Image
A brilliant young scientist from Geneva who creates life, then abandons his creation and is destroyed by the consequences.
Books
Story role
Protagonist and main narrator
Background
"I am by birth a Genevese, and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic" (Chapter 1). Studies at the university of Ingolstadt (Chapters 3 to 4).
Physical appearance
As Walton first sees him: "His limbs were nearly frozen, and his body dreadfully emaciated by fatigue and suffering" (Letter 4).
Wants and fears
Wanted to create life: "I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body" (Chapter 5).
Relationships
Son of Alphonse Frankenstein. Raised with Elizabeth Lavenza, whom he marries. Henry Clerval is his closest friend. Creator of the Creature.
Character arc
Horrified the moment he succeeds (Chapter 5), he loses William, Justine, Clerval and Elizabeth, and dies aboard Walton's ship while pursuing the Creature (Chapter 24).
Key quotes
"Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge" (Chapter 4)
"I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished" (Chapter 5)
"I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished" (Chapter 5)
Source note
Quotes and chapter numbers are from the 1831 edition of Frankenstein. Fields left empty where the novel does not say.