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Caroline Frankenstien is Victor’s beloved mother. She is characterized as an empathetic, loving woman, generous with her money and with her affections. For example, she likely adopted the impoverished Elizabeth and Justine into the Frankenstein family because she remembered what it was like to be destitute.
Victor adored his mother, so much so that he describes her death as the “first misfortune” of his life. He also characterizes her death as an “omen” of his “future misery.” This is a significant aside; although it is never said outright, one can speculate that Victor’s obsession with life and death can be partially traced back to the untimely death of his mother.
Caroline Frankenstein also represents the idealized Angel of the Home archetype that was popular in nineteenth-century literature. She is a domestic soul who was entirely subordinate to her husband, and devoted to children. For instance, Victor says that his father was his mother’s “protector” and that she “committed herself to his care.” Here, Victor paints a portrait of a relationship that, while loving, was not a union of equals. Caroline also selflessly nursed Elizabeth when she contracted scarlet fever and ultimately died as a result. This moment serves to immortalize Caroline as the perfect, self-denying mother figure because she sacrificed her own life so that her child might live.
