The Creature

A being of gigantic, roughly eight-foot stature, with yellow skin scarcely concealing the muscles and arteries beneath, lustrous flowing black hair, pearly white teeth, watery dull-yellow eyes, and a shrivelled complexion with straight black lips. Brought to life by Victor Frankenstein on a dreary November night, it stirred with convulsive motion, breathed and muttered inarticulate sounds, then reached toward Victor and held up his bed-curtain with a grin before Victor fled in horror; it was gone from the apartment by the time Victor returned with Henry Clerval.

A roughly eight-foot being with yellow skin, black hair, pearly teeth, and watery yellow eyes, brought to life by Victor Frankenstein, who fled in horror after it reached toward him, and which had vanished by the time he returned with Clerval. Victor later saw it stealing through the trees at Plainpalais during a storm and then scaling Mont Salêve to disappear over the summit, convincing him it was the murderer of his brother William.

A roughly eight-foot being with yellow skin, black hair, pearly teeth, and watery yellow eyes, brought to life by Victor Frankenstein, who fled in horror after it reached toward him; Victor later saw it near Plainpalais and on Mont Salêve and became convinced it murdered William. It reappeared on the glacier near Montanvert, bounding toward Victor with superhuman speed, its anguished, disdainful, and malignant countenance almost too horrible to behold; when Victor attacked, it eluded him and pleaded to be heard, arguing it was made benevolent but driven to fiendishness by misery, then led Victor to a mountain hut, promising to tell his strange story and warning that his future conduct depends on Victor's response.

A roughly eight-foot being with yellow skin, black hair, pearly teeth, and watery yellow eyes, brought to life by Victor Frankenstein, who fled in horror; Victor later became convinced it murdered William, and it confronted Victor on the glacier near Montanvert, pleading to be heard and claiming misery had turned its natural benevolence into fiendishness, before leading him to a mountain hut to tell its story. That story reveals it spent the following period secretly observing a family of cottagers (an old blind father, Agatha, and Felix) from its hovel, learning their poverty, routines, and language (learning words like 'fire', 'milk', 'bread', 'wood' and the cottagers' names); it stopped stealing their food once it realized their want, subsisting on berries, nuts, and roots instead, and secretly aided them by gathering firewood at night and clearing snow, acts they attributed to a 'good spirit.' It was horrified upon first seeing its own reflection and realizing its monstrous deformity, yet grew emotionally attached to the family, sympathizing with their sorrows and joys and dreaming of eventually revealing itself to win their favor and love.

A roughly eight-foot being with yellow skin, black hair, pearly teeth, and watery yellow eyes, brought to life by Victor Frankenstein, who fled in horror; Victor later became convinced it murdered William, and it confronted Victor on the glacier, pleading to be heard and blaming misery for turning its benevolence into fiendishness, before leading him to a hut to tell its story. That story reveals it secretly observed and aided a family of cottagers (an old blind father, Agatha, and Felix), learning their language and ways while hiding its own horrifying deformity; this chapter, it witnessed the arrival of the veiled stranger Safie, whose joyful reunion with Felix it observed, and learned alongside her by eavesdropping on Felix's language and history lessons (including from Volney's Ruins of Empires), rapidly surpassing Safie in comprehension. Through this instruction it gained knowledge of human society, history, and relationships (property, rank, family bonds, the sexes), which led it to anguished reflection on its own friendless, propertyless, monstrous, and utterly isolated existence, even contemplating death to escape the pain.

A roughly eight-foot being with yellow skin, black hair, pearly teeth, and watery yellow eyes, brought to life by Victor Frankenstein, who fled in horror; Victor later became convinced it murdered William, and it confronted Victor on the glacier, pleading to be heard and blaming misery for turning its benevolence into fiendishness, before leading him to a hut to tell its story. That story reveals it secretly observed and aided the De Lacey cottagers, learning their language and ways while hiding its own deformity; it witnessed the arrival of Safie and, by eavesdropping on Felix's lessons to her (including Volney's Ruins of Empires), rapidly gained knowledge of human society, history, and relationships, which led it to anguished reflection on its own friendless, propertyless, isolated existence, even contemplating death. It also learned the full history of the cottagers' ruin, and possesses copies of the letters between Safie and Felix (procured with writing implements obtained during its residence in the hovel), which it promises to give Victor as proof of its tale.

A roughly eight-foot yellow-skinned being brought to life by Victor Frankenstein, who fled in horror; Victor later suspected it of murdering William, and it confronted him on the glacier, leading him to a hut to recount how it secretly observed and aided the De Lacey cottagers, learning language and history (via Safie's lessons and Volney's Ruins of Empires) while anguishing over its isolation, and gathering the Safie-Felix letters as proof. In this chapter it found and read books and Victor's own journal describing its creation and hideousness, then, convinced the cottagers would look past his deformity once they knew his secret kindnesses, approached the blind De Lacey alone and confided his plight; but when Felix, Safie, and Agatha returned and reacted with horror, Felix tore him from De Lacey, beat him with a stick, and the Creature fled without retaliating back to his hovel.

After Felix beat him and drove him from the cottage, the Creature howled in anguish, declared everlasting war on humanity and his creator, and returned to find the family had fled, so he burned the cottage down; he then journeyed by night toward Geneva to find Victor Frankenstein, was shot after saving a drowning girl and vowed vengeance on all mankind, and near Geneva strangled Victor's young brother William in a fit of rage, planting William's portrait on a sleeping woman (Justine) to frame her, before confronting Victor in the mountains to demand a female companion.

After Felix beat him and drove him from the cottage, the Creature howled in anguish, declared everlasting war on humanity and his creator, burned the abandoned cottage, and journeyed by night toward Geneva to find Victor Frankenstein; along the way he was shot after saving a drowning girl, then near Geneva strangled Victor's young brother William and framed the sleeping Justine with William's portrait, before confronting Victor in the mountains. There he demanded Victor create a female companion, arguing his malice stems from misery and that a mate would make him harmless and lead him to quit Europe forever, swearing a solemn oath to that effect if Victor agreed; after securing Victor's reluctant consent, he swiftly descended the mountain and vanished into the sea of ice.

After Felix beat him and drove him from the cottage, the Creature howled in anguish, declared everlasting war on humanity and his creator, burned the abandoned cottage, and journeyed by night toward Geneva to find Victor Frankenstein; along the way he was shot after saving a drowning girl, then near Geneva strangled Victor's young brother William and framed the sleeping Justine with William's portrait, before confronting Victor in the mountains and demanding a female companion, swearing to quit Europe forever if Victor agreed and securing his reluctant consent. Having promised to follow Victor wherever he went, his presence loomed over Victor's decision to travel to England, as Victor imagined the Creature might follow him there.

After being driven from the cottage and vowing war on humanity and Victor, the Creature burned the cottage, journeyed toward Geneva, was shot after saving a drowning girl, then murdered William and framed Justine before confronting Victor and extracting a promise to create a female companion in exchange for quitting Europe forever. Having sworn to follow Victor everywhere, its unseen presence continued to haunt Victor, who feared it was tracking him to England and Scotland and would reveal itself once the companion was complete.

After being driven from the cottage and vowing war on humanity and Victor, the Creature burned the cottage, journeyed toward Geneva, was shot after saving a drowning girl, then murdered William and framed Justine before confronting Victor and extracting a promise to create a female companion in exchange for quitting Europe forever. Having followed Victor's travels through Switzerland, along the Rhine, and into England and Scotland (loitering in forests, caves, and heaths), it watched through the laboratory casement as Victor destroyed the half-finished female creature and withdrew with a howl of despair and revenge; it then confronted Victor in his house, declared itself his master, vowed revenge for the broken promise, threatened to be with him on his wedding-night, and eluded his attempt to seize it, escaping by boat with great speed.

After being driven from the cottage and vowing war on humanity and Victor, the Creature burned the cottage, journeyed toward Geneva, murdered William and framed Justine before extracting Victor's promise to make him a female companion in exchange for quitting Europe forever; it followed Victor through Switzerland, the Rhine, England, and Scotland, watched him destroy the half-finished female, then confronted him, vowed revenge, threatened his wedding-night, and escaped by boat. This chapter reveals it then strangled Henry Clerval, leaving finger-mark bruises on his neck, and Victor felt its phantom grasp at his throat both during his prison fever and later in a laudanum-induced nightmare at sea.

After being driven from the cottage and vowing war on humanity and Victor, the Creature burned the cottage, murdered William, framed Justine, and extracted Victor's promise to make him a female companion; when Victor destroyed the unfinished female, it vowed revenge and threatened to be with Victor on his wedding-night, then immediately strangled Henry Clerval, as if unsatiated with blood. Victor, remembering this threat and believing the demon would strike then, felt its phantom grasp at his throat during his prison fever and again in a nightmare at sea, and carried the fear of the wedding-night threat with him even as his own marriage to Elizabeth proceeded.

After being driven off and vowing revenge, the Creature burned the cottage, murdered William, framed Justine, extracted and then saw broken Victor's promise of a mate, strangled Henry Clerval, and threatened to be with Victor on his wedding night; he fulfilled that threat by murdering Elizabeth in her bedroom at Evian, then appeared grinning at the window before leaping into the lake and eluding the pursuing boats and nets.

After being driven off and vowing revenge, the Creature burned the cottage, murdered William, framed Justine, extracted and then saw broken Victor's promise of a mate, strangled Henry Clerval, and murdered Elizabeth on her wedding night at Evian before eluding pursuit into the lake. Confronting Victor at the cemetery, he mocked his oath of vengeance and then fled across Europe, Russia, and the Arctic, leaving taunting inscriptions for Victor to find, seizing supplies, dogs, and weapons from a northern hamlet along the way; he finally appeared aboard Walton's ship after Victor's death, grieving over the corpse and confessing horror and self-reproach at his own crimes, then declared he would travel to the northern extremity of the globe to burn himself to ashes so none like him could ever be made, before leaping onto an ice raft and vanishing into the darkness.