Mary Shelley uses a variety of imagery-related detail in her novel Frankenstein to describe Frankenstein’s creation. In the selected quote, Dr. Frankenstein has just given life to his creation and is now seeing it as it really is for the first time. Previously, he had been so engrossed in his work to pay attention to the overall appearance of his creature, but as its limbs quiver with the motions of life, Frankenstein realizes that he has, in fact, created a monster. In this passage, Shelley describes the visual appearance of the creature in detail, giving the reader a vivid image of what Frankenstein beheld on that fateful night. She contrasts the beauty and proportionality of the creation’s parts with its unpleasant yellow skin and “watery
