Alphonse Frankenstein and Caroline Beaufort

Victor’s parents are presented as loving and supportive people, dedicated to ensuring the best upbringing possible for their beloved son. Critically, Shelley uses them as a device to highlight the inadequacy of Victor’s own parenting toward his Creature. Where they ensured Victor was treated with “indefatigable love and affection,” Victor instead abandoned his own ‘son’ at birth and left him to fend for himself in a cruel and judgemental society.