Chapter 23

Summary

On their honeymoon, Victor cannot rest.  He leaves Elizabeth in their bedroom and armed with a gun, prowls about the Inn looking for the monster.

The monster gains access to the bedroom and as she screams, Elizabeth is strangled.

Victor rushes to the room to find Elizabeth “lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down and her pale and distorted features half-covered by her hair.”

Victor vows that he will have his revenge, and sets off in search of the monster.

Interpretation

Needless to say, throughout this chapter, a storm is raging about the Inn, and we are aware of the strong ties between Victor and the monster. 

He senses the demon’s presence and cannot rest.  While he searches the Inn, the monster murders Elizabeth.  Whenever the monster is close to Victor he is aware of its presence.

When Victor brought the spark of life into the monster’s body, he also created an invisible link between himself and the creature, so that their fates and lives would be intrinsically intertwined forever. 

Victor’s first concern is to return to Geneva to protect what remains of his family, but Alphonse dies shortly afterwards of a broken heart.

Shelley makes it abundantly clear that the link between Victor and the monster works both ways, for we have seen that he was able to track Victor across Europe to the remote island off Scotland in the previous chapters.