Frankenstein
Prompt #7 · Frankenstein
Prompt Type: Scene Analysis
In the scene where the Creature observes the De Lacey family through the cottage wall during an entire winter, watching their daily routines with fascination, Shelley depicts the Creature's education in human emotion and society. Analyze how Shelley uses this moment to complicate the reader's understanding of the Creature's nature and his capacity for both goodness and violence. Explain how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Quote 1
“The silver hair and benevolent countenance of the aged cottager won my reverence, while the gentle manners of the girl enticed my love. He played a sweet mournful air which I perceived drew tears from the eyes of his amiable companion, of which the old man took no notice, until she sobbed audibly; he then pronounced a few sounds, and the fair creature, leaving her work, knelt at his feet.”
Chapter 11
Argument
This quote from the cottage observation scene establishes the Creature's capacity for reverence and love through his emotional response to the De Laceys' tenderness, demonstrating his innate goodness before society's rejection corrupts him. The imagery of the 'sweet mournful air' and the daughter's devotion reveals how the Creature learns human emotion through observation, complicating our understanding of him as naturally sensitive rather than inherently monstrous.
Quote 2
“This trait of kindness moved me sensibly. I had been accustomed, during the night, to steal a part of their store for my own consumption, but when I found that in doing this I inflicted pain on the cottagers, I abstained and satisfied myself with berries, nuts, and roots which I gathered from a neighbouring wood.”
Chapter 12
Argument
This quote from the cottage observation scene demonstrates the Creature's moral development and capacity for empathy, as he voluntarily chooses to endure hunger rather than cause the cottagers pain. His self-sacrifice directly contradicts assumptions about his violent nature, revealing that his education in human society initially cultivates goodness rather than malice.
Quote 3
Chapter 10
Argument
This quote from later in the narrative provides essential context for understanding the cottage scene's significance, as the Creature explicitly traces his transformation from benevolent observer to violent fiend. The juxtaposition between his original goodness (demonstrated during the cottage observation) and his later violence reveals that his capacity for both stems from the same emotional sensitivity cultivated while watching the De Laceys.
Quote 4
“I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers—their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions; but how was I terrified when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification.”
Chapter 12
Argument
This quote from the cottage observation period (Chapter 12) reveals the pivotal moment when the Creature's self-awareness transforms his education in human beauty into painful self-recognition, demonstrating how his capacity for aesthetic appreciation—cultivated through watching the De Laceys—becomes inseparable from his awareness of his own monstrosity. The juxtaposition between his admiration of the cottagers' 'perfect forms' and his horror at his own reflection complicates our understanding by showing that his violent potential emerges not from ignorance but from the same refined sensibility that enables his goodness.
Quote 5
“Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition, for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me.”
Chapter 15
Argument
This quote from the cottage observation chapters (Chapter 15) captures the Creature's internal conflict as he watches the De Laceys, revealing how his education in human emotion simultaneously cultivates both love and envy. The Satan metaphor demonstrates that his capacity for violence grows directly from his capacity for feeling—the same sensitivity that allows him to appreciate the family's 'bliss' also fills him with 'bitter gall,' complicating the reader's understanding of how goodness and violence stem from the same emotional depth.