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If you’ve read my summary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, you know that the novel features a dizzying list of characters. This article will provide a list of characters and a concise description of each. When you have a handle on who’s who in Frankenstein, check out some of the most important quotes from the novel. 

All quotations are from . 

Robert Walton 

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a – a “tale within a tale.” While Victor Frankenstein is the main character, it is through Walton that we learn Victor’s story. Accordingly, Frankenstein begins with a series of letters from Walton to his sister, Margaret Saville. Walton is an adventurer setting off from London toward the Arctic. Hubristically, Walton believes that his journey will provide “estimable benefit which [he] shall confer on all mankind” (52). 

He travels to St. Petersburg, hires a ship and crew, and realizes that he is lonely. While his crew includes many brave and honorable men, he wants a friend, “who would have enough sense not to despise [him] as romantic” (55). One morning, well into his journey, Walton and his crew find Victor on an ice floe. Walton convinces Victor to come aboard and Victor promptly collapses from exhaustion. As Victor recovers, he opens up to Walton and begins to tell his story. Aside from the occasional narrative interruption, Walton disappears until the end of the book. 

When Victor completes his story, Walton’s narrative voice reemerges. While he laments that he is not able to console Frankenstein, he admires his courage and sensitivity. When Victor dies, the creature sneaks on board the ship and talks to Walton. Though Victor has warned him, Walton finds himself strangely moved by the creature’s arguments and justifications. The creature bids Walton farewell, jumps to an ice flow, and is “lost in darkness and distance.” 

Margaret Saville

Margaret Saville is Robert Walton’s sister. She lives in England with her husband and children. As Walton’s addressee, Margaret plays a crucial structural function for the text. Effectively, the whole book is addressed to her. In that sense, she is a kind of structural surrogate for the reader. 

Victor Frankenstein

If there is a protagonist in Frankenstein, it is Victor. Born in Geneva to a prominent family, Victor lives an idyllic childhood. As a child, Victor spends most of his time with his cousin (and future bride), Elizabeth, and his best friend, Henry Clerval. From an early age, Victor takes an interest in science. Accordingly, at seventeen, he leaves Geneva to study science at the University of Ingolstadt. 

Victor quickly surpasses his professors at university. In the course of his studies, he becomes obsessed with chemistry and physiology. Eventually, Victor becomes “capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter” (79). He works for two years on this project and ultimately manages to create a rational being. Unexpectedly, Victor is immediately horrified at his creation, calling it a “catastrophe” (83). He flees his lab.  When he returns later that day (with Clerval), the creature is gone. 

Frankenstein Main Characters (Continued)

Victor falls ill and is nursed back to health by Clerval. Just as he is recovering his strength, he receives a letter telling him that his brother William has been murdered. Victor returns to Geneva immediately and sees his creature in the countryside outside of town. He knows immediately that the creature murdered his brother. 

Having this knowledge, he is shocked when he hears that one of the family’s servants, Justine Moritz, has been accused of the murder. Though innocent, Justine is found guilty and executed. Blaming himself for her death, Victor tries to shake off his guilt with a trip to the mountains of Chamonix. While on a solitary hike, the creature approaches him, tells Victor the story of his life, and asks him to create a female companion. 

Victor, moved by the creature’s logic (and terrified at the thought that it will kill again) agrees to its demand. He arranges a two-year research trip to England with Clerval, during which he plans to complete the creature’s companion. Six months into their trip, Victor urges Clerval to complete a tour of Scotland without him. Victor uses this opportunity to set up a laboratory on one of the Orkney islands. He has nearly completed the creature’s companion when he has a change of heart. He destroys the creature’s companion and accepts the inevitable violent consequences. 

Frankenstein Characters (Continued)

Victor doesn’t have long to wait. After throwing his chemistry equipment into the sea, he becomes lost and washes up in Ireland. Clerval has been murdered by the creature and Victor is the prime suspect. Eventually, Victor makes his way back to Geneva, certain that the creature will kill him on his wedding night. On the night of his wedding, the creature arrives and [plot twist!] kills his wife. Victor’s father dies a few days after. 

With his friends and family dead, Victor dedicates himself to revenge. He pursues the creature to the frozen north, eventually finding himself on Walton’s ship. Though he wants to continue, his health fails and he dies. 

Alphonse Frankenstein

Victor’s father is a successful syndic (government official) in Geneva. Late in life, he marries the daughter of his good friend Beaufort. Alphonse and his wife (Caroline Beaufort), have three sons, Victor, Ernest, and William. They also adopt Elizabeth Lavenza, Victor’s cousin. He is a kind father who supports his children’s interests and passions. 

For most of the novel, Alphonse is in the background. While we see him grieve at the death of William and comment occasionally on Victor’s moods, he is definitely a minor character. When Victor is imprisoned in Ireland, Alphonse visits him and accompanies him back to Geneva. The death of Victor’s wife, Elizabeth, hits Alphonse hard – he dies a few days later. 

Beaufort

Beaufort is a close friend of Alphonse. When Beaufort falls into poverty, Alphonse searches for him and arrives just as he dies. Alphonse then marries Beaufort’s daughter, Caroline.   

Caroline Beaufort

We first meet Caroline Beaufort as she is taking care of her father, Beaufort. Upon his death, she marries Alphonse Frankenstein. When Victor is seventeen, Caroline dies of scarlet fever. Her last wish is that Victor and Elizabeth eventually marry. 

Frankenstein Character List (Continued)

Elizabeth Lavenza

As Victor’s cousin and eventual wife, Elizabeth functions as the traditional, heterosexual love object. Raised alongside Victor, she mostly pines after him and takes care of the family when his mother dies. She goes into her marriage with Victor naively and is murdered on their wedding night. Her death pushes Victor to seek revenge on the creature. 

Henry Clerval

Clerval is the humanities-based ying to Victor’s scientific yang. Though the son of a successful merchant, Clerval wants nothing more than to travel the world and learn about other cultures and literature. (It is Clerval who introduces Victor to “the Orientals.”) While we don’t hear much from Clerval during Victor’s studies at Ingolstadt, he arrives the day after Victor animates the creature. When Victor subsequently falls ill, Cleval nurses him back to health. 

After Victor agrees to create a companion for the creature, Clerval accompanies Victor to England. When Victor reneges on this agreement, the creature murders Clerval and frames Victor for the crime. 

Frankenstein Character List (Continued)

William Frankenstein 

When the creature seeks out Victor in Geneva, he makes one last attempt to connect with humanity. He approaches a five-year-old boy, hoping that the boy’s youth will allow him to see the creature with unprejudiced eyes. Instead, the boy insults him mercilessly. The boy also lets slip that his father is Alphonse Frankenstein, Hearing this, the creature strangles William and frames Justine for the crime. 

Ernest Frankenstein 

We know very little about Victor’s middle brother. Though he is now “robust and active,” Earnest was a sickly child (89). Elizabeth thinks that Ernest should become a farmer. After the death of Elizabeth, Ernest completely disappears from the original text. 

Professor Krempe

A “squat…repulsive man,” Professor Krempe is the first professor Victor meets at Ingolstadt (74). He is contemptuous of Victor’s previous studies and makes a poor first impression. Two years later, he sings Victor’s praises. 

Frankenstein Character List (Continued)

Professor Waldeman 

Victor is immediately enamored with Professor Waldeman, who introduces him to chemistry. Unlike Professor Krempe, Waldeman gently turns Victor’s attention away from Alberus Magnus and Paracelus toward more modern scientific minds. 

The Creature 

It’s “a dreary night of November,” when Victor manages to animate the creature (83). When Victor immediately flees in terror, the creature is left to find his own way in the world. Childlike, he is attacked by everyone who sees him. Eventually, he finds shelter in a small shed adjacent to a cottage inhabited by the De Lacey family. From his hiding place, he watches them and learns how to communicate. Hoping that his speech will overcome his ugliness, the creature approaches the blind De Lacey and describes his situation. De Lacey is compassionate and promises to help. However, when his son (Felix) and daughter (Agatha) return to the cottage, they recoil in terror. Felix attacks the creature, who flees. 

Frankenstein Character List (Continued)

After this experience, the creature travels to Geneva to seek his creator. After murdering William, he follows Victor to Chamonix. He approaches Victor and asks him to create a female companion for him. He argues that Victor has a duty to him – his evilness is caused by isolation and loneliness. Victor initially agrees to his request, but then changes his mind. In revenge, the creature kills Clerval and then Elizabeth. When Victor dies on Walton’s ship, the creature describes how Victor failed in his responsibilities as a creator. He then jumps onto an ice floe and disappears. 

Justine Moritz

Justine is a servant in the Frankenstein household. She is wrongfully accused of murdering William and is executed for the crime. 

Felix De Lacey 

De Lacey’s son, Felix is one of the cottagers the creature observes. He helped Safie and her father escape from France. Subsequently exiled, his family ekes out a bare existence in a mountain cottage. 

Frankenstein Character List (Continued)

Agatha De Lacey 

Agatha is Felix’s sister. She is the model daughter, taking care of her father and Felix. 

Safie

Safie is Felix’s love interest. She was imprisoned in Paris when her father (“The Turk”) ran afoul of the French government. Though she loves Felix, her father stands in the way of their union. She eventually escapes and makes her way to the De Lacey’s cottage. Narratively, the fact that Safie does not speak French allows the creature to learn along with her. 

Mr. Kirwin

Mr. Kirwin is the Irish magistrate who supervises Victor’s trial in Ireland. A kind man, he provides Victor with a nurse and eventually contacts Victor’s father. 

Frankenstein Characters – Wrapping Up

Whether you’re reading Frankenstein for school or just for fun, I hope this character list helps you navigate Shelley’s masterpiece. If you’ve found this article helpful, I’ve also written summaries on 1984, Brave New World, Beloved, The Crucible, The Great Gatsby, and Hamlet.