This gives him the idea that he's not the only one who has suffered from an injustice. (2.6.5), he finds his family In film adaptations such as Frankenstein (1931), The Bride of Frankenstein, and The Curse of Frankenstein, Safie is completely absent. We just want to make sure you're a human and not a bot. Shelley's inclusion of the poem is an intentional reference to it and the philosophical questions the poem raises. Ed. The De Laceys flee to "a Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, ... Felix falls in love with her and teaches her French. The creature is able to watch Safie's education take place and forms an indirect connection with her. The DeLacey Family can be found in Volume 2 of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Later on the in the chapter, Felix helps the Turk escape from prison and they are all together. As he becomes more proficient in the language, he learns Felix's story: he had fallen in love with Safie and arranged her father's escape from prison (II:6:9), but, betrayed by her father (II:6:13), he finds his family imprisoned and Safie taken out of … Print. Son of the blind M. De Lacey and brother of Agatha. 13-18. When Safie arrives at the De Lacey cottage in chapter five of Frankenstein, she is welcomed in the way that an actual family member would have been. playing an instrument with great joy. Victor's sister by adoption, and later his wife. De Dir. Felix. you not hate Felix, who drove his friend from his door with contumely?" © copyright 2003-2020 Study.com. Universal Pictures, 1931. http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/zonana.html. How did Percy Shelley impact and influence Mary... Who is Igor in Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley? Felix visited the Turk in prison and met his daughter, with whom he immediately fell in love. Safie stays with the family, and the family goes on with their usual routine of gardening and maintaining their cottage. He represents the goodness of human nature in the absence of prejudice. Safie also must endure her own trials to find her benefactors in a foreign country. The Creature flees; on his return, he discovers that the De Laceys have abandoned the cottage. It is through Felix's conversation and language tutoring to Safie that the Creature learns to speak and read. The creature is learning much more than the letters, sounds they made, and what they mean. As he becomes more proficient in the language, he learns Felix's story: he had fallen in love with Safie and arranged her father's escape from prison (II:6:9), but, betrayed by her father (II:6:13), he finds his family imprisoned and Safie taken out of his reach. miserable asylum in the cottage in Germany.". De Lacey is present, but only for a brief moment where we see the blind man playing an instrument with great joy. bookmarked pages associated with this title. find his father in the Creature's presence. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. Elizabeth is a stunningly beautiful … As with the other female characters (see Characterisation:Caroline, Elizabeth and Justine), theirs is an experience of suffering and deprivation, but the monster, who narrates their story, is moved to pity and compassion by what they have been through. Lastly, the creature says, “While I listened to the instructions which Felix bestowed upon the Arabian, the strange system of human society was explained to me” (Shelley 90). Are you sure you want to remove #bookConfirmation# 2nd ed. The Creature flees; on his Felix is never aware of the Creature until he returns to the cottage to find his father in the Creature's presence. Safie plays a brief, but nevertheless important role in Frankenstein when she enters the book in chapter five and leaves in chapter eight. The De Lacey family was in the upper middle class of France, with Felix serving as a civil servant and Agatha who was "ranked with ladies of the highest distinction." a lesson in family solidarity and fidelity – of how love can lend strength and enable individuals to triumph over adversity. De Lacey. Safie’s dad, the Turk as he is called, has been put in prison the day that she arrived to see him in Constantinople. Elizabeth Lavenza. The De Lacey family fled France after trying to help Safie's father escape. The creature gains the confidence to go meet De Lacey when the rest of the family is out, knowing that he is blind and cannot judge him by his physical appearance. Fearing for his father's While living with the De Lacey family, they begin to teach her their language, which, in turn, promotes learning with the creature. from your Reading List will also remove any The head of the household observed by the creature, de Lacey has been robbed of his fortunes as a result of his own kindness. Felix De Lacey is the son of the blind old man that the creature attempts to befriend. Many questions about "playing god" and family relationships that are explored in Frankenstein are important in Paradise Lost. While she is at the De Lacey cottage, they teach her language and speech, among other things. Felix's language lessons with Safie is how the creature learns... Our experts can answer your tough homework and study questions. Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. The monster observes the reading lessons and learns faster than Safie. the only criminal, when all human kind sinned against me? Had the creature never happened upon the De Lacey cottage and Safie not struck out on her own to find Felix, the creature might not have ever known a more formal, structured kind of education. Safie is invested in Felix and leaves him letters where she “deplored her own fate” (Shelley 93). Services, Main Characters in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Working Scholars® Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. Source: https://sites.google.com/site/myhideousprogenywebsite/works-cited. The closest mention of the De Lacey household is in The Bride of Frankenstein. (Okay, that's because he's blind. This is the first example that is given where the creature is provided a more formal way of learning what the cottagers know. Removing #book# Hammer Film Productions, 1957. She begins as an outsider that cannot communicate and later transitions nicely into the De Lacey household, bringing much happiness. Felix De Lacey: Felix is a French exile and the son of M. De Lacey. One of the servants in the Frankenstein household, Justine is framed for the murder of William Frankenstein. All rights reserved. This example highlights the way that the creature observes barriers between the cottagers and Safie. Safie is important to Frankenstein because she is what spurs the Monster to want an education. The Turk's lack of caring towards Safie's feelings show his true motives which are everything but kind and fatherly. This excerpt illustrates the way in which Safie wanted to please the people that she was living with and to become less “otherly” to them. Relating to irony, in which a comment may mean the opposite of what is actually said. (III:WC:43). This shows the way that Safie was simply the means to an end. The old man, De Lacey, was once an affluent and successful citizen in Paris; his children, Agatha and Felix, were well-respected members of the community. The family settles in Germany (although they are French speakers) and lives in poverty. Once again, the Turk is simply using Safie as a way of securing his safety and freedom. James Whale. Safie's father, a Turkish merchant who had been a businessman in Paris for many years, falls into disrepute for reasons Mary Shelley does not make clear to the reader. The other female characters in the novel are Agatha de Lacey and Safie, both of whom the monster observes while he is hiding in the de Laceys' shed. On page 88, the creature says, “the Arabian sat at the feet of the old man, and, taking his guitar, played some airs so beautiful, that they at once drew tears of sorrow and delight from my eyes” (Shelley 88). Felix, hearing of this, immediately decided to return to France, and asked the merchant to lodge Safie in Italy until such time as he could meet her there. In this respect he shows himself to be more ‘human', more capable of disinterested sympathy than his creator. The De Laceys flee to "a miserable asylum in the cottage in Germany" (II:6:15). Though the family and the monster have minimum interaction, they play a major role in the monster's development as a character. The De Lacey family was in the upper middle class of France, with Felix serving as a civil servant and Agatha who was "ranked with ladies of the highest distinction." As “the other,” Safie wants to be well received upon arriving at the De Lacey cottage, which is one of the creature's only wishes. As © 2020 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Through a long journey, involving De Lacey, Agatha, and Felix, Safie ends up in Germany at their cottage in hopes of seeing Felix again, whom she has feelings for. Safie serves as an outsider that echoes the creature’s struggle with language, and need to belong. Son of the blind M. De Lacey and brother of Agatha. They both desire to be close and intimate to De Lacey, Agatha, and Felix, but are having trouble due to their “otherness.”. The son of de Lacey, he is devoted to his family and his mistress, Safie. 72. The Turk is faking his feelings towards Felix so that he will remain loyal to the plan that they have devised and almost completely carried out. imprisoned and Safie taken out of his reach. Mary Shelley Wiki is a FANDOM Books Community. The kind of learning that Safie inspires means much more to the creature than merely overhearing the De Lacey's conversations because he is able to build his education while becoming more like the cottagers: normal humans. Safie, the outsider, is learning the language of the De Lacey family, and the creature is benefitting from her arrival and desire to learn. Safie plays a brief, but nevertheless important role in, William Wordsworth, Ode: Intimations on Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood (1807). All rights reserved. Dir. Create your account. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, An Academic Wiki, https://sites.google.com/site/myhideousprogenywebsite/works-cited, https://mary-shelley.fandom.com/wiki/Safie?oldid=8189. Felix De Lacey. She is the daughter of a once enslaved Christian Arab woman and a Turkish merchant. It is supposed that all Safie's father did was to suffer from a xenophobic — fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners — attack by local authorities. The creature is learning with Safie, as well as learning through her. to his betrayal by him in speaking to Walton: "Am I to be thought It is through Felix's conversation and language tutoring to Safie that the Creature learns to speak and read. Felix sees the injustice during his trial and wants to help him escape from prison and the death penalty that he faces. Safie provides the creature with hope. Fearing for his father's safety, he "darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung: in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick" (II:7:38).