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This illustration appears as a heading for Volume I, Chapter 4, when the creature had just been finished being created by Victor Frankenstein. In the previous chapter, Victor had a God-like complex from his rush of using Galvanism to create life. In this illustration the creature is pushing through the curtains to see his master, his creator, like a child going to see their parents. “He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks…one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped” (Shelley 37). Although the Creature is reaching out to Victor, Victor doesn’t see it as a gesture of love and care, he thinks the Creature is trying to harm him. Since Victor sees this as an act of harm, it makes the Creature seem like a monster. With his large body and strong limbs, it's easier for Victor to view him as a monster than a delicate Creature who needs help.
In the image, the tall and horrifying creature is entering the room and towering over Victor. The Creature stands tall and strong in the image, and has bulging muscles making him physically threatening. He also has the face of a skeleton, and It gives him an unforgiving look on his face. His black greasy hair also adds to the “grotusque” and unnatural look of the Creature. His gigantic hands and broad shoulders show how strong and physically dominant the Creature is over most normally sized human beings, and explains why many people submit to their fears of the Creature.
The perspective of this image is very crucial in understanding the horrific meaning behind the art. The viewer is seeing this horrific image from Victor Frankenstein's perspective. Frankenstein is being awoken by his creation while laying in bed. Seeing this daunting figure in the dark of the night would be petrifying. The way his hands grasp in front of the curtains and his leg is lifted as in motion of coming towards the viewer provides an unsettling feeling. His head reaching the top of the bed frame shows how massive in size he is especially from this downward angle. The emphasis on the body structure manifests the unnerving feeling Frankenstein must have felt when beholding his immense creation.
Furthermore, the scene in which the creature had appeared through the curtains had been described by Victor as, “I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed; when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window-shutters, beheld the wretch- the miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed; and his eyes, if eyes they may be called, were fixed on me” (Shelley The creature’s positive view from Victor’s original standpoint had ultimately changed resulting in the creature being seen as a monstrous being. Many aspects of the creature’s physical appearance and perspective is largely taken into account when viewing the image of the creature and on the formation of negative opinions upon the creature.
Work Cited
Poole, W. Scott. Monsters in America: Our Historical Obsession with the Hideous and the Haunting. Baylor UP, 2011
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. Oxford, 2018