Geneva. Victor’s mother decides at the moment of the adoption that Elizabeth and Victor should someday marry. HENRY CLERVAL Elizabeth and Victor grow up together as brother and sister, they are best friends, and they call one another “cousin”. Victor’s friendship with Henry Clerval, a schoolmate and only child, flourishes as well, and he spends his childhood happily surrounded by this close domestic circle. As a teenager, Victor becomes increasingly fascinated by the mysteries of the natural world. He chances upon a book by Cornelius Agrippa, a sixteenth-century scholar of the occult sciences, and becomes interested in natural philosophy. He studies the outdated findings of the alchemists Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus with enthusiasm. He witnesses the destructive power of nature when, during a raging storm, lightning destroys a tree near his house. ERNEST FRANKENSTEIN and WILLIAM FRANKENSTEIN Victor has two younger siblings. Ernest is 7 years younger than Victor, and the youngest son is William, who is much younger than Victor. Caroline’s Death At the age of seventeen, Victor is preparing to leave his family home in Geneva to attend the University of Ingolstadt, Germany. Just before Victor is to leave, his mother, Caroline, catches scarlet fever from Elizabeth, whom she has been nursing back to health. Elizabeth recovers from the fever, but Caroline dies. On her deathbed, Caroline begged Elizabeth to care for her younger children, Ernest and William, as if they were her own. Caroline also tells of her hopes that Elizabeth and Victor will marry some day. PROFESSOR WALDMAN and PROFESSOR KREMPE Several weeks later, still grieving, Victor goes off to Ingolstadt.
Geneva. Victor’s mother decides at the moment of the adoption that Elizabeth and Victor should someday marry. HENRY CLERVAL Elizabeth and Victor grow up together as brother and sister, they are best friends, and they call one another “cousin”. Victor’s friendship with Henry Clerval, a schoolmate and only child, flourishes as well, and he spends his childhood happily surrounded by this close domestic circle. As a teenager, Victor becomes increasingly fascinated by the mysteries of the natural world. He chances upon a book by Cornelius Agrippa, a sixteenth-century scholar of the occult sciences, and becomes interested in natural philosophy. He studies the outdated findings of the alchemists Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus with enthusiasm. He witnesses the destructive power of nature when, during a raging storm, lightning destroys a tree near his house. ERNEST FRANKENSTEIN and WILLIAM FRANKENSTEIN Victor has two younger siblings. Ernest is 7 years younger than Victor, and the youngest son is William, who is much younger than Victor. Caroline’s Death At the age of seventeen, Victor is preparing to leave his family home in Geneva to attend the University of Ingolstadt, Germany. Just before Victor is to leave, his mother, Caroline, catches scarlet fever from Elizabeth, whom she has been nursing back to health. Elizabeth recovers from the fever, but Caroline dies. On her deathbed, Caroline begged Elizabeth to care for her younger children, Ernest and William, as if they were her own. Caroline also tells of her hopes that Elizabeth and Victor will marry some day. PROFESSOR WALDMAN and PROFESSOR KREMPE Several weeks later, still grieving, Victor goes off to Ingolstadt.