Victor's sister by adoption, and later his wife. Elizabeth is a stunningly beautiful and remarkably pure girl whom Victor's mother adopts. All the Frankensteins adore Elizabeth, and Victor quickly begins to "protect, love, and cherish" her. Eventually Victor and Elizabeth marry. Through all of it, Elizabeth remains gorgeous, pure, and passive. NOTE: In the first edition (1818) of Frankenstein, Elizabeth is Alphonse's niece and, therefore, Victor's cousin. In the revised 1831 edition, the Frankensteins adopt Elizabeth, as described above.
Elizabeth Lavenza Quotes in Frankenstein
The Frankenstein quotes below are all either spoken by Elizabeth Lavenza or refer to Elizabeth Lavenza. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 22
Quotes
If for one instant I had thought what might be the hellish intention of my fiendish adversary, I would rather have banished myself forever from my native country and wandered a friendless outcast over the earth than have consented to this miserable marriage. But, as if possessed of magic powers, the monster had blinded me to his real intentions; and when I thought that I had prepared only my own death, I hastened that of a far dearer victim.
Related Characters:
Victor Frankenstein (speaker), The Monster, Elizabeth Lavenza
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Frankenstein LitChart as a printable PDF.
Elizabeth Lavenza Character Timeline in Frankenstein
The timeline below shows where the character Elizabeth Lavenza appears in Frankenstein. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
When he was five, his mother discovered a beautiful blond orphan girl named Elizabeth Lavenza in an Italian village and adopted her.
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Victor, his parents, and all the Frankensteins adored Elizabeth. She became to him a "more than sister." The two children referred to each other...
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Chapter 2
Victor describes his perfect childhood. He and Elizabeth got along perfectly, though she favored poetry while he longed to unravel the "physical secrets"...
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In addition to Elizabeth, Victor shares a close friendship with Henry Clerval, his well-read schoolmate. Like Victor, Clerval possesses...
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Chapter 3
Just before Victor turns seventeen, Elizabeth catches scarlet fever and passes it on to Victor's mother, who dies. Her dying wish...
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Chapter 5
...to send a letter to his father and family, and gives him a letter from Elizabeth.
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Chapter 6
In her letter, Elizabeth updates Victor on his brothers, and says that Justine Moritz, a former servant of the...
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Chapter 8
...of the court, who says that Justine has already confessed to the crime. Victor and Elizabeth visit Justine in prison, and she explains that she was pressured into confessing by her...
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Chapter 9
One day Elizabeth tells Victor that she no longer sees the world the same way after witnessing the...
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Chapter 18
...Victor's distress, and thinks it might stem from some reluctance on Victor's part to marry Elizabeth. Victor assures his father he'd like nothing more than to marry Elizabeth. Alphonse suggests they...
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Chapter 20
...night." Victor thinks the monster means to kill him on that night, and fears for Elizabeth left alone as a widow.
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Chapter 22
While in Paris, Victor receives a letter from Elizabeth. She expresses her desire to marry Victor, but worries he may have taken another lover...
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...father arrive in Geneva. The wedding takes place ten days later. Yet as Victor and Elizabeth sail to a cottage by Lake Como in Italy for their honeymoon, Victor's fear of...
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Chapter 23
...armed with a pistol and terrified that the monster will attack at any moment, sends Elizabeth to bed for her own safety. But as he searches the house, he hears a...
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Victor rushes back to Geneva. The news of Elizabeth's death overwhelms his father Alphonse, who dies a few days later.
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