Shelley alludes to many different sources in "Frankenstein". Robert Walton is similar to the Wedding Guest from "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," a story in which an ancient mariner kills an albatross and brings a curse upon himself and his ship's crew. Victor Frankenstein takes the role of the mariner, as he travels the world, feeling compelled to share his story to one who needs to hear it.
Other examples of Allusion are the references to John Milton's "Paradise Lost". The monster compares himself to both Adam, the first man in the Bible, to show Frankenstein that the monster was his to care for and should have been treated better, and a fallen angel, referencing Satan, comparing how both he and Satan were exiled by the ones who created them. Later in the novel, the roles are reversed, and Frankenstein is the one comparing himself to Adam, as the monster is on his way to fulfill his quest of causing grief to his creator.