The plot can be summed up in very few words: Frankenstein, a Swiss scientist, after long studies,
succeed in creating a perfect human being who turns into a murderer and, in the end destroys his
own creator. It is narrated in the first person by three narrators. It starts as an epistolary novel, in
which an English explorer, Walton, describes his experience in the Arctic to his sister. Then, the
narration goes on like a Chinese – box system: Walton meets Frankenstein who tells him about
the creation of the monster.
Frankenstein’s narration also contains a report by the monster himself in which he explains his
point of view. This system shows three points of view and it is used to overcome the limits of the
first – person narration techniques which is restricted. Horror in this novel is not of mysterious
origin but man-made. With this novel Mary Shelley can be considered a forerunner of science
fiction.
