- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Cliffs Notes; 1 edition (April 15 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0764587269
- ISBN-13: 978-0764587269
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 1.4 x 23.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 299 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #361,431 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
In the CliffsComplete guides, the novel's complete text and a glossary appear side-by-side with coordinating numbered lines to help you understand unusual words and phrasing. You'll also find all the commentary and resources of a standard CliffsNotes for Literature.
CliffsComplete Frankenstein is certainly Mary Shelley’s greatest literary achievement and one of the most complex literary works of all time. Unlike most Romantic writers, Mary Shelley seems interested in the dark, self-destructive side of human reality and the human soul.
Discover how Dr. Frankenstein’s creation impacts everyone he meets — and save yourself valuable studying time — all at once. Enhance your reading of Frankenstein with these additional features:
- A summary and insightful commentary for each chapter
- Bibliography and historical background on the author, Mary Shelley
- A look at the historical context and structure of the novel
- Discussions on the novel’s symbols and themes
- A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters
- Review questions, a quiz, discussion topics (essay questions), activity ideas
- A
Streamline your literature study with all-in-one help from CliffsComplete guides!
From the Back Cover
All-In-One Resource! from the creators of CliffsNotes™Plus Exclusive character map • Handy review exercises • Additional resources Visit the Student Resource Center at cliffsnotes.com
- Hundreds of downloadable titles
- Sign-up for your free CliffsNote-A-Day™ e-mail newsletter
- Glossary of common literary terms
- Tips on studying and reading literature
- Essay writing secrets
- Fun and quirky quote quizzes
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
In the introduction to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley presents herself as "the daughter of two persons of distinguished literary celebrity." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
In the introduction to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley presents herself as "the daughter of two persons of distinguished literary celebrity." Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Friendship, ambition, and the conflict between the two.,
By "an_avid_book_reviewer" (Denver) - See all my reviews
This review is from: CliffsComplete Frankenstein (Paperback)
The novel Frankenstein conveys the themes of friendship, ambition, and the conflict between the two. The message is that the deeper need of the two is friendship, but that we are susceptible to the temptations of ambition, which can destroy friendship. Ostensibly, Victor Frankenstein had an unselfish mission to "benefit all mankind" with his scientific project. His "selfless" ambition failed him and proved to aim at self-glory because he wanted to create a race that would bless him as its father. In Captain Walton's second letter to his sister, we learn that although he has a well-trained crew, he has no soul companion; this need he regards as a "most severe evil." Walton's exploration of the secluded and frozen Arctic serves as a metaphor for how his ambition has removed him from society. His ambition even threatened his own and his crew members' lives when ice surrounded and trapped his boat. The message is that if one sets out ambitiously to benefit mankind, once that person has acheived their goal, their prominence sets them apart from the same society they set out to benefit. Victor had a much more intense ambition than Walton, with corespondingly more disasterous results. As Frankenstein prepared for his project, he isolated himself from his friends and family to laboriously study the sciences and he would later postpone his marriage for this project. The embodiment of his ambition, the repulsive monster, would eventually slay several of Victor's loved family members, including his fiance on their wedding night. Even the monster feels as his deepest need a human relationship, which he has none. While observing an impoverished family, "the bitter gall of envy" arose in the monster. He considers them rich because they have the companionship of each other even though they are in financial poverty. When Frankenstein rejects the monster's pleas to create for him a mate of the same race, the monster sets out on an unstoppable path to destruction and an ambitious one indeed. The novel links ambition with destruction, particularly destruction of companionship and conveys friendship as a great need for mankind. I don't think the story conveys that all ambition is destructive. At the end of the story, Victor has great regret for the results of his ambition, but he still has pride for his effort. Although he cautions us that we would be better off to believe our "native town to be the world," he adds, "yet another may succeed." You could interpret this as Victor not "learning his lesson;" that mankind will continue to give in to harmful passions. Another, much different analysis could be that this story portrays that limited ambition, integrated with society and not aimed at self-glory, can be virtuous. After all, for the teenage author of a classic, enduring novel to tell us that all ambition will destroy us would be a contradiction.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too Many Typos,
By Nelson A. Blish "Nelson Adrian Blish" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: CliffsComplete Frankenstein (Paperback)
The information in the book is helpful for holding a book club discussion, which is what I used it for. The research is interesting and greatly enhanced our discussion.For a published book, however, I was surprised at the number of typos. There is no excuse for this, especially from a publisher of this caliber. 0 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good source for a paper,
By Sean P. Daugherty - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: CliffsComplete Frankenstein (Paperback)
This is the original story with a nice collection of notes and analyses.
5 of 15 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Friendship, ambition, and the conflict between the two.,
By "an_avid_book_reviewer" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: CliffsComplete Frankenstein (Paperback)
The novel Frankenstein conveys the themes of friendship, ambition, and the conflict between the two. The message is that the deeper need of the two is friendship, but that we are susceptible to the temptations of ambition, which can destroy friendship. Ostensibly, Victor Frankenstein had an unselfish mission to "benefit all mankind" with his scientific project. His "selfless" ambition failed him and proved to aim at self-glory because he wanted to create a race that would bless him as its father. In Captain Walton's second letter to his sister, we learn that although he has a well-trained crew, he has no soul companion; this need he regards as a "most severe evil." Walton's exploration of the secluded and frozen Arctic serves as a metaphor for how his ambition has removed him from society. His ambition even threatened his own and his crew members' lives when ice surrounded and trapped his boat. The message is that if one sets out ambitiously to benefit mankind, once that person has acheived their goal, their prominence sets them apart from the same society they set out to benefit. Victor had a much more intense ambition than Walton, with corespondingly more disasterous results. As Frankenstein prepared for his project, he isolated himself from his friends and family to laboriously study the sciences and he would later postpone his marriage for this project. The embodiment of his ambition, the repulsive monster, would eventually slay several of Victor's loved family members, including his fiance on their wedding night. Even the monster feels as his deepest need a human relationship, which he has none. While observing an impoverished family, "the bitter gall of envy" arose in the monster. He considers them rich because they have the companionship of each other even though they are in financial poverty. When Frankenstein rejects the monster's pleas to create for him a mate of the same race, the monster sets out on an unstoppable path to destruction and an ambitious one indeed. The novel links ambition with destruction, particularly destruction of companionship and conveys friendship as a great need for mankind. I don't think the story conveys that all ambition is destructive. At the end of the story, Victor has great regret for the results of his ambition, but he still has pride for his effort. Although he cautions us that we would be better off to believe our "native town to be the world," he adds, "yet another may succeed." You could interpret this as Victor not "learning his lesson;" that mankind will continue to give in to harmful passions. Another, much different analysis could be that this story portrays that limited ambition, integrated with society and not aimed at self-glory, can be virtuous. After all, for the teenage author of a classic, enduring novel to tell us that all ambition will destroy us would be a contradiction. |
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