| Frankenstein | – Aims to “banish disease from the human frame, and render man invunerable to any but violent death!” – as a concequence for his actions many meet violent deaths at the hands of his creature- Very affected by his mother’s death – “renew life where death has apparently devoted the body to corruption”- Frankenstein suffers irrepressible guilt, his state of mind, and physical state suffers – pillages graveyards and shows disrespect for natural order, and for the dead |
| Justine | – Condemed to death by the government – Dies innocent, as she was not guilty of the murder of William but is forced to confess “and on the morrow, Justine died” |
| Henry Clerval | – Represents the metaphorical death of Frankenstein’s romantic self – Once Clerval dies, Victor is driven by a darker purpose and can only think of revenge |
| Caroline Beaufort | – Her death is innocent, and Frankenstein is very upset by the loss “I need not describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by that most irreparable evil””I thought I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms”- this creates a fear of death in Victor which drives him to create the monster, to cheat death, defeat old age and correct the unjust death of this mother |
| Elizabeth | – Killed by the monster on her honeymoon, dies as a result of Victor’s selfishness |
| Pathetic Fallacy | – Death is foreshadowed in the landscape – When characters die there is usually a storm brewing, or it is night – “it was a very dark night” (Discovery of Clerval’s body)- “a heavy storm of rain descended” (Elizabeth’s death) |
Death in Frankenstein
February 18, 2020