Quotation: 

“How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch from with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! – Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same color as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips.” (Shelley 59-60)

Comment/Connection:

This passage comes when Victor Frankenstein is finally successful in his attempts to bring life to an inanimate form. As he tries to figure out how he feels about his creation, Victor grapples with the creature’s outward appearance, juxtaposing its ‘beautiful’ features with its more corpse-like qualities. Almost immediately, he realizes that despite his desire to create something as beautiful as life, he has taken his experimentation too far and has done an unspeakable thing. I think this mirrors how Victor feels about the pursuit of knowledge because he highly values his studies, but in engaging with the subjects that most interest him, he allows himself to get carried away. This quite often causes him harm, especially if he neglects his health, such as when he is trying to reanimate the dead. I think it’s also important to note the parallels between Victor’s and his creature’s appearances, but I’m unsure what meaning can be ascribed to their similarities.

Question:

How does the relationship between the monster and its creator affect how we as the reader interpret the story? When the monster and its creator share certain likenesses, where do we draw the line between the two?