Paris

Paris, the capital of France, occupies a pivotal place in the backstory of the De Lacey family and in the chain of events that leads to the monster's encounter with Victor Frankenstein. It is the city where the De Laceys once lived in affluence and respect, and where the Turk was imprisoned and condemned to death, an injustice that drew Felix De Lacey into a plot that would destroy his family's fortunes and set the monster on his path of vengeance.

The De Laceys' Former Home and Fall

Before their exile, the De Lacey family had lived for many years in Paris, where they enjoyed a life of affluence, respected by their superiors and beloved by their equals. Felix was bred in the service of his country, and Agatha had ranked with ladies of the highest distinction. They possessed every enjoyment that virtue, refinement of intellect, or taste, accompanied by a moderate fortune, could afford. This prosperous existence was shattered when the Turk, a Turkish merchant who had inhabited Paris for many years, became obnoxious to the government. He was seized and cast into prison on the very day his daughter Safie arrived from Constantinople to join him. Tried and condemned to death, the injustice of his sentence was flagrant; all Paris was indignant, and it was judged that his religion and wealth, rather than any crime alleged against him, had been the cause of his condemnation.

Felix's Rescue Plot and Its Consequences

Felix, who had accidentally been present at the trial, was overcome with horror and indignation at the court's decision. He made a solemn vow to deliver the Turk and, after many fruitless attempts to gain admittance to the prison, found a strongly grated window in an unguarded part of the building that lighted the dungeon. Visiting the grate at night, Felix made known his intentions to the prisoner. The Turk, amazed and delighted, endeavored to kindle Felix's zeal with promises of reward and wealth, which Felix rejected with contempt. However, when Felix saw the lovely Safie, who was allowed to visit her father and who expressed her lively gratitude through gestures, he could not help acknowledging to himself that the captive possessed a treasure that would fully reward his toil and hazard. The Turk quickly perceived the impression his daughter had made on Felix and secured him further by promising her hand in marriage once he was safe. Felix procured passports in the name of his father, sister, and himself, and communicated his plan to De Lacey, who aided the deceit by quitting his house under the pretense of a journey and concealing himself with Agatha in an obscure part of Paris. On the night before the execution, the Turk quitted his prison, and before morning was many leagues from Paris. Felix conducted the fugitives through France to Lyons and across Mont Cenis to Leghorn. The government of France, greatly enraged at the escape of their victim, spared no pains to detect and punish his deliverer. The plot was quickly discovered, and De Lacey and Agatha were thrown into prison. Felix, upon hearing the news, hastened to Paris and delivered himself up to the vengeance of the law, hoping to free his father and sister. He did not succeed. They remained confined for five months before the trial, the result of which deprived them of their fortune and condemned them to perpetual exile from their native country. They found a miserable asylum in a cottage in Germany, where the monster later discovered them.

Paris in Victor's Dreams and Memories

Paris also appears in the fevered dreams of Victor Frankenstein. During the night after he first brought the monster to life, Victor slept and was disturbed by wild dreams. He thought he saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, he embraced her, but as he imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and he thought he held the corpse of his dead mother in his arms, a shroud enveloping her form, with grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel. This dream, though set in Ingolstadt, evokes the themes of death and loss that are later associated with Paris through the De Laceys' story. Later, after his release from prison in Ireland, Victor traveled with his father to Paris, where they stayed before continuing to Switzerland. In Paris, Victor found that he had overtaxed his strength and needed to rest. His father's care and attentions were indefatigable, but he did not know the origin of Victor's sufferings and sought erroneous methods to remedy the incurable ill. Victor abhorred the face of man, yet he felt attracted even to the most repulsive among them, as to creatures of an angelic nature, but he felt he had no right to share their intercourse, having unchained an enemy among them. It was in Paris that Victor received a letter from Elizabeth, which revived in his memory the monster's threat to be with him on his wedding-night, a threat that would ultimately lead to Elizabeth's murder.

Narrative Significance

Paris functions as a symbol of lost prosperity and the catastrophic consequences of intervening in the affairs of others. The De Laceys' fall from grace in Paris is the direct result of Felix's noble but ill-fated attempt to rescue the Turk, an act that sets the stage for the monster's education and his eventual rejection by the family. The city also serves as a place of transit and reflection for Victor, where he confronts his guilt and the looming threat of the monster's vengeance. The injustice of the Turk's trial in Paris, where religion and wealth rather than evidence determined the verdict, mirrors the later injustice of Justine Moritz's trial in Geneva, where circumstantial evidence and public prejudice condemned an innocent woman. Paris, therefore, is not merely a geographical location but a nexus of moral and social corruption that reverberates through the novel's central tragedies.