Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Frankenstein’s anger renewed when the creature told him about William’s murder, so he refuses the creature’s request. He fears that creating a second creature will lead to more destruction. The creature is determined to reason with Frankenstein. He states that if he “cannot inspire love,” he will “cause fear” (131) and seek to destroy Frankenstein. If a single person was compassionate to him, he “would make peace with the whole kind” (131). He and a companion would be “cut off from all the world,” unhappy but “harmless and free from […] misery” (131). He begs Frankenstein to help him see that he “excite[s] sympathy of some existing thing” (131).

Frankenstein believes “there was some justice in [the creature’s] argument” and that he does “owe him all the portion of happiness that it was in [his] power to bestow” (131). When he expresses concern that the creature and his companion will cause more destruction, the creature insists that if he is happy, his “virtues will necessarily arise” (133). Frankenstein considers that the kind deeds the creature performed for the cottagers show “the promise of virtue” (133). He tells the creature he will create his companion, and the creature promises that Frankenstein will never see him again.