Robert Walton

Robert Walton is writing to his sister Margaret Saville from St. Petersburg, describing his excitement and preparations for a voyage of discovery to the North Pole, where he hopes to find a passage to northern countries or discover the secret of the magnet. He has prior seafaring experience, having accompanied whale-fishers in the North Sea and served as under-mate on a Greenland whaler, and now wears furs against the cold; he plans to depart for Archangel in two to three weeks to hire a ship and crew, aiming to set sail in June.

Robert Walton, twenty-eight, is writing to his sister Margaret Saville, now from Archangel (frost- and snow-bound, where time passes slowly), having hired a vessel and being engaged in collecting sailors for his voyage of discovery to the North Pole; he previously gained seafaring experience in the North Sea and as under-mate on a Greenland whaler. He laments having no friend to share his enthusiasm or sustain him in dejection, traces his passionate drive for the ocean's dangerous mysteries to the poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' and remains resolute in his plan to explore the 'land of mist and snow.'

Robert Walton, twenty-eight, writes to his sister Margaret Saville, having previously departed from Archangel (frost- and snow-bound) after hiring a vessel and crew for his voyage of discovery to the North Pole; he draws on earlier seafaring experience in the North Sea and as under-mate on a Greenland whaler, and traces his passionate drive for the ocean's dangerous mysteries to 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' lamenting he has no friend to share his enthusiasm or sustain him in dejection. In this third letter, sent via a merchantman returning to England from Archangel, he reports he is safe and well advanced on his voyage, having reached a very high latitude with only minor incidents (a couple of stiff gales, a sprung leak), and remains in good spirits as southern gales speed him toward the North Pole.

Robert Walton, twenty-eight, writes to his sister Margaret Saville chronicling his voyage of discovery to the North Pole; having departed Archangel and reached a high latitude with only minor incidents, his ship became trapped in ice, where his crew sighted a gigantic figure traveling north on a dog-sledge and, after the ice broke, rescued a nearly frozen, emaciated European stranger adrift on a similar sledge. Walton nursed the stranger back to health, has begun to love him as a brother, promised to watch for the sledge that preceded his, and the stranger has agreed to tell him the story of his misfortunes.

Robert Walton, twenty-eight, writes to his sister Margaret Saville chronicling his Arctic voyage; after his ship became trapped in ice, his crew rescued a nearly frozen, emaciated stranger, Victor Frankenstein, whom Walton nursed, grew to love as a brother, and recorded the life story of, later correcting and augmenting his notes at Victor's request. When mutinous sailors demanded a promise to turn back, Walton wavered but was swayed by Victor's rousing speech, though he ultimately agreed to return south once the ice broke, and he sat by Victor's side as he died; afterward he confronted the Creature aboard ship, poised to fulfill Victor's dying request to destroy him but stayed by curiosity and compassion as the Creature mourned and departed on an ice raft.