountains, Victor comes face to face with the creature, who proceeds to share his history for the last two years. After learning the ways of humans by watching a cottage-dwelling family for over a year, he wants to join society, as he now understands all things human. Each time he has tried, however, he has been violently rebuffed due to his hideous appearance. When the family he has fallen in love with rejects him and moves away, a vengeful spirit of wrath is released. He knows the whereabouts of his creator, and decides to seek him, as Victor is the only human who owes him anything. On his journeys he meets William in the forest. Learning that he is related to Victor, he strangles him and takes the picture, which he plants on Justine as she is sleeping outdoors that night. He denounces Victor for abandoning him, and he demands the construction of a female mate, that he might have company and leave the human race forever. After a struggle, Victor agrees to the task to save his loved ones.
He journeys to England with Henry, who is unaware of his plans, to learn new techniques that will aid him in the task. Once he has enough information, he retreats to a dark corner of Scotland, resolving to meet up again with Henry when the job is done. Victor is about halfway through the task when he realizes the horror of what he is doing. In front of the spying creature's eyes, he rips the new creation to bits. The creature swears eternal revenge, that he will destroy Victor's life as his own life is destroyed. A letter arrives from Henry suggesting they meet in Perth. Once Victor arrives there, he is brought before a magistrate and accused of murder. He then sees the body of Henry, dead at the creature's hands. This brings on a fever that lasts for months. His father comes to bring him home, and Victor is cleared of the charges. Once at home, they all resolve to concentrate on the nuptials of Elizabeth and Victor as the happiness for the future. Victor is armed on their wedding night; but Elizabeth is murdered, and the creature looks at him triumphantly through the window. Hearing the news a few days later, his father slips into a decline and dies as well. Having lost most everything in the world that matters, Victor determines to spend the rest of his living days pursuing the creature. This is precisely what the creature wants. Now Frankenstein is as lonely and miserable as he is. For some time creator and creation chase each other. Victor has pursued him all the way to the Arctic region where Walton has found him, near death, just in time to share his story. He cautions the sea captain against excessive ambition and curiosity, and dies peacefully in his sleep. The creature visits the corpse, mourning and repenting his murder of his creator. He contends still that he has suffered the most, and his reason for living is gone. He then escapes, supposedly to die himself.
"(http://www.novelguides.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/frankenstein/shortsumm.html)
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