Frankenstein Characters
Every major character in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, with a portrait, who they are and the chapters they appear in.
Victor FrankensteinProtagonist · 20 chaptersA brilliant, obsessive Genevese student whose quest to animate life triggers family tragedy and a vengeful pursuit across Europe.
The CreatureMajor character · 17 chaptersA self-taught, anguished artificial being who seeks companionship and justice from his creator and human society.
Elizabeth LavenzaMajor character · 15 chaptersVictor Frankenstein’s gentle childhood companion and later fiancée, a steady domestic presence and moral conscience.
Alphonse FrankensteinMajor character · 14 chaptersVictor’s wise, compassionate father who offers moral counsel, steadiness, and domestic care throughout the family’s crises.
Henry ClervalMajor character · 12 chaptersVictor Frankenstein’s devoted childhood friend and moral foil, warm, imaginative, and tragically murdered while accompanying Victor.
William FrankensteinMinor character · 10 chaptersVictor Frankenstein’s youngest brother, an innocent child whose murder sparks the family’s tragedy and Victor’s consuming guilt.
Justine MoritzMinor character · 9 chaptersA gentle servant taken in by the Frankensteins, beloved by Elizabeth, later wrongfully accused and executed for William’s murder.
De LaceyMinor character · 6 chaptersAn old blind patriarch of the De Lacey family whose kindness and conversations teach the Creature language and compassion.
Felix De LaceyMajor character · 6 chaptersDevoted son of the De Lacey family and fiancé of Safie who becomes both a model of human virtue and a figure shaped by exile and injustice.
Margaret Walton SavilleNarrator · 6 chaptersRobert Walton’s sister and the addressee of his Arctic letters who frames the novel as the reader’s moral witness.
Robert WaltonNarrator · 6 chaptersAn ambitious Arctic explorer whose framed letters introduce and close the tale; he rescues and records Victor Frankenstein's story.
Agatha De LaceyMinor character · 5 chaptersThe dutiful, tender daughter in the De Lacey household whose quiet labors model domestic virtue to the Creature.
SafieMinor character · 5 chaptersA foreign-born woman who arrives to join the De Lacey household and becomes both pupil and hopeful companion to Felix.
Ernest FrankensteinMinor character · 4 chaptersVictor Frankenstein’s younger brother who represents domestic normalcy and the family life Victor abandons.
Caroline Beaufort FrankensteinMajor character · 3 chaptersVictor Frankenstein’s mother; a gentle, charitable woman whose sacrifices shape the family’s bonds and Victor’s early values.
M. KrempeMinor character · 3 chaptersA brusque professor of natural philosophy at Ingolstadt who dismisses alchemy and pushes Victor toward modern science.
M. WaldmanMajor character · 3 chaptersA humane, encouraging chemistry professor at Ingolstadt who redirects Victor from occult study to modern science.
Mr. KirwinMinor character · 2 chaptersThe Irish magistrate who detains Victor, shows practical compassion, and ensures he receives care and contact with his family.
All chapter summaries ›Characters ›
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