English resources/Frankenstein/Chapter 10
Frankenstein, Chapter 10
On the glacier the creature finds Victor. He asks Victor to listen to his story.
Frankenstein opens with four letters from the explorer Robert Walton, then tells Victor's story in 24 chapters, then closes with Walton's last letters. Chapter 10 comes after Chapter 9 and before Chapter 11. The 5 key lines here come from the Creature.
This chapter in five words
CreatureconfrontsVictoronglacier
Hide these. Ask the class for their five. Then show them. Then play today's sentence.
What happens, in more detail
After William's murder and Justine's execution, Victor cannot bear to stay at home. He travels into the Alps, to the valley of Chamounix, hoping the mountains will calm him, and the next morning he climbs Montanvert to the great glacier above it.
As he looks out over the ice, a figure comes towards him at superhuman speed. It is the creature. Victor curses him and threatens to kill him, but the creature calmly avoids him and speaks for the first time. He says Victor made him and owes him a duty, that he was good once and misery made him cruel, and he asks Victor to listen to his story before deciding anything.
Victor agrees. They go to a hut on the mountain, light a fire, and the creature begins.
Why it matters: until now we have only heard Victor's side. From here the creature tells his own story in his own words, and he turns out to be thoughtful and articulate, which makes it much harder to see him as just a monster.
The quotes
5 big quotes in this chapter.
Believe me, Frankenstein, I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity
Creature · Chapter 10 · prejudice · isolation
The creature says he was good. He wanted to love. People made him what he is.
Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel
Creature · Chapter 10 · creation · responsibility · isolation
I should have been your Adam, your first man. Instead you treat me like the devil.
All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things!
Creature · Chapter 10 · prejudice · isolation
Everyone hates the unlucky. And nobody is as unlucky as him.
I ought to be thy Adam
Creature · Chapter 10 · creation · responsibility
The creature asks to be treated like a first son, not a devil.
I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend.
Creature · Chapter 10 · prejudice · isolation
I was good. Being miserable turned me bad. Make me happy again.
Now play today's Long Story ShortOne real news sentence. Keep five of its words. Two minutes. Free. No login.Play now