they at once drew tears of sorrow and delight from my eyes
This is only the second occasion in which the Creature has shed tears,
the other being on the first night of his existence (2.3.1). Yet how different is this
repetition, another sign of the growing refinement of his emotional
life. His oxymoronic response to music (and perhaps to Safie as well) is
a further example of how his education proceeds by encompassing opposites
(see 2.3.3 and note).