Volume 2 summaries

Table of contents

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9

Chapter 1

In this chapter of Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein is consumed by guilt over his actions and constantly seeks to be alone. His own grief and that of Elizabeth and his father becomes too much for him. He decides to take a journey into the mountains, where he is soothed by the beauty of nature.

Chapter 2

Frankenstein sets out to climb a mountain and enjoys the dramatic view. Then he sees the creature coming towards him and feels anger and hatred. The creature speaks, claiming that he only committed crimes because he was miserable. He blames Frankenstein for his misery and asks him to have pity. He requests that Frankenstein come with him to a mountain hut so that he can tell the story of his life. Frankenstein agrees.

Chapter 3

The first-person narrative voice now switches from Frankenstein to the creature. He describes his vague memory of the first few hours of his life. He later finds himself in a forest, where he begins to understand his feelings of cold, hunger, and thirst. He finds a shepherd’s hut and goes in, but the shepherd runs away in fear. The creature then travels to a village, where the inhabitants attack him and drive him away.

He finds an abandoned shack attached to a cottage and decides to live there. He finds he can see into the cottage and watches the family who lives there – an elderly blind father and his grown children Felix and Agatha.

Chapter 4

The creature admires the family’s gentleness, but feels sorry for them because they are poor. He decides to help them by gat...