Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is a novel that revolves around family. Without family and the relationships that form, then the novel would end before it began. Every decision that Victor Frankenstein makes is because of family, or those he sees as such. Here we will elaborate on some of the most important relationships and how the plot is pushed forward based on them. Most of the relationships center around Victor, because the novel is written as being a retelling by him. It is also Frankenstein who is the one that makes all the decisions, from the decision to create the creature to breaking his promise to the very same creature. These decisions are made based on Frankenstein’s various relationships with his parents, Elizabeth and his friend, Clerval and the creature itself. The other relationship that forwards the plot is that between the creature and his cottagers. To both Victor and his creature these are familial relationships, even if not all of them are based on blood. These are the relationships that made them into who they are, and are the reasoning behind their every action.


Victor Frankenstein and the Creature

The relationship between Victor Frankenstein and his creature is one of the central relationships. Although not through blood, it is literally between the creator and his creation, reminiscent of that of father and son. Without this bond there would be no story. The relationship between the two evolves over the course of the novel from one of love and pride to fear and repulsion. Throughout the process of creation Frankenstein is ecstatic about the possibilities that his creation possesses. Frankenstein is filled with pride, but it is not for the creature, it is for his own achievements. Thus we can see that the relationship is warped from the beginning. The relationship becomes unclear and distorted when Frankenstein rejects the creature right after its “birth”. From that point on, until they meet again, the relationship seems to be nonexistent. The only indication that there is still a relationship is that Frankenstein lives in constant fear that the creature will show up again. Any sort of familial bond is gone, but when you hear the creature’s side of the story you realize that the rejection is what makes the relationship unbreakable. The creature tells Frankenstein that his rejection of any relationship shaped who the creature was. The creature sees Frankenstein as his father, and the subsequent abandonment is what changes the creature from an innocent being to the creature that Frankenstein fears.


Victor Frankenstein and Elizabeth

A major familial relationship of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is that between Victor and Elizabeth.  This relationship significantly develops the plot. Elizabeth is present throughout the novel and she motivates and influences Frankenstein.  Frankenstein's misery is often relieved by the thought of Elizabeth or her words. Frankenstein recounts that "Elizabeth alone had the power to draw me from these fits; her gentle voice would soothe me when transported by passion, and inspire me with human feelings when sunk in torpor. She wept with me, and for me. When reason returned, she would remonstrate, and endeavour to inspire me with resignation"  (Volume III Chapter V). As evidenced by this quotation, there is a very strong familial relationship between Frankenstein and Elizabeth. Both characters have great impact on each other.
 
A crucial moment in their relationship is their marriage.  At this point in the book, Frankenstein's creature feels his greatest resentment towards Frankenstein for attempting to pursue the happiness that Victor had denied him.  Additionally, Elizabeth's death and the end of the relationship between these characters is the moment that Frankenstein loses all hope of happiness and devotes his life to pursuing and destroying his creature.  This marks a significant development of the plot as it focuses the conflict on Frankenstein's attempts to capture and destroy the creature.
 

Victor Frankenstein and his Parents

Another familial relationship that develops the plot of Frankenstein is that between Victor Frankenstein and his parents.  Frankenstein's father tells Victor not to study the works of Aggripa and Albertus Magnus, but does not explain he reasoning for this request.  This causes Victor Frankenstein to continue to pursue his education in these antiquated techniques, including the search for an elixir of life.  This search leads V. Frankenstein to create his monster, an extremely significant development in the plot, as it leads to the great hardships for Frankenstein such as the deaths of his family and the major conflict of the story between Frankenstein and his creature.
 
The relationship between Frankenstein and his parents is also a principal motivation for him to marry Elizabeth.  It was the wishes of Frankenstein's parents that that he and Elizabeth marry. It was his mother's final wish before she dies.  Thus it becomes an obligation that Frankenstein delays throughout the narrative but ultimately fulfills. This obligation was Frankenstein's motive for returning home after his fever which further advances the plot through Frankenstein rediscovering his creature and reconnecting with his home and family.  The marriage of Frankenstein and Elizabeth is a crucial moment in the novel. As was aforementioned, their marriage is the moment where the plot changes from the struggles between Frankenstein, his creature, and his family, to Frankenstein's dogged pursuit of the creature. Therefore, the relationship between Frankenstein's parents and Victor Frankenstein develops the plot by motivating Frankenstein to pursue different paths in his life.


Victor Frankenstein and Henry Clerval

Henry Clerval's pivotal role in driving the plot of Frankenstein is undeniable, despite his few appearances in the novel.  Clerval's sanguine nature serves as the foil to Victor Frankenstein's despondent personality. Clerval's familial relation can is illustrated in chapter 5 of volume 1 when Clerval visits Victor in Ingolstad against the wishes of his father.  Victor had just created the monster the previous night and was wandering the street in delirium. Upon Clerval's arrival he immediately recognized that Victor was not well but was relieved that his arrival recovered Victor from delirium. Clerval's influence on Victor can be attributed to how Victor's views Clerval. As Victor reflects in chapter 1 of volume 1 "My brothers were considerably younger than myself," he notes, "but I had a friend in one of my schoolfellows, who compensated for this deficiency." Clerval's strong presence in Victor's childhood makes him consider Clerval as almost a part of his family. When Victor departed for university it felt to him that the positive and happy part of him, Clerval, had been left behind in Geneva. When Clerval arrives in Ingolstad Victor is reunited with that part of himself and driving Victor out of his slump. Clerval would nurse Victor back to sanity and convince Victor to contact the people he cares for back in Geneva.
 

The Creature and the Cottagers

The cottage family is a prime example of familial relationships in driving the plot of Frankenstein. The cottagers represent a unit of love and togetherness that has been absent from the monster’s life from his creation. Through the monster’s constant observation of the cottagers, he begins to desperately yearn to become a part of their family. He witnesses the simple yet incredibly meaningful gestures of Felix for his father and sister—picking the first flower of the season for Agatha, shoveling a path so Agatha can perform her chores with ease, and waking up before the rest of his family to gather firewood and draw water. He also sees the love behind Agatha’s labor, as she also completes daily tasks around their cottage to compensate for their father’s inability to help due to his blindness. This concept of supporting one another simply out of love, is a theme that is most easily found through examination of family relationships. The monster realizes that despite their impoverished conditions, the cottagers still strive for and uphold the concept of love. However, it is this denial of love that turns the monster into a being that ends his noble quest for virtue into a being hellbent on destroying the life of his creator Victor Frankenstein.