Frankenstein Close Reading

Frankenstein Close Reading This passage, the paragraph located at the bottom of page 138, and bleeds over onto page 139, comes from the part of the novel in which Victor Frankenstein is almost home from his ordeals in Ireland. While in Ireland, Victor promised to make a female companion for his Creature, but then throws his work into the sea, as he realizes that he does not actually want to create this second being because of the chaos it may cause. Enraged by this, the monster murdered Victor’s friend, Henry Clerval. After becoming sick by this news, Victor’s father comes to retrieve him and bring him back home to Geneva. While on his journey home, he receives the letter from Elizabeth Lavenza, Victor’s adopted “cousin”. This passage is a paragraph taken from this letter from Elizabeth to Victor. The main significance of this passage is that it shows the theme of love. Elizabeth loves Victor with her entire being, quite simply put. This is a common theme in this novel, love. Victor shows love to many of the people in his life, including his parents, his siblings, Justine Moritz, Henry, and, of course, Elizabeth. However, the people that he love tend to die. His mother dies early in the novel, his brother William is murdered by the Creature, Justine is executed for Williams murder, and Henry is murdered by the monster. All of these deaths of the people Victor loves, and who love him, may foreshadow Elizabeth’s death, which does come by the hands of the monster in the next chapter. Elizabeth is the narrator of this passage, as she is the one who has written the letter to Victor. It may be said that Elizabeth is writing in a melancholy tone. This can be proven with the fact that she is writing from her heart, and uses somewhat depressing phrases. She says, “it is your happiness I desire as well as my own…even now I weep…I, who have so disinterested an affection for you, may increase your miseries tenfold by being an obstacle to your wishes” (Shelley 138).