Frankenstein (Annotated): The Modern Prometheus characters

Appears from the start

An English explorer leading a dangerous voyage toward the North Pole. He writes to his sister, Margaret Saville, about his ambitions, loneliness, and the exhausted stranger his crew rescues from the ice.

Appears from the start

A young Genevan raised in a close and prosperous family. Intensely curious about the causes of life, he pursues natural philosophy and chemistry at Ingolstadt until intellectual ambition isolates him from everyone he loves.

Appears from the start

Victor's beloved adopted cousin and intended wife, raised with the Frankenstein children in Geneva. Affectionate and steady, she values family and the natural world while Victor turns increasingly inward.

Appears from the start

Victor's father, a respected Genevan devoted to his family. He supports Victor's education and repeatedly urges him to return to ordinary affection and responsibility.

Appears from the start

Victor's youngest brother, a cheerful child in the Frankenstein household at Geneva.

First appears in chapter 2

Victor's closest childhood friend. Generous, imaginative, and interested in languages and human culture, he joins Victor at Ingolstadt and nurses him through a long illness.

First appears in chapter 3

A professor of natural philosophy at Ingolstadt who dismisses Victor's earlier occult reading and directs him toward modern scientific study.

First appears in chapter 3

A chemistry professor at Ingolstadt whose kindness and broad account of modern science inspire Victor to begin serious experimental work.

Also known as The Creature

First appears in chapter 5

The living being Victor assembles and animates after years of secret study. He is exceptionally large and physically powerful, and Victor recoils from his appearance the instant he opens his eyes, abandoning him without guidance or care.

First appears in chapter 7

A young woman taken into the Frankenstein household and treated with affection. After William's death, circumstantial evidence makes her the chief suspect despite Elizabeth's certainty that she is innocent.

First appears in chapter 12

An elderly blind exile living in poverty with his adult children. Unable to judge a visitor by appearance, he becomes the creation's best hope of receiving a humane hearing.

First appears in chapter 12

De Lacey's son, living with his father and sister Agatha in a rural cottage. The hidden creation learns speech and social feeling by observing the family's daily life.

First appears in chapter 13

A young Turkish woman who arrives at the De Lacey cottage to reunite with Felix. As the family teaches her French, the concealed creation follows the lessons and learns about human history and society.