Thesis Statements & Important Quotes from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Below you will find five outstanding thesis statements / paper topics for "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley that can be used as essay starters. All five incorporate at least one of the themes found in Frankenstein and are broad enough so that it will be easy to find textual support, yet narrow enough to provide a focused clear thesis statement. These thesis statements on Frankenstein offer a short summary of different elements that could be important in an essay but you are free to add your own analysis and understanding of the plot or themes to them. Using the essay topics below in conjunction with the list of important quotes from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley at the bottom of the page, you should have no trouble connecting with the text and writing an excellent paper.

Thesis Statement/Essay Topic #1: Frankenstein as a Gothic Novel & Example of Romanticism

Frankenstein is one of the finest expressions of the Gothic novel and also fits many of the characteristics of a Romantic novel. Consider all of the elements that comprise a story—including setting, character development, narrative voice, tone, to name just a few—and explain how each element contributes to the novel’s identity as a Gothic text or example of Romanticism. Then, offer your interpretation of Shelley’s message, if you believe she intended to convey one to her reader. If, alternately, you believe that the novel is purely for entertainment purposes, substantiate your claim with textual evidence. If you are stuck, please check out An Overview of Romanticism in Literature and Romanticism in Frankenstein

Thesis Statement / Essay Topic #2: Victor as God in "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley

Many students and critics have accused Victor of “playing God” by fabricating the Creature in his laboratory. Playing God, though, implies that a character is flawed by excessive hubris, which may or may not be applicable to Victor. Consider your own reaction to this charge, and write an essay in which you construct a solid argument that conveys your position to the reader. You will need to identify Victor’s character traits and explain how they do or do not substantiate the claim that Victor is trying to play God. You will also need to be sure to cite specific actions that Victor takes which provide evidence for your own claims. It might also be useful to consider the ways the presence of a "god" has an effect on the Creature in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Thesis Statement / Essay Topic #3: The Modern Prometheus: The Meaning of the Subtitle of "Frankenstein"

The subtitle of Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, is “The Modern Prometheus.” Prometheus was a figure from Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods and used it to create humans. Based on your knowledge of this myth, construct an essay in which you defend or refute the idea that Victor is the modern Prometheus. Incorporate specific, concrete evidence from the novel to support your arguments. Be sure to dig beneath the surface similarities between the myth and Shelley’s novel in order to identify latent symbols and their significance.

Thesis Statement / Essay Topic #4: The Narrative Structure in Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, has three narrators who tell the story of the Creature’s creation and his subsequent actions. Write an expository essay in which you explain the function of the three distinct narrators and their respective stories. Identify how each of the narrators differs, what his motives might be, and what the implications are for the novel. You may wish to go beyond this suggestion to offer a well-considered opinion about who you believe to be the most reliable narrator, and why. Alternately, you may wish to argue how the novel would have been different if one or more of the narrators was not present in the text.

Thesis Statement / Essay Topic #4 The Character of the Creature

Considering the Creature’s version of events, conveyed to the reader through his narrative, decide whether you feel empathic towards the Creature’s plight, or whether you think he is an abomination. The essay you write will be persuasive in nature, as you want to convince your reader to adopt your point of view. You may wish to focus on one or more specific passages in order to build your argument. In any case, develop the essay fully by remarking upon the Creature’s significance and what he may represent with respect to society.

This list of important quotations from "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley will help you work with the essay topics and thesis statements above by allowing you to support your claims. All of the important quotes from Frankenstein listed here correspond, at least in some way, to the paper topics above and by themselves can give you great ideas for an essay by offering quotes and explanations about other themes, symbols, imagery, and motifs than those already mentioned and explained. Aside from the thesis statements for Frankenstein above, these quotes alone can act as essay questions or study questions as they are all relevant to the text in an important way. All quotes contain page numbers as well. Look at the bottom of the page to identify which edition of Frankenstein they are referring to.

“I am by no means indifferent to the manner in which whatever moral tendencies exist in the sentiments or characters it contains shall affect the reader…. ” (2)

“None but those who have experienced them can conceive of the enticements of science.” (47)

“No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success. Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me.” (51)

“How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavored to form?” (55)

“The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body…[b]ut now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished….” (56)

“God in pity made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours….” (154)

“I learned from your papers that you were my father, my creator, and to whom could I apply with more fitness than to him who had given me life?” (165)

“I am alone, and miserable; man will not associate with me, but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me.” (171)

“I am malicious because I am miserable….You, my creator, would tear me to pieces, and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me?” (173)

“[T]he human senses are insurmountable barriers to our union…. [I]f I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear….” (173)

Reference: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Enriched Classics, 2004.