After finishing Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, the distribution and unique separation of time within the novel added to the story. Initially, the novel begins with four letters that Robert Walton, an explorer, writes to his sister Margaret. Just a few pages before the book ends, we return to Walton’s point of view with the statement, “You have read this strange and terrific story, Margaret,” (Shelley, 155). However, after Walton meets Victor Frankenstein, the reader hears nothing directly related to Walton until the last few pages of the novel. Although Walton was retelling Frankenstein’s story, the entire novel takes place in a letter to Margaret. This interesting separation of events is called a frame story, or a story within a story. Shelley’s use of a frame story enabled her to form the parallelism between Frankenstein, the creature, and Robert Walton. Many similarities are present between the three characters, and the format of a frame story allowed the author to formulate these comparisons without actually requiring them to interact with each other. Furthermore, although she is never actually met, the frame story allowed for the creation and influence of Margaret. No actual response or words from her are ever read, yet her being influences Walton’s decisions and parallels Victor’s Elizabeth. Through her use of a frame story, Shelley was able to create many different aspects and connections in her novel that might have not been possible if she had followed a tradition format.
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