Narrative is a report of related events presented to listeners or readers, in words arranged in a logical sequence. A story is taken as a synonym of narrative. A narrative, or story, is told by a narrator who may be a direct part of that experience, and he or she often shares the experience as a first-person narrator. Sometimes he or she may only observe the events as a third-person narrator, and gives his or her summation.

The example in Frankenstein is that Mary Shelley used a series of first-person narratives instead of using a single perspective. The first narrator was Robert Walton, then Victor Frankenstein and the monster. This is an efficient way for Shelley to present her story because this narrative strategy permits Shelley to express and efface herself at the same time. For us as readers, we not only can examine Frankenstein’s desire and pain but the monster’s agony.

Narrative also related to Narrator and Epistolary.

References

“Narrative – Examples and Definition of Narrative.” Literary Devices, 16 Jan. 2018, literarydevices.net/narrative/.