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One of the many thoughts that popped into my head while reading this book was in regards to Frankenstein (the monster) and his first encounter of his physical appearance and his comparison with the people he had seen. The monster observed the people and made a judgement that they were pretty. (Where did that judgement come from? Was his unconscious just drawn to something like how the people looked, or is it just b/c they were the only thing he had really ever seen? This begs the question of whether the people who had rejected him in the past also appeared beautiful to him. Perhaps these people looked pretty @ first glance because they hadn't mistreated him (yet).)

So, Frankenstein learns the standard, the status quo, the type of appearance that is "normal", "beautiful"; he then sees himself, sees that he doesn't match up/look the same, and decides that he must be ugly and that is the reason everyone has been mean to him thus far. I would have loved to hear Frankenstein's thoughts about how he looked before he saw the humans and adopted their cultural understanding of pleasing aesthetics. Would he have merely regarded himself neutrally and dispassionately as an observor? Would he have thought he was the most beautiful thing, and wonderfully proportioned, etc? Would he have thought (compared to other things he saw in nature) that he wasnt very attractive? Hmmm. Some interesting thoughts to ponder.