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While Victor and the Creature dominate the novel, the supporting characters are essential for understanding its themes. Each supporting character serves specific thematic and structural functions. This lesson analyses the key supporting characters and explains how to write about them effectively.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Arctic explorer; outer narrator (frame narrative) |
| Function | Parallel to Victor — ambitious, isolated, seeking forbidden knowledge |
| Key difference | Walton ultimately turns back — he learns from Victor's example |
| Quote | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited" | "Ardent curiosity" mirrors Victor's obsessive drive. Walton is another Promethean figure, seeking knowledge in dangerous, uncharted territory. |
| "I desire the company of a man who could sympathise with me" | Walton's loneliness parallels both Victor's and the Creature's isolation. The novel begins and ends with the theme of loneliness. |
| "I have lost my hopes of utility and glory" | When Walton abandons his expedition, he sacrifices personal ambition for the safety of his crew — the responsible choice Victor never makes. |
Walton serves as the audience's proxy — he hears Victor's story, judges it, and must decide what to do with the warning. His decision to turn back suggests that learning from others' mistakes is possible — though Victor himself never learns.
Examiner's tip: Walton is often overlooked in essays, but discussing him shows sophisticated understanding of the frame narrative. His parallel with Victor allows you to compare how two similar characters make different choices — one driven by ego, the other by responsibility.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Victor's adopted sister / fiancee / wife |
| Function | Represents domesticity, love, and innocence — everything Victor sacrifices |
| Key trait | Loyal, compassionate, passive — but also perceptive |
| Quote | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "I have a pretty present for my Victor" (Victor's mother, presenting Elizabeth) | Elizabeth is introduced as a gift — a possession. Shelley highlights how women were treated as objects to be given and received in the patriarchal society of her time. |
| "I wish that peace was in my power to bestow on you" | Elizabeth's love and desire to help Victor are genuine, but she is powerless — she does not know about the Creature and Victor refuses to confide in her. |
| "She was there, lifeless and inanimate" | Elizabeth's death reduces her to a body — the same language used for the Creature at his creation. Victor has turned both his "creations" into lifeless objects. |
Elizabeth can be read through a feminist lens (influenced by Shelley's mother, Mary Wollstonecraft):
| Observation | Significance |
|---|---|
| She has no agency in the plot | She cannot save herself because Victor keeps her in ignorance |
| She is a "gift" and a "possession" | Reflects patriarchal values — women as property |
| Her murder is Victor's punishment | Her death serves Victor's narrative, not her own |
| She is intelligent and perceptive | She recognises injustice (Justine's trial) but cannot act |
Examiner's tip: Discussing Elizabeth's lack of agency shows awareness of Shelley's feminist context. You could argue that Shelley deliberately makes Elizabeth passive to critique a society that denied women power and voice.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Victor's best friend |
| Function | Foil to Victor — represents emotional balance and humanity |
| Key trait | Creative, warm, interested in human culture rather than science |
| Quote | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Clerval! Beloved friend!" | Victor's genuine warmth when greeting Clerval contrasts with his cold rejection of the Creature. Victor is capable of love — but only for those who meet his aesthetic and social standards. |
| "He was a being formed in the very poetry of nature" | Clerval is associated with nature, art, and poetry — the Romantic ideal. He represents the path Victor should have taken: engagement with humanity rather than isolation in the laboratory. |
| Clerval nurses Victor back to health | When Victor falls ill after the creation, Clerval cares for him without question. This is the parental nurturing that Victor denies the Creature. |
| Quality | Victor | Clerval |
|---|---|---|
| Interests | Science, secrets of nature | Languages, literature, human culture |
| Approach to world | Isolation, obsession | Friendship, collaboration |
| Relationship with nature | Exploits it | Appreciates and enjoys it |
| Fate | Destroyed by his own ambition | Destroyed by Victor's ambition |
Clerval's murder is devastating because it destroys the one person who could have anchored Victor to his humanity. The Creature knows this — that is precisely why he kills Clerval.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | The Frankenstein family's servant |
| Function | Represents innocent victims of both the Creature's violence and Victor's silence |
| Key trait | Gentle, devoted, faithful |
| Quote | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "I am innocent... but I do not pretend that my protestations should acquit me" | Justine's quiet dignity in the face of false accusations highlights the injustice of the legal system and Victor's moral cowardice. |
| "I committed no crime... the God of heaven forgive me!" | Her faith and innocence make her execution deeply tragic. She dies for a crime she did not commit while the person who could save her stays silent. |
Justine is a servant — she occupies a low social position, which makes her vulnerable:
Examiner's tip: Justine's execution is a powerful example of social injustice. Shelley uses it to critique a legal system that punishes the powerless while the truly guilty go free. This connects to the broader theme of prejudice — Justine is condemned on appearances, just as the Creature is.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Members | Old De Lacey (blind), Felix (son), Agatha (daughter), Safie (Felix's fiancee) |
| Function | Represent humanity at its best — and its most prejudiced |
| Key trait | Kind, loving, cultured — but unable to look past the Creature's appearance |
The De Lacey family are the Creature's surrogate family. Through observing them, he learns everything that makes him human:
| What the Creature learns | How |
|---|---|
| Language | Listening to them speak; Safie's French lessons |
| Love and family bonds | Watching their tenderness and mutual support |
| History and morality | Through the books he finds and Safie's education |
| His own "otherness" | Seeing their beauty and recognising his own appearance differs |
The Creature's encounter with blind old De Lacey is one of the most painful scenes in the novel:
This scene proves the Creature's thesis: it is prejudice based on appearance, not any inherent evil, that causes his exclusion. The blind man accepts him; the sighted family rejects him.
Examiner's tip: The De Lacey scene is perfect for discussing prejudice. Old De Lacey, who cannot see the Creature, judges him by his words — and finds him sympathetic. Felix, who can see, judges by appearance — and attacks. Shelley is making a pointed argument about the nature of prejudice.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Victor's father |
| Function | Represents loving but ineffective parenting |
| Key trait | Caring, devoted, but unable to understand or help Victor |
Alphonse functions as a contrast to Victor as a "parent." Alphonse tries (imperfectly) to be a good father; Victor does not try at all.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Felix's fiancee; daughter of a Turkish merchant |
| Function | Represents the outsider who is accepted by society |
| Key trait | Independent, determined, culturally displaced |
Safie parallels the Creature in important ways:
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