"I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For his I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart." -Victor Frankenstein (pg. 35)
This quote describing the first moments of Victor's reaction to his creation show a great irony. First, Victor had spent two years wasting away, working sleeplessly to create life, to do something that was considered honorable and never been done before. After all this toil, he finally reaches his goal. The irony comes in as Victor is disgusted and terrified by his own creation. The irony is simply that ardent work and study should bring pleasure while Victor's labor brought him nothing but horror.
Another irony and maybe paradox (I'm not sure) is that Victor believes, from its first breath, that the creation is evil and wants to kill him. From reading ahead, we know this is not the case, and because the creature was inherently good, his behavior was caused by others' hatred of him. The possible paradox is that the creature is first shown as so disgusting (Victor can't even stay in the same room with him) with yellow-ish eyes, "gigantic stature" from different corpses, and "grin-wrinkled cheeks," is actually a kind and intelligent individual. Even though the creature recognizes itself as a monster, there is little hope that society will not react in the same fashion as Victor.
This quote describing the first moments of Victor's reaction to his creation show a great irony. First, Victor had spent two years wasting away, working sleeplessly to create life, to do something that was considered honorable and never been done before. After all this toil, he finally reaches his goal. The irony comes in as Victor is disgusted and terrified by his own creation. The irony is simply that ardent work and study should bring pleasure while Victor's labor brought him nothing but horror.
Another irony and maybe paradox (I'm not sure) is that Victor believes, from its first breath, that the creation is evil and wants to kill him. From reading ahead, we know this is not the case, and because the creature was inherently good, his behavior was caused by others' hatred of him. The possible paradox is that the creature is first shown as so disgusting (Victor can't even stay in the same room with him) with yellow-ish eyes, "gigantic stature" from different corpses, and "grin-wrinkled cheeks," is actually a kind and intelligent individual. Even though the creature recognizes itself as a monster, there is little hope that society will not react in the same fashion as Victor.
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