Lindsey answers “(1831 v/s 1818 editions) Where are...”

Catalina Jiménez asked this question about Frankenstein:

(1831 v/s 1818 editions) Where are Victor's brothers? In the 1818 version there are clear descriptions of Ernest and William. However, I'm currently reading the 1831 ver. and I cannot find absolutely anywhere an account of the existence of two brothers prior Elizabeth's letter while Victor is already in Ingolstadt. Did anyone else notice this? I don't know if I am the problem or the 1831 ver. is missing important info

Lindsey I know this answer is four years late, but it's not just you. In addition to changing Elizabeth's backstory, Shelley excluded background details about…moreI know this answer is four years late, but it's not just you. In addition to changing Elizabeth's backstory, Shelley excluded background details about the family from the 1831 version. I found an article by Bruce Matsunaga from Arizona State University, and he gives a good explanation:
"In the 1818 edition, humans have free will and there is hope for a loving egalitarian family unit. The 1831 edition relegates human action to fate and the egalitarian family unit is significantly undercut. Why? Possible biographical explanations come from the deaths of Mary's second daughter, son (William), husband (Percy) and Byron. She describes this change in letters:
'There I left the mortal remains of those beloved--my husband and my children, whose loss changed my whole existence, substituting for happy peace and the interchange of deep-rooted affections, years of desolate solitude, and a hard struggle with the world;...'"(less)

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