Frankenstein Quotes

"Excessive sorrow prevents improvement or enjoyment, or even the discharge of daily usefulness, without such no man is fit for society."

Alphonse Frankenstein

God knows how entirely I am innocent

Justine

Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world

Light is a symbol for knowledge. Victor believes that by controlling life and death, he will increase the knowledge in the world and fill it with light.

'they penetrate into the recesses of nature, and shew how she works in her hiding places ... they have acquired new and almost unlimited powers; they can command the thunders of heaven, mimic the earthquake, and even mock the invisible world with its own shadows'

M. Waldman on the power of science

Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay To mould me Man, did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me?

Paradise Lost

"Wretch!" I said,"It is well that you come here to whine over the desolation that you have made. You throw a torch into a pile of buildings, and when they are consumed, you sit among the ruins, and lament the fall. Hypocritical fiend!"

Robert Walton

I heard about the slothful Asiatics; of the stupendous genius and mental activity of the Grecians; of the wars and wonderful virtue of the early Romans-of their subsequent degenerating-of the decline of that mighty empire; of chivalry, Christianity, and kings.

The Monster

I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on.

The Monster

Was there no injustice in this? Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all human kind sinned against me?

The Monster

You can blast my other passions, but revenge remains -- revenge, henceforth dearer than light of food! I may die, but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery

The Monster

All [his] speculations and hopes are as nothing, and like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, [he is] chained in an eternal hell.

Walton

What may not be expected in a country of eternal light?

Walton

we are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves -- such a friend ought to be -- do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures

Walton

'he was not, as the other traveller seemed to be, a savage inhabitant of some undiscovered island, but a European'

Walton on his first description of Frankenstein

'a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature'

Walton on his first description of the creature

Your father and cousin would be very happy if they received a letter from you in your own handwriting. They hardly know how ill you have been, and are uneasy at your long silence

Clerval

"Blasted as thou were, my agony was still superior to thine, for the bitter sting of remorse will not cease to rankle in my wounds until death shall close them forever."

Creature

"I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?"

Creature

"I swear by the sun, and by the blue sky of Heaven, and by the fire of love that burns my heart, that if you grant my prayer, while they exist you shall never behold me again."

Creature

"I was like a wild beast that had broken the toils; destroying the objects that obstructed me and ranging through the wood with a stag-like swiftness."

Creature

Be happy, there is nothing I hope to distress you; and be assured that if a lively joy is not painted in my face, my heart is contented

Elizabeth

". . . and if I see but one smile on your lips when we meet, occasioned by this or any other exertion of mine, I shall need no other happiness."

Elizabeth Lavenza

'she is clever and gentle, and extremely pretty'

Elizabeth on Justine

For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart

Frankenstein

I, like the archfiend bore a hell within me; and, finding myself unsympathised with wished to tear up the trees...

Frankenstein

Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow

Frankenstein

None but those who have experienced them can conceive of the enticements of science.

Frankenstein

Seek happiness in tranquility and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries.

Frankenstein

So much has been done, more, far more, will I achieve; treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.

Frankenstein

The labours of men of genius, however erroneously directed, scarcely ever fail in ultimately turning to the solid advantage of mankind.

Frankenstein

I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures, such as no language can describe.

Frankenstein expresses his self-loathing for having created the grotesque monster, a task which he could not have completed without seeking knowledge.

'Clerval called forth the better feelings of my heart; he again taught me to love the aspect of nature ... When happy, inanimate nature had the power of bestowing on me the most delightful sensations. A serene sky and verdant fields filled me with ecstasy.'

Frankenstein on Clerval teaching him about nature

'the most beautiful child she [Caroline Beaufort] had ever seen ... her person was the image of her mind'

Frankenstein on Elizabeth (via Caroline Beaufort)

'a little squat man, with a gruff voice and a repulsive countenance'

Frankenstein on M. Krempe

'the most beautiful little fellow in the world ... he inspired the tenderest affection'

Frankenstein on William (first description)

'every night I was oppressed by a slow fever, and I became nervous to a most painful degree'

Frankenstein on becoming ill whilst creating the creature

'Oh! stars, and clouds, and winds, ye are all about to mock me: if ye really pity me, crush sensation and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, depart, depart and leave me in darkness ... I cannot describe to you how the eternal twinkling of the stars weighed upon me, and how I listened to every blast of wind, as if it were a dull ugly siroc on its way to consume me'

Frankenstein on being mocked by the stars whilst creating the female creature

'no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature (the starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems to have the power of elevating his soul from earth)'

Frankenstein on being uplifted by nature

'dull yellow eye ... it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs ... his yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of an lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuries only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion, and straight black lips'

Frankenstein on his gothic description of the creature

I resolved to make the being of a gigantic stature; that is to say, about eight feet in height, and proportionally large'

Frankenstein on making the creature big

'I saw how the fine form of man was degraded and wasted'

Frankenstein on people dying and their bodies decomposing

'with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding places'

Frankenstein on pursuing nature

'we witnessed a most violent and terrible thunderstorm ... on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak ... (as soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak had disappeared, and) nothing remained but a blasted stump ... I never beheld any thing so utterly destroyed'

Frankenstein on the oak tree being destroyed

"My dear Frankenstein, how glad I am to see you! How fortunate that you should be here at the very moment of my alighting!"

Henry Clerval

Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow.

This quote feels as though it is directed not from Victor to Walton, but from Victor to the reader.

"I had desired it with an ardent fervor that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart."

Victor Frankenstein

"None but those who have experienced them can conceive of the enticements of science. In other studies you go as far as others have gone before you, and there is nothing more to know; but in a scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder."

Victor Frankenstein

It was to be decided whether the result of my curiosity and lawless devices would cause the death of two of my fellow beings.

Victor is in agony over the possibility that his creation could have caused him to lose those he loved.

destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.

Victor realizes that his quest for knowledge has caused him to break the laws set by God.

'he was soon borne away by the waves, and lost in darkness and distance'

Walton on the creature leaving the ship