The Alps appear many times throughout Frankenstein, each time connecting the setting to the larger themes that are presented in the novel. More specifically, in my opinion the Alps act as a mirror of Victor's inner life and feelings. The first time the Alps are mentioned is just after Justine's exicution as he is traveling into the mountains it states "As it was, I was somewhat interested in the scene; it sometimes lulled, although it could not extinguish my grief." (Vol.
Appearance in Frankenstein: Ingolstadt is introduced in Chapter 2, Volume 1, when Victor explains: "When I had attained the age of seventeen my parents resolved that I should become a student at the university of Ingolstadt." The city becomes the site of Victor's education and, crucially, where he conducts his experiments and creates the creature. It represents Victor's departure from Geneva and his family's moral oversight.
Appearance in Frankenstein: St. Bernard's Well is mentioned alongside Arthur's Seat in Chapter 2, Volume 3, during Victor and Clerval's Edinburgh visit. While Clerval finds these sites fill him "with cheerfulness and admiration," Victor remains detached and "impatient to arrive at the termination of my journey" to the Orkney Islands where he will create the creature's mate.
Appearance in Frankenstein: Arthur's Seat appears in Chapter 2, Volume 3, when Victor and Clerval visit Edinburgh. Victor describes viewing the city "with languid eyes and mind," while Clerval finds the "beauty and regularity of the new town of Edinburgh, its romantic castle and its environs" delightful. Arthur's Seat, along with St. Bernard's Well and the Pentland Hills, "compensated him for the change and filled him with cheerfulness and admiration." Victor, however, remains "impatient to arrive at the termination of my journey."
Appearance in Frankenstein: The Black Sea appears in Chapter 7, Volume 3, as Victor pursues the creature across Europe. Victor follows the creature from the Rhone valley through the Mediterranean, ultimately tracking him to "a vessel bound for the Black Sea." This marks a crucial moment in Victor's obsessive chase, as the creature leads him ever further from civilization toward the remote edges of the known world.
In Rome is where Victor's creation observes the De Lacey family. He stays there outside of their home and watches them, that is how he learns how to speak. One day he goes inside the house to talk to the blind father but when the children come home he is beaten and runs off. This place is of significance because it was in association with the uprising of new ancient societies and the decline of others, which could parallel the creation's life because he was made and had to find a place in the world.
The North Pacific Ocean pops up in the story because that is where Walton is hoping to sail to through the Arctic. It seemed to be his purpose through the book that nobody has been able to achieve before, to discover the unknown, which is a parallel to Victor's life obsessing over discovery and glory. With the wealthy marine fur trade, the search for a Northwest Passage, and the desire to control strategic territory were among the commercial and imperial goals that characterized British involvement in the North Pacific Ocean in the 1800s.
Gevena is the place of Victors home and birthplace. He lives there with his parents, little brother, Elizabeth, and his friend Henry Clerval. It is a place of innocence and childhood before he becomes obsessed with science and creates the monster. Once he does it becomes very glum due to the fact his little brother gets murdered and then Justine is blamed and killed for it. The past history of Geneva as a Protestant hub and the growing number of rich and middle-class British visitors who traveled there during the 1800s largely influenced British opinions of the city.
