Importance of Characterization

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Shelly does an excellent job of introducing and characterizing her principle characters.  As a result, each character assumes a distinguishable, unique personality that supports the novel as it progresses.  For example, when Shelley first writes about Elizabeth Lavenza, she expresses her beauty by eloquently describing her as "fairer than a garden rose among dark-leaved brambles," (Shelley 17).  Shelley goes on to directly characterize Elizabeth as "the living spirit of love to soften and attract" in order to convey her gentle, mild-mannered nature (Shelley 20).  This incredibly detailed characterization of Elizabeth as a loving, beautiful young woman heightens the sorrowful emotional mood Shelley tries to elicit when she later depicts Elizabeth as distraught at the deaths of Justine and William.  Aside from Elizabeth, Shelley spends considerable time characterizing Victor throughout the novel.  She includes an abundance of passages on Victor's studies, his education, and his goals for the future.  These sections indirectly characterize Victor as a determined, intellectual, ambitious young man in search of accomplishing something much bigger than himself to achieve glory.  This characterization makes Victor's attitude toward his work understandable.  In accordance with his character, Victor refuses to do anything else "until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of [his] nature, should be completed," (Shelley 33).  Furthermore, the obsession Victor displays with his work supports one of the novels important themes: a man's passions can become his downfall.  Overall, Shelley utilizes characterization adroitly to support future sections of the novel and important themes.