Tone is the attitude of a writer, narrator, or speaker toward the subject matter. Read more: What Is Tone in Literature?
The Tone of Frankenstein Is Bleak and Despairing
Although the tone of Frankenstein begins with optimism from the perspective of Robert Walton, who is excited and hopeful about his Arctic voyage, the mood quickly darkens with the appearance of Victor Frankenstein. He is in a dangerous condition, and he makes it clear at the start of his story that “nothing can alter my destiny.” The narrative is framed by a fatalistic acceptance that the end of the story will be tragic. This framing casts a dark shadow over the potentially positive account of Victor’s happy childhood and intellectual pursuits, and whenever the monster allows himself to have any optimism about his future, we know that his hopes will be dashed with terrible consequences following as a result. The conclusion of the novel contributes most strongly to the tone of futility. By the time he has finished recounting his story, Victor is hopeless and waiting only to die. He considers his entire career and life to have been a tragic failure that resulted only in death and suffering of all of those that he loved the most. After the failure of Walton’s expedition, he too is forced to accept that he will not fulfill his ambitions and will have to return to England full of regret and disappointment. Our final image from the novel reinforces the novel’s bleak tone forever. After delivering a heartbreaking speech about accepting his death because life has been so painful, the waves carry the monster into the darkness to die.
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