Revision-Justine Moritz Introduction

I chose to write this move to introduce my character, Justine Moritz, and her history with the Frankenstein family. When she was twelve she moved into the Frankenstein home as a servant because “the republican institutions of our country have produced simpler and happier manners than those which prevail in the great monarchies that surround it” (43). So “there is less distinction between the several classes of its inhabitants; and the lower orders being neither so poor nor so despised, their manners are more refined and moral” (43). The Frankenstein family treated her with respect because in their country, a servant “does not include the idea of ignorance, and a sacrifice of the dignity of a human being” (44).

I focused on the fact that if she was found guilty, Justine would have no one else to turn to for support, and she would also be put to death. I didn’t include how she confessed or how she died, because I wanted to leave room for future moves, in case I wanted to change or add something to the text. Justine confesses falsely to the crime so that she “might obtain absolution” (62). She is extremely religious and she believes that God knows she is truly innocent and she will go to heaven if she sacrifices her life for a greater cause. Justine is very close with Elizabeth Frankenstein, and she tells her that she “thought with horror, my sweet lady, that you should believe your Justine, whom your blessed aunt had so highly honoured, and whom you loved, was a creature capable of a crime which none but the devil itself could have perpetrated” (62). Elizabeth and the rest of the Frankenstein family practically raised Justine, and Justine knows that she will be executed and will never see her friend Elizabeth again so she cries, “farewell, sweet lady, dearest Elizabeth, my beloved and only friend; may heaven in its bounty bless and preserve you; may this be the last misfortune that you will ever suffer. Live, and be happy, and make others so” (64). Justine is seen as a martyr because she is sacrificing her life for the absolution of her soul, and for leaving her family to be of service to the Frankenstein family. Through her depiction of the character, Justine Moritz, Mary Shelley shows the importance of staying true to one’s own personal values and sacrificing one’s happiness for the greater good.