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Aruna Kaliraj (202323004)

Professor Inhye Ha

Studies in the 18th Century English Novel

23 March, 2023 (Reading Response 3)

Frankenstien -Volume III

The Creature’s mourning for the death of his creator in the climax of the novel seems

to be packed with a number of feelings. The Creature’s words are full of regret, remorse and

misery. Throughout the course of the novel the Monster is depicted as a being filled with

vengeance. But while reading this particular scene I could only view the Monster as a victim

of “Motiveless malignity”. This is because he actually wanted to put an end to his creator but

once it is achieved, he was not able to enjoy success. On the contrary he mourns for the death

of Victor. Even Walton calls his repentance “superfluous”. Thus, his quest seems motiveless,

for which he made himself as a malign being.

The mourning of the Creature looks like the climax scene of a tragedy, as Shelley had

used dramatic Medieval English words such as, “thee”, “thou” and “lovedst” (183). In this

passage we can get to know the countless feelings and emotions the Creature had experienced,

through the words and phrases such as “anguish”, “poisoned with remorse”, “heart-broken”,

“abhorred”, “impotent envy and bitter indignation”, “thirst for vengeance”, “deadly torture”

(184) and so on. The image of the Creature, which was created after the death of Elizabeth is

completely washed off as we become acquainted to the original sufferings of the creature. In a

single sentence, the Creature portrays himself impressively, “Evil thenceforth became my good”

(184). Also he defines his life in a sentence, “The completion of my demoniacal design became

an insatiable passion” (184).

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Mary Shelley uses this scene as a justification for the Creature’s actions. The

atmosphere seems sullen and gloomy. The Creature mentions Victor as his “last victim” and

this shows that he is done with his evilness and that he is going to put an end to himself. The

passage has so many exclamation marks, which denotes the strong feelings of the characters,

such as praise in “Oh Frankenstein! Generous and self-devoted being!”, anger in “oh! Not the

ten-thousandth portion of the anguish that was mine during the lingering detail of his

execution”, wonder in “Yet when she died! – Nay I was not miserable”, and extreme emptiness

in “there is my last victim!”. Moreover, the Creature interrogates Walton like “And do you

dream?”, “do you think I was then dead to agony and remorse?”, and “Think ye that the groans

of Clerval were music to my ears?”, just to explain his condition.

Altogether this passage justifies the action of the poor Creature and evokes pity in the

readers.

Works Cited:

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus: The 1818 Version.

Ed. Guston, H. David, Ed Finn, Jason Scottt Robert. The MIT Press. Cambridge. England, 2017.