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How does Shelley present the union between Elizabeth and Victor? How is Victor
presented here?

Throughout the novel, Shelley presents Elizabeth and Victor’s relationship as a
betrothal, in the sense that there were always going to get married
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Additionally, it
portrays how women were viewed as inferior to men in that era as Elizabeth didn’t
really have a choice of who she could marry
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This is initially shown when
Frankenstein’s mother says “I have a pretty present for my Victor” as she is labelling
Elizabeth as a “present” and not just a “cousin” or a “sister
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This is further reinforced when Victor states that “she was
to be mine only” as the pronoun “mine” reflects the shallowness of Frankenstein as
Elizabeth was just a possession to him, which makes the reader question whether
Victor truly loved her, or if it was simply just an obsession
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The use of the
superlative “furthest” creates a sense of foregrounding as it highlights the major
desire that Victor’s mother has on the marriage of her son and her adopted daughter
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Furthermore, it presents Victor as quite desperate as from
another perspective it portrays the notion that Victor marries Elizabeth (due to his
mother’s desire) to try gain some redemption for his actions for tampering with the
rules of life and death
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Also, the hastiness of this wedding is an
indicative of his frantic desire to create an illusion of order and tranquillity for his
family’s sake which from another point of view makes the reader see that he is not
as self-centred as he is initially portrayed
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By presenting this union, Shelley presents Frankenstein as
uncompassionate as his marriage to Elizabeth is dependent on the monster but still
selfishly disregards the monster’s desires which essentially lead the death of
Elizabeth
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The reader feels a sense
of resentment towards Frankenstein, as if he truly loved and cared for his marriage

to Elizabeth he would have gone to more effort to protect her, for example – not
enraging the monster
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The metaphor reflects that Frankenstein feels that his
“paradiscal dreams of joy” are destroyed by the realisation of that “the apple was
already eaten, and the angel’s arm bared to drive him from all”
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The noun “angel” implies that Victor feels that
Elizabeth is like an angel due to her purity and that she tries to deter him from evil
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This is due to the fact that religion was a strong element
in people lives back then, so messing with God’s circle of life and death was seen as
social and moral deviance which suggests that Frankenstein’s own actions were that
much of a sin that even though Elizabeth pushed “to drive him from all” (evil), it was
too late for both of them
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