THE CREATURE

Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
Pages 29-40

Finally, we are presented with the creation of the creature. However, it is very different than what popular culture has made it out to be. There is no horrendous storm. There is no terrorizing of the townspeople by a henchman named Igor. There was no proclamation of "IT'S ALIVE!" It was simply the generation of life in the school room of Victor Frankenstein.

This generation of life might be the event which was foreshadowed in the previous sections; Frankenstein's creature could lead to his eventual doom. "I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body...but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart," (Shelly, 35). This statement by Frankenstein is ironic in the fact that the thing to which he had devoted so much of his time disappointed him upon its completion. The reader expects that Frankenstein would rejoice and be excited that he succeeded in the goal of his studies; however, he is downtrodden and even experiences a breakdown in his physical and mental health. This is dramatically ironic because it is the opposite of what is expected to occur in the story. Also, the reappearance of Henry Clerval reiterates the importance of his small social circle to the stability of the character of Victor Frankenstein.