Storytime for Grownups – Frankenstein: Chapter 24 (Part 2)

Host: Faith Moore
Podcast Date: October 27, 2025

Main Theme and Purpose

This episode marks the conclusion of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as read and lightly annotated by Faith Moore. Faith wraps up the reading of the book with insightful commentary, listener reflections, and thoughtful literary analysis, paying special attention to the fates of Victor Frankenstein and his Creature, as well as unpacking the book’s core themes of creation, responsibility, vengeance, and alienation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Farewell to Frankenstein and Future Plans

• Faith expresses gratitude to listeners for joining her through this “spooky season” and reading a book some found intimidating or off-putting. She assures a wrap-up episode is coming soon, followed by a Victorian Christmas with A Little Princess.
• She highlights upcoming interactive events (such as tea time in the Drawing Room community) and her recent review of Guillermo del Toro’s new Frankenstein film, drawing connections between adaptations and the novel’s core themes.

Recap of Recent Plot

• Faith thoroughly recaps the climactic events:
  • Elizabeth is killed by the Creature on her wedding night.
  • Victor’s father dies in grief, pushing Victor into madness.
  • Victor pursues the Creature across Europe and into the Arctic, until being stranded and rescued by Walton’s ship.

Listener Letters and Literary Analysis

Letter from Joanna (29:05):

"Even after losing everything...Victor still will not take responsibility...He created an ugly being...but he will not admit, even to himself, that it was his own refusal to accept, love, nurture, and guide his creation that twisted him into a monster...like a true narcissist, he always views himself as the real victim..."

Letter from John (30:50):

"The first rule of horror movies is don't split up. And Victor and Elizabeth split up. Also, was it just me or were there kind of sexual vibes going on in the scene where Victor finds Elizabeth?"

Faith expands on these reactions, focusing particularly on the sexual and deathly imagery surrounding Elizabeth’s murder—how “sex and death mingle together” in the text, and how Victor’s actions symbolically reject the natural order of human connection.
Faith Moore (41:45):

"In making this monster without a woman, he has undone the natural order of things...here he is doing it again. He's denying the...female part of marriage, of sexual connection and of potential children..."

She notes Victor’s self-victimization, his refusal to acknowledge responsibility, and highlights how both Victor and the Creature have become “monsters” in their pursuit of vengeance.

Victor’s Final Monologue and Death

As Walton narrates, Victor:

• Reflects on his past ambition and arrogance.

  "When Younger, I believed myself destined for some great enterprise...but...like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained in eternal hell." (50:11)

• Laments his refusal to create a companion for the Creature, justifying it as a moral decision.
• Repeats his dying wish that the Creature be destroyed, yet counsels Walton on the dangers of unchecked ambition.

  "Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition...I have myself been blasted in these hopes..." (1:12:12)

• Dies, with Walton present, touching Victor’s hand as he passes away.

The Arrival of the Creature

In a memorable and haunting scene, the Creature appears over Victor’s corpse.
Faith contextualizes: “This is the final confrontation between creator and creation, and it reveals the Creature as both tragic and monstrous.”

The Creature's Regret and Self-Condemnation (1:14:12):

"That is also my victim...What does it avail that I now ask thee to pardon me? I, who irretrievably destroyed thee by destroying all thou lovest."

He tells Walton:

• He acted out of “frightful selfishness” and was driven by “insatiable thirst for vengeance.”
• He sought love and companionship, only to be “spurned.”

  "Once my fancy was soothed with dreams of virtue, of fame and of enjoyment...but now crime has degraded me beneath the meanest animal." (1:19:05)

• Accepts his own monstrousness and isolation, likening himself to Satan.

  "But it is even so—the fallen angel becomes the malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation. I am alone." (1:19:35)

• Swears to end his suffering by burning himself on a funeral pyre in the Arctic.

  "I shall collect my funeral pile and consume to ashes this miserable frame...Where can I find rest but in death? Farewell, I leave you. And in you, the last of humankind, whom these eyes will ever behold. Farewell, Frankenstein." (1:22:36)

Ending Reflections and Thematic Commentary

• Faith highlights the story’s cyclical structure, its heavy intertwining of vengeance, hubris, and the quest for understanding.
• She openly questions whether Victor is truly a martyr and if either character can claim innocence after the destruction they cause.

  "We now have, at least to my mind, two monsters. Victor and his creature. But the creature seems to understand that what he's doing is monstrous...Victor thinks he is the hero of this story, but really I think at least he is the villain or maybe one of two villains..." (40:15)

• Emphasizes Walton’s position as the new inheritor of this cautionary tale—warned against ambition and the dangerous pursuit of glory at any cost.

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Elizabeth’s Murder:
  "Sex and death mingle together, right? The way she's lying across the bed could almost be the description of...the aftermath of a sex scene. But then it's not that at all. It's a murder." — Faith Moore (37:05)

• Victor's Self-Realization:
  “Like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained in eternal hell.” — Victor Frankenstein, read by Faith (50:11)

• Victor’s Final Advice:
  “Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries.” — Victor to Walton (1:12:12)

• The Creature's Lament:
  “Once my fancy was soothed with dreams of virtue, of fame and of enjoyment...but now crime has degraded me beneath the meanest animal.” — The Creature (1:19:05)

• The Creature's Farewell:
  “Where can I find rest but in death? Farewell, I leave you. And in you, the last of humankind, whom these eyes will ever behold.” — The Creature (1:22:36)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00 – Episode opening, community updates, and upcoming book announcement (A Little Princess)
• 14:45 – Recap of plot so far (Elizabeth’s murder, Victor’s descent, pursuit of the Creature)
• 29:05 – Listener letter from Joanna; discussion of Victor’s responsibility
• 30:50 – Listener letter from John; analysis of horror tropes and sexual undertones
• 37:05 – Literary analysis of Elizabeth’s death scene
• 41:45 – Reflection on Victor as both martyr and villain
• 50:11 – Victor’s monologue on ambition and downfall
• 1:12:12 – Victor’s dying words to Walton
• 1:14:12 – The Creature’s entrance and lamentation
• 1:19:05 – The Creature’s reflections on lost hope and virtue
• 1:22:36 – The Creature’s final farewell and pledge to die

Tone & Style

Faith Moore’s narration throughout is warm, insightful, sometimes irreverent, deeply literary but always accessible, aiming to make classic literature enjoyable for all. She maintains a welcoming, conversational vibe, blending lighthearted banter (about Christmas events and tea time) with profound, sometimes dark, analysis befitting Shelley’s masterpiece.

Conclusion

This was a fitting, thoughtful close to Frankenstein, with Faith encouraging continued conversation in her community and inviting listeners to join her for further literary adventures. She promises one more wrap-up episode, but leaves the audience both enriched by the story’s complexity and eager for more community and classic storytelling.

Next up: Conclusion episode on October 30, then the Victorian Christmas Spectacular begins November 3 with A Little Princess.