 Les personnages
 Victor Frankenstein
Elizabeth Lavenza Frankenstein
Henry Clerval
The Daemon
The De Lacey family (Brother and sister, Felix and Agatha, and their blind, elderly father)
Victor Frankenstein
Born in Geneva, Victor Frankenstein is the eldest son of a respectable family. After a childhood interest in poetry, he turns to science and, as a young man, travels to Ingolstadt in Germany in order to pursue his scientific studies at university. He becomes obsessed with discovering the secrets of creating life from lifeless matter, abandoning his family and friends in pursuit of this goal. His passionate and reckless absorption (he drives himself to nervous exhaustion from which he never entirely recovers) in his scientific research only ends with the creation of the daemon. Only then does he begin to consider the consequences of his actions. Although he tries to flee responsibility for his creation, the monster eventually catches up with him. Victor feels some compassion for the monster’s isolation, and initially agrees to create a fellow creature to accompany him: but he abandons the project out of a sense of responsibility for his fellow human beings. He no longer wishes to run the risk of creating another potentially destructive creature. His sense of compassion is eventually replaced by hatred and a burning desire to avenge the friends and family members that the monster has killed.
What does Victor Frankenstein learn from his experiences? Although he often expresses remorse and a sense of guilt, towards the end of his life he is still motivated by a passionate desire for knowledge. Whilst on Walton’s ship, he overhears the crew’s demands to return home: Victor responds with an impassioned speech in which he accuses the men of cowardice and unmanly behaviour. If they were to abandon their expedition they would return home with a "stigma of disgrace".
Elizabeth Lavenza Frankenstein
Elizabeth Lavenza, the orphaned child of an Italian nobleman, was adopted by the Frankenstein family when they found her living with a Milanese peasant family. She grows up as Victor’s adoptive sister or cousin, but in reality, all the family expect her to become his wife.
The description of Elizabeth as a child gives clear indicators of her character: "this child was thin and very fair. Her hair was the brightest living gold, and despite the poverty of her clothing, seemed to set a crown of distinction on her head. Her brow was clear and ample, her blue eyes cloudless, and her lips and the moulding of her face so expressive of sensibility and sweetness that none could behold her without looking on her as of a distinct species, a being heaven-sent, and bearing a celestial stamp in all her features." (Frankenstein, Volume I, Chapter 1) She is a symbol for goodness and embodies the perfect middle-class young woman. Devoted to Victor and the Frankensteins, she is humble, reassuring and generous. Supportive of Victor even when he shows scant regard for his family, she even writes to release him from their unspoken engagement should he wish to marry elsewhere. She loves poetry and the beauty of the countryside and she is forever loyal to her friends and family. Her attachment to Victor destines her to become one of the monster’s innocent victims.
Henry Clerval
Henry is Victor's only friend who stands by him throughout the novel: nursing him back to health and accompanying him on his travels.
Victor admires Henry's sensibility, enthusiastic imagination and gentility. Henry prefers the study of literature, language and nature to Victor’s scientific pursuits. He seems to be the charming, radiant alter ego to Victor’s dark obsessive personality. Although Henry too is motivated by a thirst for knowledge and learning, it never interferes with his personal relations or drags him beyond accepted limits. Although close to Victor, he never displays any curiosity as to the source of his sickness or the object of his studies. Henry pays with his life for his loyalty to Victor.
The Daemon
The monster remains nameless but is referred to variously as the monster, the daemon, the creature, the being, the fiend… Created from various different body parts, collected from dissecting rooms, slaughter-houses, and even from human graves, the monster has yellow skin which "scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing black hair; his teeth of pearly whiteness ; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips." (Frankenstein, Volume I, Chapter 5) The monster is abnormally tall and of superhuman strength.
From the very beginning of his existence, when his creator flees in horror at the sight of him, the monster’s appearance leads to his rejection by mankind. His outward form terrifies and consequently he is unable to make any friendly contact: bitter loneliness motivates him to turn towards crime and revenge.
After several rejected attempts at communication with human beings, the monster takes refuge in a shed that backs onto the De Lacey's home; after months spent observing the family from his hiding place, he learns to speak and read their language. These skills bring with them the capacity of reflection, and the monster begins to wonder about the purpose and nature of his existence. The more he learns, the greater his sense of isolation becomes and the more he longs for kindness and the company of fellow beings.
Convinced of the family’s goodness, he decides to speak with the old De Lacey, in the hope that his blindness will prevent him from judging according to outward appearances. The other family members return unexpectedly and the monster is chased away. When the monster discovers that the family have moved away from their cottage from fear, he gives in to negative feelings of hatred and revenge. He hunts down his creator, firstly in order to plead for compassion and beg Victor to create a female like himself with whom he may live, and later in order to obtain revenge. By killing Victor’s nearest and dearest he aims to cause Victor suffering and torment. Like Victor, he becomes "the slave, not the master, of an impulse which I detested, yet could not disobey" (Frankenstein, Volume III, Chapter 7)
The De Lacey family (Brother and sister, Felix and Agatha, and their blind, elderly father)
A genteel and respected French family, the De Lacey’s were forced to flee Paris after Felix’s entanglement with Safie, the daughter of a Turkish merchant. When the latter is taken prisoner by the government for unexplained reasons, Felix helps him escape. His actions lead to the imprisonment of his family, and ultimately all three are condemned to exile and resulting poverty. While the De Lacey’s are forced to take up residence in a small cottage in Germany, the merchant returns to his home country, without keeping his promise to allow the marriage of Felix and Safie. She eventually defies her father and comes to join her lover in his rural exile. It is her French lessons that the monster overhears, allowing him too to learn the language.
Although all the members of the family are presented as naturally “good”, generous and refined, their reaction to the monster is no different from that of any other human being. When the monster tries to speak to old De Lacey, begging for his help and protection, the old man’s children are horrified on discovering their father in the company of such a creature, and Felix chases him violently from the cottage. |
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