Elizabeth Lavenza

Elizabeth Frankenstein, played by Mae Clarke in James Whale's 1931 Frankenstein. 'Mae Clarke Frankenstein (1931). Digital Image. The Spooky Isles. N.p., 19 June 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

Elizabeth Lavenza is the adopted cousin of Victor Frankenstein. This is true for the 1818 version of the novel, in which Elizabeth (four to five years younger than Victor) is the daughter of Alphonse Frankenstein's sister, but in the 1831 version of the novel, Elizabeth is instead rescued by Victor's mother Caroline from a peasant cottage in Italy. Caroline dreams of Victor and Elizabeth one day marrying. Fond of her from the start, Victor describes Elizabeth as "docile and good tempered, yet gay and playful as a summer insect," as well as "lively and animated," but with an uncommonly affectionate disposition and feelings that are strong and deep. She seems to him to be perhaps be "the most fragile creature in the world" (Shelley, 20).

When Caroline dies of scarlet fever, contracted from Elizabeth, Elizabeth is immediately placed in the maternal role of the Frankenstein family. Victor goes off to school in Ingolstadt soon after, and Elizabeth writes him regularly while he is away. She updates him on Justine, who is falsely accused of killing William. 

Once Victor finally returns to Geneva from school, his father, Alphonse, convinces him to marry Elizabeth. He puts off the wedding as he begins working on a female counterpart to the monster, per the monster's request for a partner. After Victor later destroys his half-completed project, the monster becomes angry and threatens to be with Victor on his wedding night. Victor takes this as a threat directed at himself, but the monster is in fact planning to kill Elizabeth. The couple finally marries after Victor is released from imprisonment under the false accusation of murdering Clerval. On their wedding night the monster kills Elizabeth, and Victor finds her lifeless in the next room.

Major Themes/Scenes

Role of Women

Elizabeth's feminine role in Frankenstein is clearly presented from the beginning of the novel. Caroline describes her as "the most beautiful child she had ever seen," with an affectionate and gentle disposition (Shelley, 19). Elizabeth is characterized as an angelic, beautiful woman from a young age. On her death bed, Caroline tells the girl, "Elizabeth, my love, you must supply my place to your younger cousins," (Shelley, 26), immediately putting pressure on Elizabeth to fill this role at a young age of around 13. She becomes the sole woman of the family, taking on the former duties of Caroline. She in a sense, becomes the mother, sister and lover of Frankenstein. Through her fulfilling her duties in the Frankenstein home, she takes on the maternal figure and showcases the stereotypical role of women to be housewives and homemakers, basically "holding down the fort" while Victor goes out to explore and learn.

Some critics find Elizabeth to be passive in nature, presenting the role of women as secondary to men. She is found to be most passive specifically in her relationship with Victor. While there is a preconceived notion that Elizabeth and Victor are to marry, Victor continually pushes off the marriage in several instances throughout the novel before actually committing to her. While away at school, Victor's father insists, saying, "You, perhaps, regard her as a sister, without any wish that she might become your wife," (Shelley, 116). Victor's replies to reassure his father, saying, "My future hopes and prospects are entirely bound up in the expectation of our union," (Shelley, 117). Though Victor continues saying he loves Elizabeth in this way, he essentially puts her off for the asserted completion of the female counterpart to the monster. Later in the novel, he also unintentionally must put off the marriage when he becomes ill and is imprisoned, falsely accused of Clerval's murder.

During these long periods of time, Elizabeth patiently awaits her soon-to-be husband, and never pushes for the marriage, though she loves him dearly. In a letter to him she says, "But it is your happiness I declare as well as my own, when I declare to you, that our marriage would render me eternally miserable, unless it were the dictate of your own free choice," (Shelley, 147).

Sacrifice

Elizabeth, while she might be viewed as a passive female figure, she sacrifices much of her life for the Frankenstein family throughout the novel. The most clear example of this is her taking on the mother role of the household at the young age of 13. She balances the household during the grieving process of Caroline's death even though she herself is grieving her mother (Knudsen, 54). Later in the novel, even when Victor leaves for school, he describes Elizabeth as doing everything for the family, without any regards to herself, though she is also upset at his leaving. "She consoled me, amused her uncle, instructed her brothers; and I never beheld her so enchanting as at this time, when she was continually endeavoring to contribute to the happiness of others, entirely forgetful of herself" (Shelley, 27).

While Justine is being accused of William's death, Elizabeth continues to update Victor through letters, but at home, she herself is in shambles, grieving another loss of the family. In a letter to his son, Alphonse describes Elizabeth by saying, "She weeps continually and accuses herself unjustly as the cause of his death; her words pierce my heart" (Shelley, 50). Though the monster committed the murder and the family perceives Justine to be innocent, Elizabeth internally takes the blame, wishing no struggles for any members of her family. Even as she continues to write to Victor to keep him updated about Justine and question her and Victor's relationship, she is concerned with bothering him during his travels. "Do not let this letter disturb you; do not answer it to-morrow, or the next day, or even until you come, if it will give you pain" (Shelley, 148). Elizabeth clearly continues to always look out for her loved ones, always taking the blame and the pain in situations, in an attempt to keep her family members happy.

Elizabeth was denied the education and means of travel that she wished she could have while she stayed home (Tómasson, 21). When Victor decided to return to France for a two-year tour, he described Elizabeth's feeling on the matter by saying, "Elizabeth approved of the reasons of my departure, and only regretted that she had not the same opportunities of enlarging her experience, and cultivating her understanding" (Shelley 119).

Impact In/For Frankenstein

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