Frankenstein Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Victor Frankenstein

A brilliant, obsessive Genevese student who discovers how to animate dead matter and then abandons his creation in horror. His silence and broken promises cost him his brother, his friend, his bride, and finally his life on the Arctic ice.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Night the Thing Opens Its Eyes; Part 2: The Creature Learns to Hate; Part 3: The Wedding-Night Promise; Part 4: Ice, Confession, and Fire
Themes:: Responsibility of the creator; Isolation and the need for companionship; Dangerous ambition; Injustice and silence

The Creature

Victor's eight-foot creation, articulate and tender until every human it meets beats, shoots, or flees it. Rejected by its maker and the world, it becomes the murderer it was made to look like, then mourns the man it destroyed.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Night the Thing Opens Its Eyes; Part 2: The Creature Learns to Hate; Part 3: The Wedding-Night Promise; Part 4: Ice, Confession, and Fire
Themes:: Responsibility of the creator; Isolation and the need for companionship; Dangerous ambition; Injustice and silence; Appearance versus soul

Elizabeth Lavenza

The Italian orphan adopted into the Frankenstein family as Victor's 'pretty present' and future wife. She is the gentle center of Victor's world, and the creature strangles her on her wedding night.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Night the Thing Opens Its Eyes; Part 3: The Wedding-Night Promise

Henry Clerval

Victor's childhood friend, the selfless nurse who pulls him back from fever twice. The creature strangles him on an Irish beach and leaves Victor to be accused of the murder.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Night the Thing Opens Its Eyes; Part 3: The Wedding-Night Promise

Robert Walton

The Arctic explorer whose letters frame the whole story; he wants glory at the pole the way Victor wanted glory in the lab. He listens to Victor's dying caution and turns his ship home.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Night the Thing Opens Its Eyes; Part 4: Ice, Confession, and Fire
Themes:: Dangerous ambition

The De Lacey family

The blind old man, Felix, Agatha, and Safie, whose cottage teaches the creature language, love, and books. Their terrified rejection of it, led by Felix's beating, is the wound that turns it against humanity.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Night the Thing Opens Its Eyes; Part 2: The Creature Learns to Hate
Themes:: Dangerous ambition; Appearance versus soul

Also in the story

Supporting characters

Justine Moritz

The Frankenstein family's servant, framed for William's murder by the locket the creature planted in her pocket. She falsely confesses and is executed while Victor, the only one who knows the truth, stays silent.

Appears in:: Part 2: The Creature Learns to Hate
Themes:: Responsibility of the creator; Injustice and silence

How they are connected

Key relationships

The Creature Victor Frankenstein
Victor's eight-foot creation, articulate and tender until every human it meets beats, shoots, or flees it.
Elizabeth Lavenza Victor Frankenstein
The Italian orphan adopted into the Frankenstein family as Victor's 'pretty present' and future wife.
Elizabeth Lavenza The De Lacey family
The Italian orphan adopted into the Frankenstein family as Victor's 'pretty present' and future wife.
Elizabeth Lavenza The Creature
She is the gentle center of Victor's world, and the creature strangles her on her wedding night.
Henry Clerval Victor Frankenstein
Victor's childhood friend, the selfless nurse who pulls him back from fever twice.
Henry Clerval The Creature
The creature strangles him on an Irish beach and leaves Victor to be accused of the murder.
Robert Walton Victor Frankenstein
The Arctic explorer whose letters frame the whole story; he wants glory at the pole the way Victor wanted glory in the lab.
Justine Moritz Victor Frankenstein
The Frankenstein family's servant, framed for William's murder by the locket the creature planted in her pocket.
Justine Moritz The Creature
The Frankenstein family's servant, framed for William's murder by the locket the creature planted in her pocket.
Justine Moritz The De Lacey family
The Frankenstein family's servant, framed for William's murder by the locket the creature planted in her pocket.
The De Lacey family The Creature
The blind old man, Felix, Agatha, and Safie, whose cottage teaches the creature language, love, and books.

Go deeper

Frankenstein themes & symbols

Responsibility of the creator · Isolation and the need for companionship · Dangerous ambition · Injustice and silence

Themes explained

Read the full Frankenstein summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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