Elizabeth and the Monster in "Frankenstein"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that although it seems easier to compare and contrast Victor Frankenstein and his monster in the story with the same name, it is clearly more effective to align and distinguish between Elizabeth Frankenstein and Victor's creature. It shows how the characters, while both are objects possessed by Victor Frankenstein, which leads to confusion in all of the aforesaid relationships, their appearances are vastly different and symbolic of their natures. In the end, one significant difference remains: Elizabeth is remembered as good and pure, while the monster is destroyed and ugly and hateful.

From the Paper:

"Victor considers both Elizabeth and the monster his property. As for Elizabeth, she was orphaned at a very young age, and she lives with a Milanese peasant family before she is adopted by the Frankensteins. Then, she is brought to Geneva where the family raises her as if she were their own child. Although the family seems views Elizabeth as a member, Victor deems Elizabeth a possession, possibly because, before Elizabeth's adoption, Caroline, Victor's mother, specifically referred to Elizabeth as a present for Victor. His esteem for Elizabeth as a possession is clear in his phrase, "No word, no expression could body forth the kind of relation in which she stood to me-my more than sister, since till death she was to be mine only" (Shelley 24)."

More papers on Elizabeth and the Monster in "Frankenstein":

• Book Review # 111554 : "Family in "Frankenstein"
• Comparison Essay # 112919 : "Critical Approaches to "Frankenstein"
• Analytical Essay # 58030 : "The Role of Women in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: