Murder, Revenge & the Bride
The Murder of William
The Creature’s first murder is Victor’s youngest brother, William. The Creature encounters William in the woods near Geneva and initially hopes the child will be unprejudiced: “This little creature was unprejudiced and had lived too short a time to have imbibed a horror of deformity.” But William screams, calls the Creature a “monster” and an “ogre,” and reveals he is a Frankenstein. The Creature kills him in a rage and plants a miniature portrait on the sleeping Justine Moritz to frame her.
Shelley makes this murder morally complex. The Creature’s first instinct is hope, not violence — even now, it craves connection. But William’s reaction (learned prejudice from society) confirms what the Creature already fears: no human will ever accept it. The child’s name, “Frankenstein,” triggers the Creature’s rage because it targets Victor’s family — the one thing Victor values. The murder is the Creature’s first deliberate act of revenge against its creator.
William’s murder shows the Creature has not lost its desire for connection — it approaches the child hoping for acceptance. The murder is triggered by rejection and the name “Frankenstein.” The framing of Justine adds a calculated cruelty: the Creature has learned from human society how to manipulate justice. Shelley shows that the Creature mirrors the cruelty it has received.
Justine’s Trial and Death
Justine Moritz is tried and executed for William’s murder despite being innocent. Victor knows the truth but stays silent, too afraid to reveal the existence of the Creature. Justine’s name is bitterly ironic — “Justine” means “justice,” yet she receives none. Shelley uses her death to criticise both Victor’s cowardice and the legal system that condemns an innocent woman on circumstantial evidence and a coerced confession.
Victor describes his guilt: “I, the true murderer, felt the never-dying worm alive in my bosom.” Yet his guilt produces no action — he weeps, he agonises, but he does nothing to save Justine. Shelley presents Victor’s passivity as a moral crime equal to the Creature’s violence. Justine is destroyed by two “monsters”: the Creature who framed her and Victor who could have saved her.
The Creature confronts Victor on the Mer de Glace and demands a female companion: “I am alone and miserable; man will not associate with me; but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me.” The appeal is rational and deeply sympathetic — the Creature does not ask for revenge or power, only for companionship. It promises to leave humanity forever if Victor creates a mate. Victor initially agrees, then destroys the half-finished female in front of the Creature. This second abandonment — the deliberate destruction of hope — triggers the Creature’s most devastating acts of revenge.
The Destruction of the Female Creature
Victor begins creating a female companion in Scotland but stops, horrified by the implications. He fears the two creatures might breed, creating a “race of devils.” He also fears the female might have her own will and reject the male Creature. Victor destroys the half-finished female while the Creature watches from the window. This act of destruction is presented as a point of no return.
The Creature’s response is chilling and devastating: “I shall be with you on your wedding-night.” Victor interprets this as a threat against himself. But the Creature means Elizabeth. Shelley creates dramatic irony: Victor prepares to defend himself on his wedding night, never considering that the Creature will target the person he loves most. The Creature has learned Victor’s logic perfectly: you destroyed my companion, so I will destroy yours.
“I shall be with you on your wedding-night” is the novel’s most important piece of dramatic irony. Victor assumes the threat is against him; the Creature means Elizabeth. By destroying the female, Victor removed the Creature’s only hope. The Creature’s response is a mirror of Victor’s own action: “You destroyed my chance for companionship, so I will destroy yours.” The cycle of creation and destruction repeats.
After the female’s destruction, the Creature murders Henry Clerval — Victor’s closest friend and the character who most represents warmth, loyalty, and human connection. Henry’s death strips Victor of his last source of genuine companionship, mirroring the Creature’s own isolation. Shelley structures each murder to remove the people Victor loves one by one, making him experience the loneliness the Creature has felt since birth. The punishment fits the crime: Victor created a being and denied it love, so the Creature destroys everyone who loves Victor.