Why the Monster Kills Elizabeth in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

The Monster kills Elizabeth Lavenza as a calculated act of revenge after Victor Frankenstein destroys the female companion he had promised to create. By murdering Victor’s bride on their wedding night, the Monster ensures that Victor experiences the same absolute isolation and agonizing loneliness that has defined the Monster’s own existence.

In Mary Shelley’s 1818 masterpiece, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, the murder of Elizabeth Lavenza serves as the narrative’s emotional climax. It is not a random act of violence, nor is it driven by simple bloodlust. Instead, the death of Elizabeth is a sophisticated, albeit horrific, psychological maneuver. The Monster operates under a "lex talionis" (eye for an eye) philosophy, aiming to mirror his own suffering onto his creator. To understand why the Monster kills Elizabeth, one must analyze the broken covenant between creator and creation, the Monster’s descent from innocence to malice, and Victor’s fatal inability to perceive the Monster’s true intent.

The Broken Covenant: The Destruction of the Female Companion

The primary catalyst for Elizabeth’s murder is Victor’s decision to abort the creation of a second creature. After the Monster recounts his tale of suffering and rejection to Victor in the Swiss Alps, he makes a single demand: Victor must create a female companion for him. The Monster argues that his vices are the children of forced solitude and that with a sympathetic partner, he would become virtuous again.

Victor initially agrees, retreating to the remote Orkney Islands in Scotland to perform the work. However, as he nears completion, several fears overtake him:

• The Problem of Consent: Victor realizes the female creature has not made any promises of peace; she might be even more malevolent than the first.
• The "Race of Devils": He fears that the two creatures might reproduce, creating a "race of devils" that could threaten the future of humanity.
• The Aesthetic Horror: Looking at the Monster through the window, Victor is struck by the "ghastly" nature of his work and tears the unfinished female creature to pieces.

The Monster, watching from the window, witnesses this destruction. For the Monster, this is the final betrayal. Victor has not just denied him a mate; he has condemned him to eternal loneliness while Victor himself plans to return home to marry Elizabeth. This asymmetry is what fuels the Monster's vow: "I shall be with you on your wedding-night."

"I Shall Be With You on Your Wedding-Night": The Great Misinterpretation

The Monster’s threat is the most famous line in the novel, yet it is interpreted entirely differently by the protagonist and the reader. Victor Frankenstein, consumed by his own ego and fear, assumes the Monster intends to kill him. He views the threat through the lens of a personal duel, imagining a physical confrontation where he will either triumph or die.

This misinterpretation is central to why the Monster succeeds in killing Elizabeth. Victor spends his wedding night patrolling the corridors with pistols, waiting for a direct assault. He fails to realize that the Monster’s goal is not to end Victor’s life, but to ruin it. Killing Victor would end his suffering; killing Elizabeth ensures that Victor remains alive to endure the same misery the Monster feels. The Monster’s strategy is one of psychological mirroring—if the Monster cannot have a bride, neither will Victor.

Isolation as a Weapon of Vengeance

The Monster’s motive is rooted in the concept of social death. Throughout the novel, the Monster seeks entry into human society, most notably through the De Lacey family. Each time he is rejected based on his appearance, his resentment grows. He discovers that without a social bond, he is essentially a "non-person."

When he kills Elizabeth, he is effectively "weaponizing" isolation. By the time of the wedding night, the Monster has already killed William (Victor’s brother) and framed Justine (the family’s servant), and he has murdered Henry Clerval (Victor’s best friend). Elizabeth is the final link Victor has to the world of love and domesticity. By removing her, the Monster completes Victor’s transformation into a mirror image of himself: a wanderer with no ties to the human race.

The Monster explicitly states his logic: "I may die, but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery." The death of Elizabeth is the ultimate fulfillment of this curse. It is the moment Victor is stripped of his "human" status and forced into the same existential void inhabited by his creation.

Elizabeth Lavenza as the Symbolic Victim

In the structure of Romantic literature, Elizabeth represents the "ideal" woman—pure, celestial, and deeply connected to nature and domestic peace. Her death is not merely the death of a character but the symbolic destruction of the "Home" and the "Sacred."

Mary Shelley uses Elizabeth’s murder to highlight the consequences of Victor’s obsession with science over human connection. Victor’s pursuit of the "secret of life" leads directly to the death of the person who represents the best of life. The Monster chooses Elizabeth because she is the most precious thing in Victor’s world. The brutality of the act—strangling her in her bridal bed—is a perversion of the marriage rite, turning a symbol of new life and union into a scene of death and total separation.

Comparing the Monster’s Targets

The Monster’s path of destruction follows a specific logic. He does not kill indiscriminately; he targets those who represent Victor’s support system. The following table outlines the progression of the Monster's victims and his specific motivations for each:

The Philosophical Perspective: Nature vs. Nurture

The murder of Elizabeth is often used as a case study in the "Nature vs. Nurture" debate. When the Monster first "awakes," he is described as having a benevolent nature. He helps the De Laceys with chores and is moved by music and poetry. It is only through repeated, violent rejection—first by Victor, then by the villagers, and finally by the De Laceys—that he becomes a "fiend."

From the Monster's perspective, the murder of Elizabeth is a "forced" action. He argues that Victor, as the creator, had a duty to provide for his creation’s happiness. By failing that duty, Victor is the ultimate cause of Elizabeth’s death. The Monster sees himself as a tool of destiny or a product of Victor's negligence. As he tells Victor, "I am fearless, and therefore powerful." The killing of Elizabeth is the ultimate expression of that power, born from the vacuum where love and responsibility should have been.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did the Monster want to kill Elizabeth from the beginning?

No. The Monster’s initial intent was to live in peace. He only decided to target Victor’s loved ones after Victor abandoned him and later after the De Laceys rejected him. The specific decision to kill Elizabeth was only finalized after Victor destroyed the female creature in the Orkneys.

Why didn't Victor protect Elizabeth better?

Victor’s failure to protect Elizabeth is attributed to his overwhelming narcissism and psychological exhaustion. He was so convinced that the Monster’s threat ("I shall be with you on your wedding-night") referred to his own death that he failed to consider Elizabeth might be the target. He also kept the truth about the Monster a secret from her, leaving her vulnerable and unaware of the danger.

Why does the Monster use strangulation for all his victims?

Strangulation is a deeply personal and physical method of killing. It requires the Monster to use his hands—the very hands Victor "designed." It emphasizes the physical strength and "unnatural" power of the creature, and it leaves the victims with a look of terror that the Monster wants Victor to see.

Does the Monster feel guilty for killing Elizabeth?

By the end of the novel, the Monster expresses profound remorse, but it is a complex guilt. Over the dead body of Victor, he tells Robert Walton that he abhorred his own crimes. He describes his heart as being "fashioned to be susceptible of love and sympathy," and laments that he was forced into becoming a "wretch." However, during the act itself, his desire for revenge outweighed his capacity for empathy.

What is the significance of the "Wedding Night" setting?

The wedding night represents the pinnacle of human intimacy and the beginning of a new family. By choosing this specific night, the Monster ensures that Victor’s transition into adulthood and domestic happiness is permanently aborted. It mirrors the Monster’s own "birth" into a world without a family.

Final Analysis and Next Actions

The murder of Elizabeth Lavenza is the definitive moment where the tragedy of Frankenstein becomes irreversible. It marks the transition from a story of scientific error to a story of total domestic and existential annihilation. For readers and students of the novel, analyzing this event requires looking beyond the horror of the act and into the "why"—a complex web of social alienation, broken responsibilities, and the destructive power of revenge.

Recommended Next Actions:

1. Read Chapter 23: Re-read the specific chapter where Elizabeth is killed to observe Shelley's use of suspense and the descriptions of Victor's mental state.
2. Compare to Paradise Lost: Research the Monster’s identification with the character of Satan in Milton’s Paradise Lost, specifically the idea of "Evil be thou my good."
3. Explore the 1831 Introduction: Read Mary Shelley’s introduction to the 1831 edition for her own thoughts on the "hideous progeny" of her imagination.

For more authoritative literary analysis on Mary Shelley's work, you can visit The British Library’s Frankenstein collection or explore the digital archives at Project Gutenberg.