Physical Appearance - Frankenstein: The Creature

Frankenstein: The Creature

Shania Murray

• Introduction
• Physical Appearance
• Fueled By Revenge
• Misunderstood & Mistreated
• That's All Folks
• Citation

Physical Appearance

In Frankenstein most people think of one thing; the monster's horrid appearance. Even though, when Victor Frankenstein was creating the monster he tried to make it beautiful there were flaws.

How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom 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 colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips

This quote is from page 58 in the novel. After giving life to the body, Frankenstein takes evaluation of the creature. He lists off all the good things about the body; proportionate limbs; and pearly white teeth. He then dwells of the negatives. Instead of focusing on the amazing fact he gave life back to the body he is appalled by the sight of his creation. He sees the yellow skin, black lips, and shriveled complexion. This monstrous look is how the other characters see the creature. Along with the image Shelley put in our heads of the creature. Shelley, along with many other authors, made the monster have repulsive physical features to let us know the monster is the ‘bad guy’ of the story. The horror characters of many stories are created to be ugly to scare us; like Pennywise the clown from Stephen King’s It or Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street. They scare us like Pennywise made people afraid clowns or sewers; Frankenstein made people frightened and scared of himself. Having the creature possess a scary appearance was Mary Shelley’s way of signifying what he will do. Also being her first step in creating the traditional horror character. If he would have been as perfect as say Elizabeth, readers would have a harder time resenting the monster. When Elizabeth was introduced to the novel they focused on her beauty and the way everyone loved her. Yet when the creature was introduced Shelley focused on the creature's unsightly features. Along with how Victor reacted to them. Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates. Get Started