![]() ![]() The elder Frankenstein takes Caroline in after she is left penniless and an orphan similarly, the family takes in the orphaned Elizabeth Lavenza to save her from a life of bitter poverty. In this way, Shelley suggests that human connection and, to state the case rather more plainly, love itself is dependent upon one's willingness to care for another person particularly if that other person is defenseless, or innocent, and thus unable to care for themselves. His childhood is almost implausibly ideal the reader therefore expects Victor to reflect the love and beauty with which he was surrounded as a boy.Ī number of the relationships described in this chapter are structured as a relation between a caretaker and a cared-for: that between Caroline's father and Caroline Victor's father and Caroline the Frankensteins and Elizabeth and between Victor and Elizabeth, to name a few. At the beginning of his narrative, Victor is deeply embedded within a traditional family structure, and we develop our first impressions of his character in relation to it. It is important to note that Beaufort's ruin is itself connected to his decision to cut himself off from his former friends and live in absolute isolation it is his isolation, more than his poverty, which leads to his death.īecause Victor speaks in first person, the other characters are presented as they relate to him ("my father, my mother, my sister"). The absolute necessity of human contact and emotional ties is stressed here: the elder Frankenstein goes through great trouble to visit his impoverished friend, and Caroline, too, is selflessly concerned with the needs of others (her father, her family, and the poor). This chapter is primarily concerned with the theme of family and kinship. For him, she is his most beautiful, most valuable possession. The child, whose name was Elizabeth Lavenza, became Victor's sister and his constant companion, as well as the object of his unquestioning worship. As the girl was an orphan, and her adoptive family lacked the means to care for her, the Frankensteins determined to raise the child as their own. ![]() One day, she discovered an angelic girl-child, with fair skin and golden hair, living with a penniless Italian family. Until he was five, Victor was an only child, and both he and his parents felt the absence of other children strongly.Ĭaroline Frankenstein made a habit of visiting the poor: since she herself had been saved from poverty, she felt it her duty to improve the lot of those who did not share her good fortune. Victor’s parents adored him, and he adored them in turn his childhood, from the very first, was wholly idyllic. ![]() They divided their time among Germany, Italy, and France their first child, Victor, was born in Naples, Italy. ![]() Upon Beaufort's death, Caroline turned to Master Frankenstein for comfort, and the pair returned to Geneva together a few years later, they were married.ĭuring the first years of their marriage, the Frankensteins traveled constantly, for the sake of Caroline's fragile health. His daughter, Caroline, attended him with almost-religious devotion. This man, named Beaufort, had fallen into poverty and obscurity when the elder Frankenstein finally found him, he was entirely wretched and very near death. His parents met, he tells us, when his father went in search of a dear old friend. Frankenstein begins his tale, sensibly enough, with his childhood: he is from a wealthy and well-respected Swiss family. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |