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Walton functions as the conduit through which the reader hears the story of Victor and his monster. However, he also plays a role that parallels Victor’s in many ways. Like Victor, Walton is an explorer, chasing after that “country of eternal light”—unpossessed knowledge.
- Victor Frankenstein
At the end of the novel, having chased his creation ever...
- Victor Frankenstein
Walton is an extra-diegetic/framing narrator within the novel. As our first narrator, he prepares the reader for the character of Frankenstein.
- Victor Frankenstein
- The Monster
- Robert Walton
- Elizabeth Lavenza
- Henry Clerval
- Alphonse Frankenstein
- William Frankenstein
- Justine Moritz
- Peasants
- M. Waldman
The doomed protagonist and narrator of the main portion of the story. Studying in Ingolstadt, Victor discovers the secret of life and creates an intelligent but grotesque monster, from whom he recoils in horror. Victor keeps his creation of the monster a secret, feeling increasingly guilty and ashamed as he realizes how helpless he is to prevent th...
The eight-foot-tall, hideously ugly creation of Victor Frankenstein. Intelligent, eloquent, and sensitive, the Monster attempts to integrate himself into human social patterns, but all who see him shun him. His feeling of abandonment compels him to seek revenge against his creator. Read an in-depth analysis of the Monster.
The Arctic seafarer whose letters open and close Frankenstein. Walton picks the bedraggled Victor Frankenstein up off the ice, helps nurse him back to health, and hears Victor’s story. He records the incredible tale in a series of letters addressed to his sister, Margaret Saville, in England. Read an in-depth analysis of Robert Walton.
An orphan, four to five years younger than Victor, whom the Frankensteins adopt. In the 1818 edition of the novel, Elizabeth is Victor’s cousin, the child of Alphonse Frankenstein’s sister. In the 1831 edition, Victor’s mother rescues Elizabeth from a destitute peasant cottage in Italy. Elizabeth embodies the novel’s motif of passive women, as she ...
Victor’s boyhood friend, who nurses Victor back to health in Ingolstadt. After working unhappily for his father, Henry begins to follow in Victor’s footsteps as a scientist. His cheerfulness counters Victor’s moroseness. Read an in-depth analysis of Henry Clerval.
Victor’s father, very sympathetic toward his son. Alphonse consoles Victor in moments of pain and encourages him to remember the importance of family.
Victor’s youngest brother and the darling of the Frankenstein family. The monster strangles William in the woods outside Geneva in order to hurt Victor for abandoning him. William’s death deeply saddens Victor and burdens him with tremendous guilt about having created the monster.
A young girl adopted into the Frankenstein household while Victor is growing up. Justine is blamed and executed for William’s murder, which is actually committed by the monster.
A family of peasants, including a blind old man, De Lacey; his son and daughter, Felix and Agatha; and a foreign woman named Safie. The monster learns how to speak and interact by observing them. When he reveals himself to them, hoping for friendship, they beat him and chase him away.
The professor of chemistry who sparks Victor’s interest in science. He dismisses the alchemists’ conclusions as unfounded but sympathizes with Victor’s interest in a science that can explain the “big questions,” such as the origin of life.
Robert Walton: Walton is the first narrator of the story. In his letters to his sister Margaret, he first explains his desire to explore the North Pole. Once he finds a ship and a crew, Walton does indeed head north, and after a few days, he encounters Victor Frankenstein, who comes aboard to tell the captain his life's story.
Robert Walton is the narrator of the novel’s frame story and his letters to his sister Margaret convey Victor’s story to readers. His ship rescues Victor during an expedition in the arctic and...
The oldest son in the Frankenstein family, the eventual husband of Elizabeth Lavenza, and the novel's protagonist and narrator of most of the story (he tells his story to Robert Walton, who relates…
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Jan 3, 2019 · Having just listened to Frankenstein’s tale of misfortune, Walton understands that ambition comes at the cost of human life and relationships, and he decides to return home to his sister. In this way, Walton applies the lessons that Shelley wishes to impart through the novel: the value of connection and the dangers of scientific enlightenment.
