Evian

Evian is a town on the southern shore of Lake Geneva, in Switzerland, that serves as the setting for the novel's most devastating personal catastrophe. It is the place Victor and Elizabeth choose to begin their married life, and the place where the monster executes his long-promised revenge, killing Elizabeth on their wedding night. The event at Evian completes the monster's systematic destruction of everyone Victor loves and precipitates Victor's final, desperate pursuit across the globe.

Location and Setting

Evian is situated on the southern shore of Lake Geneva, at the foot of the Alps. The town is described as having a spire that "shone under the woods that surrounded it" and is overhung by a "range of mountain above mountain." Victor and Elizabeth approach it by boat from Geneva, passing the river Drance and the amphitheater of mountains that forms the lake's eastern boundary. The landscape is idyllic: the sun is hot but they are sheltered by a canopy, and they enjoy the beauty of Mont Blanc, Mont Saleve, and the Jura mountains. The wind carries "the most delightful scent of flowers and hay" as they land at sunset. This pastoral beauty stands in stark contrast to the horror that follows.

The Wedding Night and the Murder

Victor and Elizabeth arrive at Evian at eight o'clock in the evening. They walk briefly on the shore, enjoying the "transitory light," then retire to the inn. As night falls, a violent storm rises from the west, with clouds sweeping across the moon and a heavy rain descending. Victor, who has been carrying a pistol hidden in his bosom, is anxious and watchful. He hears a "shrill and dreadful scream" from Elizabeth's room and rushes in to find her "lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair." The murderous mark of the fiend's grasp is on her neck. Looking up, Victor sees the monster at the open window, grinning and pointing at the corpse. Victor fires his pistol, but the monster leaps into the lake and escapes.

Consequences and Aftermath

Elizabeth's murder is the final blow to Victor's family. He returns to Geneva to find his father, Alphonse Frankenstein, unable to survive the news; he dies in Victor's arms a few days later. Victor himself is plunged into madness and is confined to a solitary cell for many months. Upon recovering his reason, he awakens to a single, consuming purpose: revenge. He swears an oath at the graves of his family to pursue the monster until one of them perishes. This pursuit leads him across Europe, through Russia and Tartary, and finally onto the Arctic ice, where he encounters Robert Walton's ship. Evian thus marks the point of no return in Victor's story, the moment when his life becomes entirely defined by the hunt for his creation.

Narrative Significance

Evian is the site where the monster's central threat—"I will be with you on your wedding-night"—is fulfilled. The threat, first uttered on the glacier at Montanvert, has hung over Victor for months, dictating his actions and his decision to delay his marriage. The murder at Evian demonstrates the monster's power to penetrate even the most intimate and supposedly safe space of Victor's life. It also completes the monster's revenge: having already killed William, framed Justine, and murdered Clerval, the destruction of Elizabeth leaves Victor utterly alone. The event at Evian is the culmination of the monster's campaign of vengeance and the direct cause of Victor's final, fatal pursuit.