Ad-free experience
Study Guides for 1,000+ titles
Full Text content for 250+ titles
No Fear Translations of Shakespeare’s plays (along with audio!) and other classic works
Flashcards
Mastery Quizzes
Infographics
Graphic Novels
AP® Practice & Lessons
Note-taking
Bookmarking
Dashboard
Chapter 15
Fortunately the books were written in the language, the elements of which I had acquired at the cottage; they consisted of Paradise Lost, a volume of Plutarch's Lives, and the Sorrows of Werter. The possession of these treasures gave me extreme delight; I now continually studied and exercised my mind upon these histories…I can hardly describe to you the effect of these books. They produced in me an infinity of new images and feelings, that sometimes raised me to ecstasy, but more frequently sunk me into the lowest dejection.
In this passage in Chapter 15, the creature’s discovery of Paradise Lost, Plutarch's Lives, and The Sorrows of Young Werther marks an important stage in his intellectual and moral development. These books provide him with stories of heroism, love, and morality (as well as evil and isolation), and they shape his understanding of humanity and his own place within it. His description of the books as “treasures” emphasizes how much he cherishes knowledge and views it as a way to connect with others. At the same time, he recognizes that all of the characters he’s reading about are vastly different from him, and it hurts him deeply to realize that he’ll likely never be able to join the human world and form friendships, even though he’s desperate to do so.
I sickened as I read. 'Hateful day when I received life!' I exclaimed in agony. 'Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow devils, to admire and encourage him, but I am solitary and abhorred.'
In this Chapter 15 passage, the creature’s discovery of Victor’s letters forces him to confront the painful fact that his maker rejected him at the very moment of his creation. He feels more isolated than ever, and questions why Victor made him so hideous and abhorrent, virtually guaranteeing that he would never know happiness or belonging. He claims that even Satan is less alone than him, emphasizing the extent of his suffering, and highlighting the fact that rejection and loneliness play a critical role in shaping the creature’s sense of self and his view of humanity.
Chapter 16
I gazed on my victim, and my heart swelled with exultation and hellish triumph; clapping my hands, I exclaimed, 'I too can create desolation; my enemy is not invulnerable; this death will carry despair to him, and a thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him.
After the creature murders William in Chapter 16, his thoughts reveal a decisive and horrifying shift from his perspective at the beginning of Chapter 15: his longing to connect with and befriend humans has transformed into an obsession with destruction and vengeance. He is thrilled that he killed a child because he knows that William’s death will hurt Victor terribly; at this point, he no longer seems to have any concerns about morality or goodness. The isolation, rejection, and abuse that he’s endured have warped his desire for connection into a thirst for power over humankind and the desire to inflict suffering on his creator.
Chapter 17
His words had a strange effect upon me. I compassionated him and sometimes felt a wish to console him, but when I looked upon him, when I saw the filthy mass that moved and talked, my heart sickened and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred. I tried to stifle these sensations; I thought that as I could not sympathise with him, I had no right to withhold from him the small portion of happiness which was yet in my power to bestow.
This Chapter 17 passage occurs after the creature demands that Victor create a companion for him, and it captures Victor’s profound moral conflict as he feels both pity and revulsion for the creature. Although he recognizes the creature’s suffering and feels a responsibility to help lessen it, he is so disgusted by the creature’s appearance that he’s unable to sustain his sympathy for him. The sharp contrast between compassion and “horror and hatred” exposes the limits of Victor’s empathy, but his “wish to console” the creature also reveals that he feels an obligation (for a few minutes, at least) to bring some comfort and kindness to the being he created.
