# Frankenstein — Character guide

> Key figures in Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.

- [Victor Frankenstein](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/victor_frankenstein.md): Raised in a loving Swiss household and groomed for greatness, Victor pursues chemistry at Ingolstadt with a zeal that isolates him from family and friends. He believes himself destined for illustrious achievements, yet h
- [The Creature](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/the_creature.md): Made from dead matter and abandoned the moment he opens his eyes, he must teach himself language, fire, and moral feeling by watching a family he dare not approach. His tale, told with the simplest truth and a voice that
- [Elizabeth Lavenza](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/elizabeth_lavenza.md): Rescued from poverty and brought into the Frankenstein villa, Elizabeth becomes the adored companion of Victor's childhood, her serene, poetic temperament a deliberate contrast to his restless curiosity. She loves the su
- [Henry Clerval](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/henry_clerval.md): Where Victor chases causes, Clerval chases beauty—chivalry, poetry, distant lands—and his easy affection keeps Victor tethered to ordinary human life. When grief and guilt prostrate his friend, Clerval reads the terrible
- [Robert Walton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/robert_walton.md): Walton writes to his sister from the frozen north, burning with the same craving for glory that once drove his guest, and he recognizes the kinship immediately. He listens for a week, transcribing and even correcting Vic
- [Justine Moritz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/justine_moritz.md): Justine returns the family's charity with tireless devotion, tending the sick and loving the young William like a brother. When circumstantial evidence points at her, her meekness and honesty cannot save her from a court
- [Alphonse Frankenstein](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/alphonse_frankenstein.md): Alphonse Frankenstein presides over a warm, orderly Genevan home, a man of public standing who has weathered grief before and believes steady affection can absorb any blow. His letters to Victor mix paternal tenderness w
- [William Frankenstein](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/william_frankenstein.md): William is the family's darling, doted on by father and brothers alike, still young enough to believe the world is kind. His innocent trust and the locket he wears make him fatally vulnerable when he encounters a being t
- [Felix De Lacey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/felix_de_lacey.md): Felix lives in exile with his blind father and sister, nursing a romantic devotion to Safie that drove him to defy the Turkish government and lose everything. He is ardent, generous, and reckless, teaching language and h
- [Safie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/safie.md): Safie is beautiful, devout, and quietly determined, raised in a world of luxury that she abandons for the man who rescued her father. Her letters and lessons, overheard by the creature, become his window into language, h
- [Agatha De Lacey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/agatha_de_lacey.md): Felix's sister, a kind woman who tends to the old man.
- [Old De Lacey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/old_de_lacey.md): A blind old man who briefly befriends the creature.
- [Ernest Frankenstein](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/ernest_frankenstein.md): Victor's younger brother who survives the family tragedies.
- [Caroline Beaufort](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/caroline_beaufort.md): Victor's mother who dies of scarlet fever before the main events.
- [Mr. Kirwin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/m_kirwin.md): A magistrate who prosecutes Victor for Henry's murder in Ireland.
- [M. Waldman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/m_waldman.md): A chemistry professor who inspires Victor's scientific ambitions.
- [M. Krempe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/m_krempe.md): A blunt natural philosophy professor who dismisses Victor's early studies.
- [Margaret Saville](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/frankenstein_se/characters/margaret_saville.md): Walton's sister to whom he writes the letters framing the novel.

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