The Frankenstein monster is explicitly coded as an Oriental giant and mummy
Evidence
The “Creature” in Shelley’s book is a giant and is repeatedly likened to a mummy, as well as being identified as an Oriental. His size is monstrous—“a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature.” References to his resemblance to an Egyptian mummy include Victor’s comment, “A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch” and Captain Walton’s observation, “As he hung over the coffin, his face was concealed by long locks of ragged hair; but one vast hand was extended, in colour and apparent texture, like that of a mummy.” When Frankenstein was written, Orientalism and Egyptology were popular in Britain. These interests eventually led to the writing of mummy tales and films, which will be examined in the following chapter. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 464
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- XREF: Directly serves the reader’s guiding question about which figures (monster, demon, giant) recur and what anxiety each carries — the giant is inflected with Orientalist/racial fear.
Related
- Shelley imagined Frankenstein’s monster through Oriental and Egyptian tropes popular in Britain (similarity 0.96)
- Frankenstein’s monster is coded as both Oriental and African from its inception (similarity 0.88)
- Frankenstein’s monster conflates Othello and Orientalist racial anxieties. (similarity 0.84)