FITM Humanities Elizabeth Lavenza Character Analysis Essay

Compose an EXPOSITORY essay on a character analysis in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. An expository essay has a thesis statement, which presents an argument and supports it with evidence from the primary text (Frankenstein). 

You are welcome to choose any of the following characters for your essay:

Robert Walton

Victor Frankenstein

The Creature

Elizabeth Lavenza

Henry Clerval

Justine Moritz

Felix (son of De Lacey)

Safie (daughter of the Turk)

You MAY consider one of the following approaches:

-How a character embodies a particular trait

-How a character serves as a conduit, foil, or personification for a major theme

-How a character responds to a trying situation and/or is changed by it

-How a character conforms (or does not conform) to a common character trope (hero, antihero, villain, sage, accomplice, teacher, confidant, servant, guardian, etc.) or family role (father, son, brother, sister, etc.)

-How a character grows and develops during the course of the story

NOTE: Please cite any quoted or paraphrased passages from the text with both the chapter number (in Roman Numerals) and the page number(s) (XVII: 152-3). That way, if you have a different edition, I can still easily find the referenced passage. 

REMEMBER to keep your thesis statement focused on a specific character and analytical approach to that character, to provide specific examples from the text to support your thesis statement, conclude with the broader implications for that character’s significance to the story, to the reader, and to humanity/literature in general. 

The Book:

Shelley, Mary. (2003) Frankenstein. Revised Edition. Penguin Classics.  9780141439471