Italy appears in Frankenstein in various ways but most importantly it is where Victor was born and where Elizabeth came from as we see in Volume 1 Chapter 1. This connection ties them together in a place that is commonly known for love and beauty. This is contrasting to Victor’s more lonely and sad version of himself.   

During the time Frankenstein was written, British people saw Italy as a land of art, and political freedom. They admired its past but also saw its struggles for independence. This perspective meant Italy wasn't just a pretty place, but a symbol of beauty and politics too.  

Knowing this helps us see Victor and Elizabeth's characters more clearly. Elizabeth's Italian background might connect her to an idealized beauty and passion, but Victor's birth there suggests his complicated mix of passion and science, along with all his conflicting emotions that appear throughout the story.  It also highlights the novel's themes of creation and freedom, connecting the monster's search for acceptance with Italy's own fight for identity and liberty.  

Sources

Cove, Patricia. “Romantic Italy and Restoration Politics: Romantic Poetry, Lady Morgan’s Italy and Mary Shelley’s Valperga.” Edinburgh University Press EBooks, 1 July 2019, pp. 29–61, https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474447249.003.0002. Accessed 30 Sept. 2025. 

Emanuele Finardi. “L’amore Di Mary Shelley per l’Italia E I Luoghi in Cui Visse - Stendhapp.” Stendhapp, 9 July 2021, stendhapp.com/en/mary-shelley-and-the-italian-frankenstein/. Accessed 30 Sept. 2025. 

Woolley, R. Reanimating Scenes of History : The Treatment of Italy in the Writings of Mary Shelley. 2025, www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Reanimating-scenes-of-history-%3A-the-treatment-of-in-Woolley/b223fdba322c9d34cc3653bbb5e34751c96503fe. Accessed 30 Sept. 2025.

Italy photo