Frankenstein - Chapter 2

- Victor finds his thirst for knowledge at his young age. Gets satisfaction from learning nature's secrets
- Henry Clerval introduced; a romantic character with a love for plays and linguistics
- Victor reads into Natural Philosophy, but into the works of philosophers who wrote more on magic than actual science
- becomes introduced to untold sciences, and intreagued by galvinism
- Destiny was too potent' suggests Victor's future actions were pre-determined. is he just trying to excuse his monstrosity? evidence of an un-relyable narrative voice.

Frankenstein - Chapter 1

- Victor is born Genevese (Swiss)
- Father depicted as honourable; marrying a deceiced friend's daughter to secure her safety
- they travel around europe, and when Victor turns five, his parents adopt a pesant orphan child: Elizabeth
- Victor conciders Elizabeth his to to protect, love, and cherish; childish/selfish view that he maintains into adulthood
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Frankenstein - Volume 1

Chapters 1 - 8
The novel begins with Victor Frankenstein describing his parents. His Mother and Father were a well travelled couple that moved around europe during the years before his birth. They continued to travel during his early childhod, adopting a young girl named Elizabeth int their family, before eventualy settling in Geneva, Switzerland (the city that the author, Mary Shelly, lived in, at the time she wrote the novell).
From a young age, Frankenstein discovered a love for learning, with a particular yearning for the 'Secrets of heaven and earth', and he began to read into the works of natural philosophy; more magic-orientated than scientific based texts however. His mother expresses her wish that Victor and Elizabeth will be joined in union one day, and this leads victor to beleve Elizabeth to be his posession. Later on, a journey's companion introduced him to the idea of Galvinism, which Frankenstein took an immediate interest in, and would later use to create his monster.
His father wants to see Frankenstein's education go further, so he enrolls him at the University of Inglostadt at the age of 17. Frankenstein meets the M.Krempe, who informs him that the texts he has been studying are outdated and irrelevant. An other university professor, M.Waldman, teaches him Chemistry, and is much more sympathetic to his older influences. Frankenstein becomes engrossed in his Natural Philosophy and Chemistry, and becmes friends with Waldman. This obsession with science means that he does not go home fr tw years, although it will actully be fur more until he returns. He obtains body parts to study decay, and finds the secret behind life and animation. Loking back, he decides not to reveal the secret that he discovered, as he beleves that if his experiments were replicated, the same horror that he found would ensue.
The monster is born! Frankenstein's state of mind becomes fragile, a falling leaf causing him to jump, and a horrific nightmare abut Elizabeth decaying in his arms finds him at night. He spends the night hiding in his courtyard, and in the church yard that he obtained the monster's components from.
This seems an odd reaction to being chased by a monstrosity; finding your bed and going to sleep. This can be critisized as a floor in Frankenstein's character, or an unrealistic reaction for Shelly to put in her novel.
The way that Frankenstein behaves when his friend Clerval comes to visit is also unrealistic and eratic. Frankenstein welcomes his friend into his home, where he, for some reason, completely forgets about the monster he has just created that is wondering around somewhere. Where it can be argued that Frankenstein's reaction is his attempt to cover up his creation from his friend, we get an insight into his mental state, and he makes no mention of fear or anxiety, until he suddenly remembers this creature moments later.
Victor reads a letter from Elizabeth, who expresses that she misses him, and has taken in a young orphan called Justine. He then takes Clerval to meet his university lecturers, and feels immense guilt when Waldman praises him as a star pupil, as Frankenstein knows how he has turned his great science into a hideous creation. Frankenstein spends time learning languages of other cuntries, taking a break from the science he craved too much.
His father then delivers him a letter, explaining that Victor's brother, William, has been murdered. He was found strangled near where a family went for a walk, and his brotech of his mother was missing. As the broetch was found amongst Justine's things, the blame was placed on her, and she admitted to killing him. Pained, Victor informs Clervil that he must return home, and finally makes his way back to Geneva. This adds another flaw to Frankenstein's character; he seems heartless until extreme prvocation causes him to do something that drags him away from his own work. Victor's character has been criticised as being too self-involved to be genuine.
Upon nearing Geneva, Victor goes walking to witness the storm rising overhead. The storm grows in power, as Vicor reaches the spot that William was killed. As he cries out, the monster appears, and seems to not notice his creator there. Victor is stunned with fright, and becomes convinced of the idea that the wretch is the murderer of his cousin. Victor then journeys back home
He stands in his home for the first time in Six years, and tells his father, Elizabeth and Ernest that he knows who the killer is, wheras they explain to him that they have heard Justine admit to the crime. Victor feels guilty, but does not spill the beans about his daemon creation, for his fear of what will happen. Victor's father tells Elizabeth to rely on the system of justice to find Justine innocent.

Macbeth - Act 3 Reading Journal

Scene 1
- Banquo's scepticism of Macbeth's new title of king; "Thou hast it now: king, cawdor, glamis all, as the wierd sisters promised, and i fear thou play'dst most foully for't". Note that banquo is being open with Macbeth with these thoughts; he is not, at this stage, concearned that macbeth will kill him because he knows too much. he still sees him as his friend
- Macbeth's first fear of what banquo knows; "Our fears in banquo stick deep" and "My genius rebuked". Macbeth is concearned that if banquo tells anyone what has been going on, they will figure out that Macbeth killed Duncan for the throne.
- Macbeth gets two murderers in - lower class citizens, who he tells that Banquo is their opressor in a bad society; "Both of you know banquo was your enemy...so he is mine". He manipulates the murderers, so they do not question their king's motives behind the requested assassination.
- Macbeth's fear of a 'fruitless crown' is brought forwards; "Fleance his son...must embrace the fate of that dark hour" to end the possibility of banquo's prophesy coming true
Scene 2
- "O, full of scorpions is my mind" - the beginning of madness?
- "There's comfort yet; they are assailable." hints that murder has become Macbeth's preferred way of dealing with problems
- "Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest" shows roll reversal, in that he is now taking charge, wheras Lady took charge earlier in the play
Scene 3
- First onstage murder of the play
- Is done badly by the murderers, who struggle and miss Fleance
Scene 4
- the presence of banquo's ghost can be the same as the dagger in macbeth's sololiquy, in that it ma or may not actually be visable to the audience. however, if an interpretation shows the dagger to be invisible but the ghost visable, it could emphasise macbeth's gradual decent into madness
- Speaks to the apparition this time. last time, he simply thought to himself aloud. He beleves it is real this time, without doubting it
- Lady desprately tries to pass Macbeth's iratic behaviour off as normal, but in doing so, further alienates the other onstage characters. Her theatrical side comes out again to manipulate others.
Scene 5
- Witches. Hecate tells them off for not asking her permission to meddle. shows they are rebelling against their authority, reinforcing the interpretation that they are just out to be entertained at other's expense
Scene 6
- two interpretations; Lennox is grilling the Lord for information, or Lennox and the Lord have met up secretly to talk politics. We find out that Macduff has fled to england to attempt to gain an army and oust macbeth
- Treachery by Macduff is gossip to the other lords of the court; shamefull macduff?

Macbeth - Act 2 Reading Journal

Scene 1

- Enter Macbeth, Banquo and Fleance. Shakespeare's use of irony - Banq:  Who's there? MacB: A friend.

- Mention of the Sisters. Macbeth lies about his thoughts - Banq:  I dreamt last night of the three Wierd Sisters... MacB: I think not of them.

- Dagger Soliloquy: MacBeth questions the apparition in front of him; "Is this a dagger" "Art thou but a dagger of the mind". Is Macbeth questioning his sanity?

- "Whichcraft celebrates pale Hecat's offerings" suggests that he suspects the witches' involvement in his apparition

Scene 2

- Relegious connections to the scene: "it is a knell that summons the to heaven or to hell", "One said 'God bless us' and 'Amen' the other...I could not say 'Amen'.", "I had most need of blessing, and 'Amen' stuck in my throat." This shows Macbeth's despair at his high treason. It is a sin so bad that he cannot repent of his crime to God.

- Lady Macbeth begins to show signs of a concience; "Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done't."

- Foreshadowing to Lady's future; "These deeds must not be thought after these ways; so, it will make us mad."

- Remorsefull Macbeth; "I am afraid to think what i have done; Look on't again I dare not", and "Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst!"

Scene 3

- Porter's Scene; Shakespeare's fool. The comic relief of the tragedy. However, it has been argued that the porter is not comic at all, but another gothic character that brings out the themes of relegion and madness.
- Relegion: his main topic of speach is hell and those going to hell. "If a man were porter of hell-gate he should have old turning the key", and "i'the name of Belzibub?" insinuate hell's evil and eternity.
- The knocking within seems to slowly drive the porter insane, as his rants get more and more farfetched with each knocking. his drunken state means he rants and takes a long time to answer the door; but with each knock he becomes more aggitated as the knocks interrupt him. Madness is reflected in the porter's drunken state.
- Macduff is introduced here; his respective responses to the porter's rants paint him in an honourable light, perhaps setting him up as the play's eventual hero.
- Lennox descrbes how the evil of Macbeth's conspiracy and the witches' supernatueral soliciting has reflected on the kingdom; "Chimneys were blown down...strange screams of death...accents terrible...woefull time"
- Macbeth shrugs this off - "'Twas a rough night."
- Macbeth almost slips up and confesses - "O yet I do repent of my fury, That i did kill them" (Macduff: Wherefore did you so?")
- Lady realises his mistake, and swoons to distract them.
- Malcolm and Donalbain flee for their lives, placing some suspiccion on them from the other characters

Macbeth, Act II - Mood and Atmosphere

Shakespeare uses many devices to set the scene and the overall mood of each Scene in his tragedy of Macbeth. The overall mood of this particular Act is edgy, scary and darkly themed. The scene is inside Macbeth's castle, but Shakespeare uses other devices to further this setting, and to engage the audience into fear or agitation.


The Act starts when Banquo tells his son Fleance ''A heavy summons lies like lead upon me and yet I would not sleep.'' The audience is led to believe that this is the doing of the Witches, as in act one, the First Witch tells of how she cursed a sailor so that he would not sleep, and also because Banquo reveals to Macbeth a little later on in the scene that he ''Dreamt last night of the three Weird sisters.'' This lack of sleep is either then a curse on Banquo, or an internal conflict on what is good or bad about his prophesy, exactly like Macbeth's internal struggles throughout the play, shown through his soliloquy and private discussions with Lady Macbeth.


As the Scene progresses, Macbeth's famous soliloquy of ''Is this a dagger I see before me...'' shows newly developed elements of his character. The illusion of the dagger is the result of the Witches' meddling, and can only be explained through madness or the supernatural; both of which are uneasy topics in a play, even today. This provokes a fear of the unknown from the audience, and makes them question the heroic Macbeth that they were introduced to by the Captain and other such characters in the play, as it in fact paints the nobleman in a confused and dazed state, from his failure to grasp his current situation.
He says ''art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation...from thy heat-oppressed brain?'' to show his questioning of the reality of his vision. The very fact that Shakespeare uses words such as 'blood', 'dead', 'wicked', 'witchcraft' and 'murder' scares the audience, as Macbeth is openly talking about these things, but has no emotive response. He is consumed with wonder and bewilderment at the vision he beholds. He becomes alienated from the rest of the audience, and indeed the other characters.


The transformation of a ruthless Lady Macbeth, to a nervous Lady Macbeth also alienates her from the audience. Earlier in the play, she tells Macbeth that if he decides not to kill the King, he will be less of a man, and calls on evil to make her into a hard-hearted killer. But now, she needs drink to make her go through with her part of the plan - and she is still frightened by the slightest sound.
She quotes, ''what have made [the guards] drunk hath made me bold; what hath quenched them hath given me fire. -Hark!- Peace!'' and ''Alack, I am afraid they have awaked...The attempt not the deed confounds us.'' Interestingly, the Lady also quotes, ''Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I would have done't'', which is interesting, as it seems to show the Lady as developing a conscience, and feeling fear. This alienates her from the audience, as they know her as a maybe evil, and definitely over-ambitious, silver-tounged woman; and yet here she is, drinking for false courage, cowering at an owl's distant screech, and developing feelings of sympathy for another person.


Finally, Shakespeare's Porter scene has a comic relief aspect to it, but he has written it skillfully, allowing an air of evil to linger in the background of this scene. The repeated Knocking creates an air of mystery, and the unknown aspect is of course who it is that knocks at the door. Or is it in fact the witches doing, and the nocking is just to scare the Macbeths, or confuse the Porter. Also, the porter's use of drunken language contrasts the everyday language of society, particularly in the god-fearing age of Shakespeare's time. For instance, the porter asks ''who's there i'the name of Belzibub?'' as opposed to the normal 'in Jesus' name'. Lennox also enters the scene when Macbeth enters the scene, and reports that the ''chimneys were blown down'' and that he heard ''strange screams of death'', to signify that all is not well in Scotland, because of Macbeth's actions. This therefore sets the scene not only in Macbeth's castle, but also on a national scale, frightening the audience even more so.

Through these devices, and Shakespeare's skillfully written dialogue, he manages to set the scene all the way through his Second Act, as a dark and creepy place, shrouded in mystery and alienation of both audience and main characters.

Macbeth - Act 1 Reading Journal

Scene 1
- First characters are the Witches. They apear to be planning, and speaking in rhyme (mystery, poetic)
- Thunder & Lightning = Goithic setting of darkness, mysery and an element of danger
- ''Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair'' quotation shows the twisted beauty in the poetic dialogue of the witches. Also portrays their enjoyment of causing death and creating madness
- Witches can predict future? Their dialogue foreshadows later events
- Scene shows the elements of the supernatural, scary and poetic language

Scene 2
- Enter a ''Bleeding Captain'', the first appearence of the theme of blood in the play. Very Gothic
- Captain portrays Macbeth (who still has not appeared in the play) as ''brave Macbeth'' and a ''cannon overcharged with double cracks''. Heroic warrior
- ''carved out his passage'', ''unseamed him from the nave to the chops'' and ''fixed his head upon our battlements'' portray gruesome images to the audience. Also, the last quote can be seen as a foreshadowing to Macbeth's own demise
- However, can the Captain be a reliable messenger? first, he is adressing the king, and will not wish to dissapoint him, second he is dying from his wounds and may be confused/disorientated
- The king bestows honour onto Macbeth for fearsome deeds, showing that How the battle is won is juat as important as Who won it.

Scene 3
- Witch two explains how she cursed a woman's husband with no sleep because she refused to give her chestnuts, and ripped off the thumb of a pilot. grotesque goings-on with the witches
- a drum sounds when Macbeth enters the scene. furthers the air of mistery.
- Witches prophesy over the kingship of Macbeth and Banquo. Unholy Prophesy furthers the possibility that they may have an insight into the future
- Macbeth shows signs of internal conflict, between ambition and loyalty, greed and fear. Banquo advises him not to think of such things
- 'Witches Vanish' stage directions show they are definately a supernatural element of this tragedy
- ''Cannot be ill, cannot be good'' shows how confused Macbeth has become by the witches' statements
- ''look how our partner's rapt'' after Macbeth's aside speach shows the audience that the other charcters of the play have noticed how mesmorised Macbeth has become

Scene 4
- Shakespeare's structure; 'a gentleman on whom I built absolute trust' enter Macbeth 'O worthiest cousin!' - Irony
- ''The service and loyalty I owe...'' Is he genuine to the king? What is he really thinking?
- the aside speach is in rhyming couplets. Macbeth is not supposed to have done this on purpose, but Shakespeare uses it to make his lines stand out here.
- ''I must fall down or else o'erleap'' Macbeth knows that it is a 'do or die' situation. he either acts quickly or not at all. he is still contemplating wether or not to do what must be done to obtain the throne of scotland

Scene 5
- Inroduction of Lady Macbeth:
1. We dont see how she behaves before she reads Macbeth's letter, so we are led to beleve that how she acts prior to reading the letter is how she always acts
2. Lady Macbeth is the first person who actually mentions killing the king to obtain the throne. Is she actually smarter than Macbeth, or just more devious?
3. Lady shows dominance over Macbeth, telling him that he is not man enough to kill the king
4. Question - Has shakespeare made a single-track minded beast, or an actual person with a concience, in Lady Macbeth?
- Faith/Relegion dilemmas and quotations; “Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark” – doesn’t want God to see and/or signs of a sense of guilt? “Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t” – reference to the Garden of Eden Serpant (Satan).
- Letter sent ahead of Macbeth shows secrecy and limited disclosure of information
- the Doppleganger - are Macbeth and Lady supposed to reprisent 2 sides of 1 person?
- She seems to be the driving force behind fulfiling the witche's prophesy, in that she drives Macbeth to kill Duncan. Is she just a sort of catalyst?
- Gothic language - Raven, Blood and Battlements
- Lady as a 'Femme Fatal' to Macbeth

Scene 6
- ''The air is delicate.'' Enter Lady Macbeth. More of Shakespeare's purposefull timings, introducing irony
- The  king kisses Lady Macbeth as a sign of gratitude and greeting. Deceitfull beauty, Femme Fatal for Duncan etc
- does Macbeth's soliloquy that he is just as 'ambitious' as Lady Macbeth? it makes her look less evil in comparison
-  He has a conscience, and it troubles him much more than Lady Mc's does 
-  Lady Macbeth mocks Macbeth's manhood.
- Distorts innocence; “And dashed [babie's] brains out”
- Macbeth enters alone. needs time alone to think, dosen't have to hide how he feels
- Lady Macbeth; passionate, or faking? -‘thy love’
- the God-fearing/rational part of his mind tels him to forget about it all, proving the existence of a conscience (“No Further in this business”)
- manipulative Lady (blackmail?)
- “be so much more the man” – convinces him that he needs to man-up
- “False face must hide what the false heart doth know” ncourages him to be as deceitfull as her.