Frankenstein Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young Swiss scientist who builds a living being from dead body parts and then abandons it in horror. Rejected by everyone, the intelligent, lonely creature turns against its maker and destroys everyone Victor loves.
The creature has no name. Over time readers came to call him Frankenstein, the name of his creator.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Victor Frankenstein | Scientist who creates the creature |
| The creature | Victor's creation, eloquent and abandoned |
| Robert Walton | Arctic explorer who records the story |
| Elizabeth Lavenza | Victor's adopted sister and fiancée |
| Henry Clerval | Victor's best friend |
| William | Victor's little brother |
| Justine Moritz | Servant wrongly accused of murder |
| The De Lacey family | Cottagers the creature secretly watches |
How does the story begin?
In letters to his sister, the explorer Robert Walton describes his ship trapped in Arctic ice. The crew see a giant figure on a dog sled, and the next day they rescue a half-frozen man chasing it: Victor Frankenstein, who tells Walton his story.
↑ Back to the topHow does Victor create the creature?
Victor grows up loved in Geneva with Elizabeth, an orphan adopted by his family. After his mother's death he goes to university at Ingolstadt and becomes obsessed with the secret of life. Working alone for nearly two years, he assembles a body from parts and brings it to life. Horrified by its yellow eyes and huge size, he runs away. The creature vanishes, and Victor falls ill; Henry Clerval nurses him back to health.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens to William and Justine?
News arrives that Victor's little brother William has been strangled. Returning home, Victor glimpses the creature near the scene and knows the truth, but a locket found on the family servant Justine leads to her trial and execution. Victor keeps silent, tormented by guilt.
↑ Back to the topWhat does the creature tell Victor?
In the Alps the creature confronts Victor and tells his story. Abandoned, he learned to survive alone, hiding beside the cottage of the De Lacey family. Watching them, he learned to speak and read and came to love them. When he finally showed himself, they fled in terror. Everywhere he went he was attacked, and he swore revenge on his maker, killing William when he learned the boy was a Frankenstein. He asks Victor to make him a female companion, promising they will leave humanity forever.
↑ Back to the topDoes Victor make a companion?
Victor agrees and travels to a remote island in Orkney to work. But fearing the two might breed a race of monsters, he tears the half-finished female apart as the creature watches through the window. The creature vows to be with Victor on his wedding night. He then kills Clerval, and Victor is briefly jailed in Ireland for the murder.
↑ Back to the topHow does Frankenstein end?
Victor marries Elizabeth, expecting the creature to come for him. Instead it kills Elizabeth. Victor's father dies of grief. Victor swears to hunt the creature down and follows it across Europe and into the Arctic, which is how Walton found him.
On Walton's ship, Victor dies of exhaustion. The creature appears beside his body, grieving and full of remorse. He tells Walton his suffering is over and that he will travel to the farthest north and burn himself on a funeral pyre. Then he leaps from the ship onto an ice raft and disappears into the darkness.
↑ Back to the topMore about Frankenstein
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.