Character Analysis in Frankenstein

Walton’s ambition—to explore the Arctic—mirrors Frankenstein’s single-minded pursuit of creating life, no matter what the consequences. The two characters are mirror images of each other at the beginnings of both of their stories, which is why Frankenstein decides that Walton is the perfect audience for his tale. The notion of a fixed fate or destiny is a key theme throughout the narrative. Frankenstein often bemoans his circumstances as if he is a victim of a predetermined fate.

Walton desperately wants a friend who can understand him and empathize with him in regards to his ambitions; he wants a friend “whose tastes are like [his] own.” However, more importantly, Walton hopes for someone who has a “cultivated” and “capacious mind” to “approve or amend [his] plans.” He seems to feel slightly insecure about his self-educated background and wishes that a friend can “repair [his] faults.” This implies that he acknowledges human imperfection, especially in himself. Overall, Walton’s description of such a friend foreshadows his encounter with Victor Frankenstein.

Being unable to explicitly describe his sensations that are “half pleasurable and half fearful,” Walton is experiencing the sentimental sublime, an overwhelming and often inexplicable amount or level of emotion and a major element in Romanticism. Descriptions of nature are often used to represent such experiences. This element will repeatedly show up throughout Frankenstein, situating the text as a Romantic novel.

Walton’s passion to conquer nature through making discoveries is strong. Instead of addressing his crew that is traveling with him, he personifies the stars, calling them “witnesses” and “testimonies” of his achievement; it is as if those stars, elements of nature, have already been “conquered” by Walton, having to serve as his “witnesses” and to support his expedition. In this way, Walton is underestimating the power of nature. As the story progresses, the prideful desire to conquer nature will be revealed in other characters and develop into a major theme.

The word choice “shall” reflects Walton’s strong intention and confidence in his expedition. The italicization emphasizes his determination. To Walton, his success will act as a “crown” that represents triumph, honor, and praise; Walton’s word choice “crown” reveals his pride.

Walton greatly admires and envies Victor Frankenstein’s logical powers, his acutely scientific mind. Walton has not yet taken into account Frankenstein’s continual warnings about the downside of wielding such a mind.

Frankenstein immediately recognizes the path Walton is pursuing and tries to offer a warning. He blames his state of instability and ruin on the “madness” of pursuing knowledge. Such a warning provides readers with insights into Frankenstein’s past as well as an instance of foreshadowing, for the dangerous pursuit of knowledge is one of the novel’s core themes.

Walton’s word choice here is telling. Walton shifts quickly from calling Frankenstein “brother of my heart” to calling him “stranger.” This shift shows his continued wariness around the mysterious Frankenstein.

It is intriguing that Walton refers to Frankenstein as a “creature.” On one level, this characterization draws attention to Frankenstein’s desperate, ragged state as a result of his pursuit across the arctic. On another level, the word serves as a bit of foreshadowing, comparing Frankenstein to another character in the novel often called “creature.”

Victor Frankenstein presents himself with an almost humorous degree of social grace. On the brink of hypothermia and starvation, Frankenstein nonetheless has the presence of mind to inquire after the direction of the ship. This passage is an apt introduction to Frankenstein and his characteristic verbal elegance.

Draught, is the British spelling of draft, which can refer to a breeze, or a drink. Shelley uses it metaphorically here; Victor is essentially asking if Walton has also drunk from the fountain of knowledge. Victor’s calling the draught intoxicating reflects how thirsty for knowledge he truly is. Regardless, he goes on to warn Walton about the dangers of pursuing knowledge by sharing his own experience.

The violence of Victor’s feelings suggests that his emotions are intense and wild, making it difficult for him to contain them. “Slave of passion” implies that Victor is so obsessed with gaining knowledge that he is a slave to the process. These descriptions depict excessive emotion, an element in Romanticism. At the same time, they reveal the self-contradictory nature within Victor: he dislikes himself for being so passionate about knowledge.

This is the reader’s first encounter with Victor Frankenstein’s creature. Shelley purposefully describes the creature as large, but with the “shape of a man.” Doing so makes readers question the creature’s humanity, specifically in regards to his physical appearance.

Such word choices are typical of romantic literature. Walton’s calling Victor a “brother of [his] heart” reveals how much he cares about Victor and how he sees qualities in Victor similar to his own. This also reinforces Walton’s desperation for a friend on his expedition. Victor naturally becomes the kind of friend that Walton has been waiting for.

Elizabeth’s character can be interpreted as the embodiment of the innocence and purity that Frankenstein wishes he could have. Frankenstein has demonstrated a level of darkness as well as an interest in the occult, tendencies which will only become stronger as the novel goes on. Elizabeth is the antithesis of these characteristics. Instead, she stands for all that is pure and good.

Notice how Frankenstein’s description of his parents’ benevolence is colored by a condescending tone. When they enter the cottage, Frankenstein notices that this child is “of a different stock,” or of a greater value than the other peasants in the home. This condescension once again marks Victor as an unreliable narrator to the discerning reader.

In this first chapter, Frankenstein establishes the behaviors of good parents. He makes a point of illustrating parenthood as an obligation towards one’s child because one has brought this child into the world. Frankenstein seems to admire his parents’ devotion to him and his upbringing. As the story progresses, the reader will find that Frankenstein does not follow his own standards for good parenting with the creature he creates.

Remember that this description of Frankenstein’s parents occurs within the frame story of Frankenstein telling his life story. The romantic notions and glorification of these two people suggests a lot about Victor’s perspective on the world, namely his romanticized, binary view of people.

Notice how Frankenstein draws out the story of his youth rather than immediately jumping into telling the story of the monster. From a storytelling perspective, this could be interpreted as a narrative device that helps to establish Victor’s family and personality. Within the story, this could be interpreted as Victor trying to delay talking about his crimes and suggest that the character feels shame for his actions .

The description of Victor as an “innocent and helpless creature” from “Heaven” suggests that his parents believed in the tabula rasa principal of upbringing, or that children are born as blank slates who must be taught everything they need to know. This belief gave Victor's parents a “deep consciousness” to teach him “patience, [charity, and self-control.]” Ironically, as the story advances, the reader will realize that Victor does not entirely live out these qualities.

Here is a bit of foreshadowing regarding the relationship between Victor and Elizabeth. Also note the depth of the relationship, so much so that words fail them to describe it.

Shelley's description of Elizabeth employs Romantic language: Elizabeth already seems "other-wordly" or "supernatural."

Frankenstein describes his shift away from alchemy and mysticism towards mathematics and “secure” science as if a guardian angel was attempting to divert him from his ill-fated course. However, the chapter concludes with a more pessimistic message; that Frankenstein was always destined to follow a path of destruction, led by the dark forces of the occult and ‘natural philosophy.’

After witnessing lightning striking an oak tree and having the laws of electricity explained to him, Frankenstein immediately rejects the teachings of Agrippa, Paraclesus etc. in favor of the “secure” science of mathematics. This sudden change in belief demonstrates how Frankenstein is easily swayed from his own beliefs and thinking.

Sir Issac Newton (1642–1726) was an English mathematician, physicist and astronomer that would have been known in Shelley’s time as a “natural philosopher.” Newton most famously formulated the theory of gravity. However, Newton also dabbled in alchemy and the occult and was said to be looking for the philosopher’s stone for over half his lifetime. Frankenstein’s reference to Newton as a child picking up shells is an allusion to Newton’s memoirs in which he states: “I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” Frankenstein compares his own frustrations to Newton’s in arguing that he has been unable thus far to make any major discoveries.

This is one of the rare moments in which we witness Victor perceive knowledge as “misfortune” or a negative element in his life. He enjoys reflecting on his childhood because he longs for the innocence he once had. “Tainted” suggests that gaining knowledge pollutes one’s mind, further emphasizing how obtaining knowledge can be bad and how one cannot unlearn what they’ve learned. This raises the question of whether knowledge acquisition is good or bad in the context of the Enlightenment.

Victor’s thirst for knowledge is not limited to the hows and whys of Nature on Earth. He has a strong desire to go beyond earthly knowledge and to comprehend the “secrets of heaven.” This choice of words suggests that Victor is pursuing what is beyond human knowledge and intelligibility. In addition, this implies that his pursuit is offensive and will continue to offend Nature as the story progresses.

In this passage, Shelley shows the differences between Elizabeth and Victor, and how such differences set the foundation of their relationship. While Elizabeth has a gentle spirit and strong admiration for Nature, Victor has an overwhelming passion for investigating Nature’s elements and causes. In this comparison, Elizabeth serves as an example of how humans should embrace and appreciate Nature, submitting to its powers and mysteries without questioning it. Shelley’s depiction of Elizabeth also emphasizes Victor’s desire to question and conquer Nature.

Victor’s natural inclination is to avoid crowds and only allow himself to be close to a few people. This is likely due to his upbringing in a loving and close-knit family and why he felt indifferent towards his schoolmates. Regardless, he eventually develops a camaraderie with Henry Clerval.

The “strong effort of the spirit of good” represents Nature’s final attempt to turn Victor away from the path of self-destruction. However, Victor’s stubborn and prideful character causes him to ignore Nature’s efforts, making them “ineffectual.” After creating the monster, Victor realizes that Destiny, with laws “immutable,” or never-changing, has “decreed” his “terrible destruction” for his crime of creation. Shelley personifies Destiny, giving it agency and authority, emphasizes its power.

Here, Victor describes his most memorable experience with electricity that will serve him well later in regards to both power and destruction.

Here readers can see that Victor surpasses "interest" and enters the realm of "obsession" regarding science and his search for knowledge.

Like Elizabeth, Henry serves as another foil to Victor:  he is always interested in literature instead of science.

Here we can see that Elizabeth and Victor are described as foils: one is loud, boisterous, and interested in science, and the other is quiet, graceful, and interested in poetry.

Frankenstein describes, using the image of playing a piano, the moment that his obsession entirely overcomes him. Frankenstein is represented by the piano, which produces sound by depressing keys that then strike chords in the piano’s interior. An outside force—Waldman’s words—causes Frankenstein’s “keys” to trigger, and now he is filled with nothing but the echoing sounds of his ambition: “I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.”

Again we see Frankenstein attempting to mitigate his responsibility for his future actions. Here he refers to coincidence using divine references, like “evil” and “angel,” to make its force seem more powerful than he. After Frankenstein’s meetings with his professors, he resolves to prove that he can upstage them. He wants Walton to believe that it is chance, not ambition, that leads to his creature. He wants to be seen as a victim of chance and bad luck rather than the creator of his own fate and responsibilities.

Frankenstein portrays Elizabeth as an ideal partner, a beautiful being whose selflessness is unparalleled. This is most present in this simile, where Elizabeth’s smiles are likened to sunshine —warm and enjoyable. Elizabeth, unlike Frankenstein, is devoted to others’ well-being, and her presence illuminates even those caught in grief. There is also the implication that Elizabeth’s time is limited as she “spends” her brightness on others, implying that she has a finite amount left to give.

The “rude hand” in this passage refers to death, which tears loved ones apart, sometimes unexpectedly. Notice how Frankenstein is making his experience universal, asking the question, “Who hasn’t felt the pain of death?” In doing so he seeks to provide sympathetic motivation for his later experiments to bring the dead back to life, and to mitigate his responsibility for the pain he has caused.

Unlike Krempe, Professor Waldman empowers Victor by saying that his studies of alchemy have not been in vain and that he will eventually be "a success."  Such begins the student and mentor relationship between the two.

With this response, Krempe determines the fate of his relationship with Victor by disempowering him and claiming that his life pursuits have been "such nonsense."

There should be no doubt as to why Victor prefers this particular professor over the other.  The words here echo Victor's own desires and eventual success in creating "the creature."

Frankenstein returns to the present in order to beg Walton to embrace daily life instead of recklessly seeking fulfillment and satisfaction in discovery and science. Shelley again shows readers how the two men are similar, including their obsession with knowledge and glory. However, notice how words like “dangerous” and “allow” suggest that ambitious men, like Frankenstein, are ultimately doomed for their hubris.

We now clearly see Frankenstein’s arrogance and ambition. While in retrospect he knows that life and death are too complicated to be manipulated by science, in this moment he lacks wisdom to see the truth behind his blind ambition. Light and dark appear again, representing knowledge and ignorance as well as good and evil. Frankenstein wishes to bring light (knowledge) into the world, but he cannot control it and, as we’ll see, he doesn’t know how to properly deal with his creation or the consequences of his actions.

Frankenstein’s desire to bring “light into our dark world” reveals him to be like the Greek Titan Prometheus, who first gave fire to humanity and betrayed the will of the gods. For this, Prometheus was punished. We’ll soon see the consequences of Frankenstein’s actions. Furthermore, words like “break” and “torrent” reveal how Frankenstein’s violent impulses and lofty dreams are typical of romantic heroes. Since he has a heightened comprehension of the world, he must exist outside society, isolated in his pursuit.

Frankenstein is referring to the First Industrial Revolution, which took place over the course of several decades from approximately 1760–1830. He brings this up as a means to inspire and push himself to take on the task of animating a dead human. With all the advancements in science and mechanics at the time, Frankenstein considers himself up to the challenge. Frankenstein’s pride is revealed by this desire to bring life to a deceased human, rather than an animal, and his belief that he can achieve this task alone.

Night is often associated with suspicious or immoral actions. Victor’s conducting his work and experiments at midnight implies that he is doing wrong. Yet, he cannot hide. Nature, represented by the moon, is watching Victor’s actions. Regardless, Victor continues to chase Nature down to her “hiding-places,” which implies that she does not wish to be found. Moreover, Victor’s sense of “unrelaxed and breathless eagerness” shows that he is anxious and acknowledges his wrongful behavior but still wishes to commit it.

This vivid description shows how Victor has isolated himself and neglected his physical and mental health for his study. At the same time, Victor is made an example of how obsession is harmful to the human body and mind.

Victor’s ambition is constantly fueling his sense of pride. He not only wants to be notable for his studies and discoveries within humanity, but he also wishes to create a new species that would worship him. This desire is reflected in the language Shelley uses here, which bears strong resemblance to phrases from the Christian biblical tradition.

Though Victor understands the natural intertwined relationship between life and death, he refuses to accept it; instead, he wishes to interfere with Nature’s law. To him, such interference is a noble and divine act, in which he sees himself as a godly figure, bringing light into the dark world.

Victor’s thought reflects his prideful character and how confident he feels about the progress he has made in his studies and discoveries; he believes that he has surpassed the wisest men long before him.

This description reflects the intertwined relationship of life and death. Specifically, it highlights the fact that in the end, death overcomes life. At the same time, this description reveals Victor’s narrow view on life and death. To him, death is a form of corruption, which is bad and ugly, whereas life is like a blooming cheek that suggests youth, good health, and beauty. It is this perspective that motivates Victor to eventually disturb the natural relationship between life and death by creating life.

While “engaged” implies that Victor is occupied with his scientific pursuits, it can also symbolize how his heart and soul are “married” to his pursuit of knowledge. He is so committed to it that he neglects his home, Geneva, along with his family.

Note how Victor is always spurred on by the "biggest" idea of success. Only for a slight moment does he dwell upon the possibility that he might animate an animal from death. It isn't long before he sets his sights on something greater: animating a dead human.

Here is an example of the character of Victor delving into complete obsession both with science and the success of animating his own creation.  With such a truly "supernatural" and "unnatural" pursuit, according to the Romantic ideal (of the best of life being at one with nature, and not apart from it), one can assume the result will be nothing less than terrifying.

Clerval’s father’s stance toward life is antithetical to that Frankenstein’s. While Frankenstein possesses an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, Clerval’s father is pragmatic in his outlook, figuring that knowledge is only useful in its capacity to put food on the table. Henry Clerval himself is somewhere between the two: he is scholarly enough to be interested in university study, but is not nearly as intellectually obsessed as Frankenstein.

In his disturbed sleep, Frankenstein has a deeply troubling and perplexing dream. Elizabeth, his beloved cousin, transforms into the image of his own mother who, in turn, proves to be dead in his arms. One apparent thematic connection between the dream and the recent developments in the story can be found in the loss of innocence. Just as Frankenstein’s illusions regarding his powers of creation are shattered, his dream offers a similarly illusion-shattering series of images. Casting a psychoanalytic gaze on the dream, Victor’s love for Elizabeth appears to be intertwined with his love for his own mother. There is a similarly devastating realization of inevitable death.

Frankenstein mistakenly believes that he can escape the horror of his creation through sleep. For Frankenstein, going to bed is akin to going into denial. This reaction is similar to an episode in Dostoyevsky’s 1866 novel Crime and Punishment. After committing a murder he had justified to himself, Raskolnikov, the novel’s protagonist, attempts to escape his feelings of guilt through sleep. For both Raskolnikov and Frankenstein, sleep offers no solace. Guilt proves to be a recurrent theme throughout the rest of Frankenstein.

Upon seeing Victor, the creature attempts to communicate verbally and physically. It is important to note that he is described very much like a human baby that wants his or her parent, producing inarticulate sounds and smiling, which is universal human baby behavior.

Notice how Frankenstein’s perspective on praise and school has drastically changed since the creature’s creation. The attention and praise that he once craved now “torture” him. His own guilt and shame transforms their recognition of his success into a painful reminder of his sins.

Notice how the creature and Victor’s recognition of his deeds ominously creeps into his mind throughout this chapter. While Victor tries to pretend that the creature does not exist, he cannot shake these misfortunes from his mind.

Notice the absence of the creature or a recognition of what he has done at the beginning of this chapter. Frankenstein, awoken from his long sleep, seems to be repressing his knowledge of the creature and avoiding the consequences of his actions.

While Victor may not see himself as a God, obvious comparisons such as this one suggest that Shelley intended to portray him as one. This statement is also another reference to the novel’s subtitle, “The Modern Prometheus,” since Prometheus was the creator of humankind in Greek mythology.

Victor is aware of Justine Moritz’s innocence and aware that she is on trial for murder. Still, despite knowing who the real murderer is, Victor does not want to speak up and thus condemn himself or be deemed insane. Victor’s silence is seen by many readers as an act of complete cowardice and immorality.

Here, Victor wonders if the clear weather of his homeland is designed to honestly foretell—or “prognosticate”—peace, or to mock his unhappiness. In this way, Victor speaks as if nature is specifically engineered for him and him alone. This once again suggests that Victor is prideful and self-centered, and believes that he is, in some way or another, the controller or influencer of nature.

This miniature refers to a locket which held a picture of Frankenstein’s mother inside. Elizabeth had given this locket to William. When Elizabeth examines William’s body she notices his neck is bare, and thus assumes William’s murderer was a thief who stole the locket. This thinking causes Elizabeth great distress, as she feels guilty for giving William the locket that supposedly led to his death.

Keep in mind that Victor’s description of the creature is always associated with its deformed appearance that he deems unfit for humanity. Furthermore, Victor is quick to judge the creature solely based on physical appearance, as they have not interacted yet. Sadly, this type of misjudgment and discrimination ultimately drives the creature to commit evil behavior.

These words foreshadow the coming tragedies throughout the rest of the novel. Though Justine and William are the first innocents dead at the hands of both Frankenstein and his creature, they will not be the last. Notice also how Frankenstein subtly shifts blame from himself to his creature—his “unhallowed art”—who he brought to life through dark processes. The word choice of “unhallowed,” meaning “unholy” or “profane,” shows that Frankenstein thinks of his creature in hellish terms.

Notice how Frankenstein draws a parallel between his anguish and Justine’s “misery.” According to him, both he and Justine suffer, but because Justine is innocent of any wrongdoing, her suffering is less than his. He describes Justine’s innocence as the moon, covered by a passing cloud, which represents the trial’s guilty verdict. Though Justine’s innocence is momentarily unseen, it is still present.

This phrasing is likely an allusion to the biblical gospels, in which sinners react to their final judgments by painfully grinding their teeth. Though Victor has not yet been fully punished for his arrogance, one part of his sentence has already been handed down: the death of the innocent Justine.

Close to the end of her life, Justine finds herself alone, without allies, and isolated from society and family, which is the case for many of the novel’s characters before their deaths. All she has left is her faith in God, so the threat of damnation is what leads her to confess. She’d rather confess to a crime she didn’t commit than face divine judgment for that crime.

Though Justine is the one accused of murder and facing capital punishment, Frankenstein’s self-centeredness constantly leads him to consider just how terrible he feels for witnessing—and indirectly causing—the whole set of circumstances. Notice how he says “my” situation, not “her” nor “our” situation.

While this description can be read as showing how self absorbed Victor is, it also serves to emphasize how Victor is overwhelmed by guilt since he claims Justine does not feel the great misery that he does.

Once again, we witness Justine’s strong spiritual faith, which defeats her fear of death. Her acknowledgment of the world being a sad and bitter place runs parallel with the Christian belief that we live in a broken world.

Victor describes his guilt as a set of fangs that are tearing up his heart, which emphasizes just how ashamed and terrible he feels. However, his belief that Justine’s emotional tortures do not measure up to his pain reveals how self-centered and unsympathetic he is.

Victor’s thought reveals his self-centered disposition, which is addressed multiple times within this chapter. While Justine is being condemned for a crime that he is indirectly responsible for, Victor is selfishly thinking about how horrible his own situation is.

Elizabeth’s words reflect her bold and just character. She is unafraid to not only call out the problem in the situation but also to state the problems of others, claiming the other supporters of Justine to be fake and cowardly friends.

We begin to see how Justine is one of the most spiritually faithful characters portrayed in the story. Her statement reflects her trust in God and how she is ready to accept the false accusation in the eyes of humanity if she ends up having to do so.

It is ridiculous how Victor is more afraid of sounding like a madman for declaring the truth than letting the innocent and lovable Justine, who is considered a family member, die for his mistake. Victor’s fear reflects his narcissism, which fuels his inner cowardice.

Note that in addition to blaming himself for both murders, Victor also blames himself for something the equates with that kind of crime:  causing his dear Elizabeth to fall into despair and sadness.  Yet another indirect crime for Victor.

Note the internal torture Victor is experiencing here while watching the conversation between the two women and, in fact, the two confidants.

Note that Elizabeth herself testifies to Justine's innocence with no result.  It is Elizabeth who is determined to go to the jail and Victor accompanies her.

Frankenstein draws a comparison between himself and the natural world around him. While much has happened to change and cause him grief, the mountains, valleys, and the natural world remain unchanged from his childhood. On the one hand, Shelley uses this moment to demonstrate the lasting power and strength of the natural world, which makes human concerns insignificant in comparison. However, this line also reveals Frankenstein’s hubris: he has changed, he is a wreck, and so he is frustrated that the natural world has not changed as well.

Elizabeth considers herself responsible for William’s death, and she carries that guilt with her. That moment marked a loss of innocence for Elizabeth. Now that Justine has been executed, and that Elizabeth knows in her heart that Justine was not guilty, Elizabeth continues to be corrupted, no longer remaining the happy and innocent person she once was. This sentence marks this transition in her worldview.

Frankenstein’s temptation to end his life stems from the guilt he feels for the loss of William and Justine. His feelings indicate that he sympathizes with the dead, even envying their rest, but the guilt is so strong that he cannot end his troubles by ending his life. These thoughts of suicide are most profound and repeated when Frankenstein removes himself from the society of others.

Shelley’s description of Victor’s miserable state after he realizes that his creature is a danger to humankind accurately reflects the anatomy of guilt. Victor’s crime is so horrendous that even sleep “[flees]” from him; Nature is punishing him for playing God. The lack of rest and guilt causes him to “[wander] like an evil spirit.” Such a description strengthens the parallel between Victor and the monster, who wanders in the story as humanity’s misfit. Victor’s “benevolent intentions” and “[thirst] for the moment” to apply them show how he desperately wants to right his wrong. Regardless, he is seized by guilt and thrown into a “hell of intense tortures.”

Note how grief (albeit bereft of guilt such as Victor is experiencing) has changed Elizabeth.

In a sudden moment of self-awareness, Frankenstein is forced to acknowledge that in some sense the curses he casts at the monster are curses against himself. The hatred Frankenstein feels for the creature can be seen as a projection of his deep guilt for having created it. Frankenstein remains unable to take full responsibility for his creation.

The creature’s request is perhaps surprising. He is, as he admits, lonely and miserable, subject to the hatred of humanity, including his creator. What the creature asks of Frankenstein is primarily understanding. He wants his story to be heard before he is destroyed. This desire for understanding is deeply human, rendering the creature even more pitiable.

Despite the creature’s misery and the painful state of his being, he nonetheless feels an inherent sense of indebtedness towards Frankenstein. The creature’s sense that Frankenstein is his “natural lord and king” is a reflection of the English conception of divine-right monarchy. Whatever the creature’s disappointment or anger may be, he intuitively senses an unshakable allegiance to Frankenstein.

Frankenstein’s encounter with the dramatic Swiss landscape is psychological: what he sees is dependent on his mood. When he experiences torment, the landscape appears troubled. In this passage, however, the figures of the landscape—the mountain-top and the eagle—take on a pure, idealized form as beacons of consolation during his peaceful sleep.

Frankenstein’s encounter with the natural world is defined by two competing thought processes. On one hand, Frankenstein is guided by his logical, scientifically trained mind in search of “immutable laws.” In his survey of the natural world, he wants to understand the abstract principles by which it functions. On the other hand, Frankenstein wants to experience the sublime, to be “elevated,” and to feel his grief “subdued and tranquillised.” He is torn, as his impulses are both rational and romantic.

The creature’s string of questions reflect his desperation for Frankenstein’s empathy and acceptance; the creature implores, or begs, for Frankenstein’s compassion. Moreover, the creature emphasizes how it was humanity’s cruel mistreatment that has caused his soul to no longer “[glow] with love,” and instead, to cause him to feel “miserably alone.” Not only has the creature physically secluded himself from humanity, referring to the “desert mountains and dreary glaciers” as his “refuge,” but he has also mentally secluded himself from humanity, calling humans “Frankenstein’s fellow creatures.”

In continuation of the creature's command of the language of English is the way he begins his own tale of woe:  with a superb specimen of poetry.  Note that the poetry the creature creates has both rhythm and meter, not a haphazard creation.  Again, the creature's intellect cannot be underestimated at this point in the novel.

While his experience with fire gave the creature practical knowledge about how to feed himself, this experience watching the De Laceys teaches him how to feel emotions like a human. These overwhelming feelings cause him to turn away from the window and suggest that the creature is extremely sensitive to his feelings.

The creature compares the indifferent, cruelty of nature to the savage behavior of the people he has encountered. The creature seems equally afraid of people as he is of the elements.

Here the creature juxtaposes the beautiful houses of the village with the horrible hole in which he must live. Juxtapositions such as this one give the reader insight into the creature’s mentality and partially explain why the creature has behaved so badly so far in the novel. Though Frankenstein has called him a monster and an evil wretch, these descriptions of the creature’s early life cause the reader to feel sympathy for him.

It is interesting that the creature chooses to compare his homey hut to Satan’s Pandemonium. This might suggest that the creature thinks of himself as a type of wicked creature, such as a devil. The creature sees his first days as similar to burning on a lake of fire—a punishment fit for the devil who rebelled against God. However, at this point in the story the creature has not done anything befitting of this extreme punishment. Rather, his creator abandoned him to a world that believes his is terrifying and hideous. This allusion to Milton demonstrates the creature’s self-hatred and Frankenstein’s cruelty to his creation.

Light is symbolic for goodness and purity. The creature’s innate attraction to the light suggests that he was born as a blank slate rather than born inherently evil or vicious. His experiences in the world caused him to do evil things.

In these first recollections, the creature displays characteristics of humanity that differ greatly from the monstrous presentation Frankenstein has depicted. This perspective suggests that Frankenstein may have had an impact on how the creature developed if he had remained with it in its first days.

Here the creature's humanity is stressed again, in the midst of nature of course (particular to a Romantic writer).  In fact, the creature is feeling feelings here.  This should not escape readers. Readers feel sympathy for what they would have once considered something unworthy of their sympathy.

Note the humanity of the creature here as he flees from an inhospitable environment to a hospitable one.  In fact, he is seeking shelter here.

It is interesting to note that most adults have a hard time remembering even the more significant events of their childhood. It is no different for the creature. Despite the creature’s vague early memories, it is very important to note that his education begins in nature. Specifically, his schooling begins in the forest. Nature, to a Romantic writer, is the biggest teacher and healer. Further, it is important to note also the peace and serenity and simplicity of the De Lacey family. According to the most adept Romantic writer, the reason for these positive feelings would be that they are living in the midst of and in accordance with the nature surrounding them: the forest. The love and devotion found within the De Lacey family inspire the creature. The creature longs for those things as well. Specifically, it is love that captivates the creature’s interest. Note how the creature describes this feeling: “sensations of a peculiar and overpowering nature … a mixture of pain and pleasure.” He is “unable to bear these emotions.” In this way, Shelley begins to make the creature a sympathetic character for her readers.

Education is a key theme throughout the narrative. Victor is usually described as a man of learning. Here, however, the creature is shown to engage in learning language by observing the De Lacey family. This moment foreshadows later learning when the creature begins to read and comprehend more complex ideas.

As the creature observes the De Lacey family, he grows and discovers the nature of humanity. This moment shows the creature’s burgeoning understanding of class. The creature’s compassion for the suffering of the De Laceys demonstrates that he is capable of kindness and empathy. We are unable to view the creature as wholly evil, as Frankenstein does, but instead realize that he shares many of the same wants as humans—chiefly the twin desires for companionship and love. In speaking of the De Laceys’ poverty, readers also can draw comparisons to Frankenstein’s privileged upbringing. Unlike his creature, Frankenstein seems wilfully ignorant of poverty and class difference.

From this statement we see that the creature initially believes that beauty and companionship are the only requirements for happiness. Under this metric, he believes he must be the most unhappy creature of them all since he possesses neither. However, upon further examination of the De Lacey family, the creature learns of other afflictions that may hinder human happiness.

The creature’s depiction of the De Lacey family shows them to be poor and belonging to the working-class. Felix and Agatha fulfil typical gender roles of the time, with the male leaving the house to find employment while the female remains home to perform domestic duties. The image of this family is the first introduction the creature has to what Shelley would have deemed “civilized” society.

Here readers can see that Felix has more than just compassion for Safie's father.  Felix has righteous anger towards the French government.  In fact, Felix is so angry that he decides to take the rule of law into his own hands and set the innocent father of Safie free.

It is precisely his infirmities that allow De Lacey to assist the creature. His blindness allows him to hear the creature’s story without judging his frightening appearance. His old age and exiled status give him a high degree of empathy for those who may be different.

The creature imagines that his suffering and loneliness might be alleviated by a romantic partner. At the conclusion of Milton’s Paradise Lost, Adam and Eve cope with their fallen state through companionship. In his fallen state, the creature has no such companion.

No matter which character the creature compares himself to, he identifies some way in which his own lot in life is inferior. Having likened himself to Satan, he claims that even Satan had “his companions, fellow-devils… but I am solitary.” Indeed, loneliness is one of the creature’s central complaints and sorrows.

In his reading of Paradise Lost, the creature considers which fallen figure he most nearly resembles. He does not associate with Adam, for Adam was made beautiful and was given a home. The creature then feels a closer association to Lucifer, who is, like him, gripped by envy and bitterness. In many ways, however, Victor Frankenstein is more akin to Lucifer than his creature. While Frankenstein has committed the satanic sin of pride by imitating the divine act of creation, his creature has done no such act. While Victor and the creature would both consider themselves to be wholly different from each other, the question of how each resembles Lucifer provides one way for considering how they are also alike.

For the creature, Plutarch’s introduction to classical thought serves as a moral and ethical foundation. Whereas as Goethe’s work elucidates the creature’s inner world, the lives of the Greeks and Romans illustrate how he ought to act in the outer world.

The creature receives a different education from each of the three books he reads. Goethe’s novel offers him a sentimental education. The Sorrows of Young Werther was groundbreaking in its time for its use of free indirect discourse, a literary technique by which the narration enters the thoughts and feelings of the characters. This style of writing draws the reader into the subjective inner experience of the character, allowing for moments of powerful emotional recognition. The creature would have found much in common with the protagonist, Werther, who experiences endless loneliness and rejection.

Felix, always the hero, was trying to protect the family from an unnatural being such as this.  The creature retreats in sadness, before which he admits that he could have killed them all.

The creature punishes Justine for her reaction to his hideous form. More generally, he punishes her because he is enraged that no human will ever accept his physical form. He decides to punish her for not only his pain but also his sins; she shall pay penance for the murder he has committed. This strange logic demonstrates the creature’s profound reasoning skills, even if his premises and values are flawed.

The creature does not seem to recognize how threatening his demand is. He thinks only of his own isolation and loneliness and cannot empathize with the frightened child. This selfish and misunderstood drive makes the creature similar to Frankenstein.

While the creature was previously focused on obtaining love and acceptance from humanity, now all he cares for is revenge. His love has turned to hatred because of his isolation and rejection.

Here, the shot that shatters the creature’s flesh and bones also shatters his kindness and gentleness. This is the moment at which the creature fully relinquishes his benevolence.

This description of the fire may be symbolic for the devil’s tongue. In the biblical story of Genesis, Satan disguises himself as a snake with a forked tongue and convinces Eve to eat an apple from the forbidden tree of knowledge by talking to her. The forked tongues of the fire symbolize the creature’s transition from innocence to malevolence. This is the moment in which the monster falls from his status as a benevolent creature.

The creature’s “despair” and anger are caused by isolation. He learned how to love from the De Lacey family and, now that they are gone, feels alone in the world once again. Notice that he calls them his “protectors” even though they are the ones who just expelled him from their property. The creature’s profound connection to these people that was not reciprocated.

This is an allusion to Milton’s Paradise Lost. In the first book, Satan realizes that heaven and hell are within him with his famous lines: “The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.” This line suggests that heaven is not objectively perfect and hell is not objectively horrible; the state of the place depends on one’s perception. The creature cannot find peace or beauty in nature because his rage colors his perspective. Like Satan, the creature’s anger and envy turn this paradise into hell.

The adverb “wantonly” means without regard for rightness or consequences, done in a manner that expresses delight in wrongdoing or mischief. While this chapter will show the creature’s transform from innocence to malevolence, this “wanton” creation of life suggests that Frankenstein is the real villain of this story: he knowingly and recklessly brought life to this creature.

Clerval serves as a foil to Frankenstein, actively participating in society with the enthusiasm of a younger Frankenstein. However, we can see that guilt and obsession have taken over Frankenstein, and he now seeks isolation and barriers between himself and society, only engaging with others when necessary. This isolation deprives him of a support system, which only compounds his troubles.

Note the difference between the culmination of Victor's journey and the culmination of Clerval's journey.  Where Victor has been truly affected by the unnatural, Clerval has not.  As a result, Victor finds the very perfect place to create the unnatural mate for the very unnatural original creature:  a "barren" "rock" like an island "continually beaten upon by the waves." 

Though Frankenstein had expected to find refuge from the forces of nature in civilization, he discovers that the people awaiting him on shore are far from hospitable. One might say that, because of his crimes, Frankenstein has been cast out of the worlds of both nature and culture.

Ultimately, Frankenstein’s actions in this scene are driven not so much by his desire for self-preservation or the preservation of humanity as a desire to protect his remaining loved ones. For a character so often guided by his isolated intellectual curiosity, this moment is remarkably heartfelt.

The creature’s identification with Satan becomes more concrete when he likens himself to a “snake, that I may sting with its venom.” The snake, form Satan takes as tempter in the Garden of Eden, is the symbolic of humanity’s fall. The creature hopes to take vengeance on humanity in a similar manner.

Despite the creature’s self-identification with Satan in Chapter XV, it is only here that he truly resembles Satan. In works such as Milton’s Paradise Lost and Goethe’s Faust, Satan is depicted as having such a bitter and envious attitude that he takes a vengeful stance towards being itself. When the creature declares his desire for revenge, driven by a similar bitterness, he beings to more authentically embody Satan’s philosophy.

Here, Frankenstein suggests that because of his mental state, all places are equally menacing. This sentiment echoes the creature’s allusion of Milton’s Paradise Lost that states “the mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.” This allusion suggests that one’s perception of a situation or location shapes their experience rather than the actual experience of the situation or location. Like his creature, Frankenstein’s perception colors all of his experiences and makes everything seem hateful.

This sentiment echoes Frankenstein’s lament over creating a female mate. He claims that he would have sacrificed himself to stop the monster in much the same way he claims that he would have “died on the coffin of Henry.” However, when he had the opportunity to save Justine, Frankenstein did nothing. This suggests that Frankenstein is pretending to be a martyr rather than genuinely being a martyr.

This inquiry suggests that Frankenstein believes that his creature has already attacked his family. He may have sunk into such madness because he thought his family dead when he saw Henry.

Frankenstein considers himself the most miserable and tortured man to whom nothing more terrible can happen. Notice, however, that while he regrets the state his life has fallen into, he does not recognize his fault. He pities himself rather than atoning for his crimes or trying to set them right.

Notice how Frankenstein thinks more and more about suicide as the story goes on. He seems to believe that he has nothing to live for, even though his family and love are still alive at home. Frankenstein’s thinking and speech begin to reflect the creature’s more and more as his life becomes more wretched.

When his life and actions become too horrible to bear, Frankenstein seeks to escape reality in dreams. He imagines that all of the events that he has caused are merely dreams, and in this way he tries to distance himself from the reality of what he has done. This shows not only his extreme feelings of guilt, but also his cowardice in facing the consequences of his actions.

Notice that Frankenstein’s vengeful anger mimics the creature’s own rage. The more Frankenstein descends into his madness and need for revenge, the more he becomes like the monster he pursues.

Notice that Frankenstein’s dramatic portrayal of his anguish suggests that in looking at Elizabeth’s corpse part of him died. He laments that he did not die with her. Elizabeth’s death marks the death of Victor’s normal life. Though most of his family and friends have been killed, Victor has held out hope that he can resume his life or build a new life with his love. With her death, all of his hope and innocence dies as well. He also touches on life clinging to where it is most hated, perhaps alluding to the miserable lives he and his creature lead as a result of each other.

Frankenstein is so consumed with his own fear and hatred of the monster that he fails to take Elizabeth’s well-being into account. In sending her away to sleep and lying to her about what he fears, he leaves her unprotected and vulnerable.

The creature returns once again to Frankenstein, only to find his corpse. The creature then seeks to reconcile his conflicted feelings for his creator, which have been defined from the outset by both rage and reverence. Despite the creature’s desire to destroy Frankenstein, he is stricken with grief and remorse upon finding him deceased. The creature now asks for redemption for having driven his creator to death, and yet understands the futility of such a pardon.

When Frankenstein asked Walton to “thrust your sword into [the creature’s] heart,” the younger man took the task seriously. In this reflection, Walton appears to have effectively taken on Frankenstein’s purpose as his own, referring to the killing of the creature as “my purpose.” Walton’s eagerness reveals his youth: only an impressionable person lets his purpose be dictated by another.

In the later stages of his search for the creature, Frankenstein comes to envision a higher moral necessity to kill the creature than just personal revenge. It is as if he were an agent with “a task enjoined by heaven.” For Frankenstein, the stakes of his mission to destroy the monster have expanded from personal revenge to the protection of humanity.

As Frankenstein nears the end of his personal account, he issues a rare address to his direct audience, Walton. Frankenstein’s sentiment reaches back across the boundary between innocence and experience. Having fallen from grace, Frankenstein recognizes that the youthful Walton cannot truly understand his story.

Frankenstein and his creature are bound together by their mutual hatred of one another. The creature wants Frankenstein to pursue him endlessly so that Victor can know the same pain and torment as the creature. Frankenstein fails to realize that this is intentional on the creature’s part and convinces himself that hunting down and exacting revenge on the creature is his destiny.