Keyword Guide · study-guide
Chapter 23 of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of the novel’s most emotionally intense moments. It brings major conflicts to a climax and reinforces key themes about revenge, responsibility, and loss. This guide breaks the chapter down for fast review and deeper understanding.
Victor and Elizabeth finally marry, but their happiness is overshadowed by Victor’s fear of the Creature. Victor believes the monster will target him on the wedding night. Instead, the Creature murders Elizabeth, striking Victor where he is most vulnerable. Victor’s father later dies from grief, leaving Victor completely alone.
Victor assumes the Creature’s threat is directed only at him. This mistake shows Victor’s ongoing self-centered thinking and failure to protect others. His narrow focus leads directly to Elizabeth’s death, reinforcing the novel’s idea that ignoring responsibility causes irreversible harm.
Revenge reaches its peak in this chapter, as the Creature completes his promise to make Victor suffer. Isolation is total by the end: Victor loses his wife, family, and emotional support. The chapter also highlights moral responsibility, showing how Victor’s earlier choices continue to destroy innocent lives.
Chapter 23 marks the final collapse of Victor’s personal world. From this point on, the story shifts fully toward pursuit and destruction. For essays, this chapter is key evidence that Victor’s tragedy is not random, but the result of repeated ethical failures.
The Creature wants Victor to experience the same loneliness and pain he has endured. Killing Elizabeth causes deeper emotional suffering than killing Victor directly.
The chapter fulfills the Creature’s promise to be with Victor on his wedding night, but in an unexpected way that shows the Creature’s psychological insight.
Indirectly, yes. Victor’s secrecy, misjudgment, and refusal to involve others contribute to the circumstances that allow the tragedy to happen.
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