• unlike what I have since found cottagers and farm-house servants to be

    As with her earlier treatment of Justine Moritz, Mary Shelley seems unable to keep
    a certain class bias from entering her discourse. In the case of Alphonse Frankenstein
    (I:6:36 and note) this may be something of a key to his character; but the Creature's
    emphasis on gentility after six weeks of existence might seem ill-conceived to some
    readers. It would appear, however, that the author is trying to suggest the Creature's
    own natural gentility rather than an innate snobbery in him.