Frankenstein 1818: Thematic Quotations
Creation
"the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart." Contrast between man-made/ugly and natural/beautiful.
Good and Evil
Monster: "I could seize him, and educate him as my companion and friend" Referring to William, Victor's brother. He means well, is innocent, but his naivety makes him appear evil.
Revenge
Monster: "I declared everlasting war against the species" Loss in sympathy for monster. Rejection is pivotal in how he reacts to others.
The Elements/Pathetic Fallacy
Monster: "Autumn passed thus." With season changing, his thoughts begin to change.
Revenge
Monster: "Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live?" He wants to take revenge on Victor for bringing him into a world that doesn't accept him.
Loneliness and isolation
Monster: "Felix ravished in delight when he saw her" Referring to Safie. Origins of monster wanting a companion.
Who is the monster?
Monster: "I could have torn him limb from limb" He doesn't as he is good, but humans have thrown stones at him.
The Elements/Pathetic Fallacy
"The rain pattered dismally against the pains" Ominous foreshadowing.
Death and Destruction
"William is dead" Leads to death of Justine. Frankenstein's fault.
Death and Destruction
Elizabeth: "when one creature is murdered, another is immediately deprived of life" Frankenstein is slowly tortured after William's death. Also a criticism of justice system by Shelley.
Science
M. Krempe: "Every instant you have wasted" Refering to Aggripa/Magnus' science.
Good and Evil
Monster: "I even raised my humid eyes with thankfulness towards the blessed sun that bestowed such joy upon me" The monster is good and innocent. He is called a monster, but doesn't act like one.
Nature/Romanticism
Monster: "I saw no cause for their unhappiness; but I was deeply affected by it." Talking about mankind. Shows sensitivity, focus on emotions, Romantic.
Nature/Romanticism
Monster: "I sought a place where I could receive shade. This was the forest near Ingolstadt." Healing power of nature.
Loneliness and isolation
Monster: "I was a poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew and could distinguish, nothing" Sympathy aspect for monster and its plight.
Death and Destruction
Monster: "I, too can create desolation" After killing William. Parallel to Frankenstein.
Revenge
Monster: "If I have no ties and no affections, hatred and vice must be my portion" He threatens Victor with revenge and killing more people dear to him to get what he wants. Becoming more human.
Dreams
Monster: "My companion must be of the same species, and have the same defects." He dreams about asking for the only thing that he thinks will make him happy, a partner.
Nature/Romanticism
Monster: "My senses were gratified and refreshed by a thousand scents of delight," Healing power of nature.
Revenge
Monster: "Reflected that they had spurned and deserted me, anger returned, a rage of anger" He wants others to feel how he has felt. Especially Frankenstein.
Creation
Monster: "This being you must create." Monster is like Adam, sees Victor as his God and pleads him for a female monster, Eve to be built.
Who is the monster?
Monster: "Wretch" Referring to self.Parallel to Frankenstein. They are similar.
Revenge
Monster: "barbarity of man" Monster is beginning to despise humans.
The Elements/Pathetic Fallacy
Monster: "rain and snow poured around me" In his second winter. Foreshadowing.
Who is the monster?
Monster: "repairing the cottage and cultivating the garden" Called a monster, but behaves better towards humans than they do towards him.
The Elements/Pathetic Fallacy
Monster: "when the sun shone...and diffused cheerfulness" The monster sees sense of hope in the light. Shows benevolence.
Creation
Victor: "Bless me as its creator" Thinks he is god-like. He is the modern day Prometheus.
Who is the monster?
Victor: "But I-I was a wretch" Calls monster a wretch, so he is now a monster.
Good and Evil
Victor: "He was the murderer!" Refering to monster. Jumping to conclusions. Shows prejudice and unwillingness to accept the being. Evil.
Creation
Victor: "I had been animated by an almost supernatural enthusiasm" Shows arrogance, he thinks he is god-like.
Who is the monster?
Victor: "I had begun life with benevolent intentions" Parallel to monster. Shelley's egalitarian view that everyone is born equal/good.
Good and Evil
Victor: "I was guiltless" So many tragedies have been his fault. He must be evil to still have a clean conscience.
Science
Victor: "In other studies you go as far as others have gone before you" Shows narrow mindedness, he is losing his way.
Who is the monster?
Victor: "My own spirit let loose from the grave" The monster is in his own image. Like God and Adam in Genesis/Paradise Lost. Shows how hideous he is inside.
Creation
Victor: "a grin wrinkled his cheeks" Disgust leads to fear. C.f/ when creating female monster.
Dreams
Victor: "her lips, they became vivid with the hue of death" About Elizabeth. Foreshadowing that she will die soon.
Nature/Romanticism
Victor: "monotony of domestic life would by degrees alleviate my sufferings" Healing power of family/friends.
Loneliness and isolation
Victor: "solitude was my only consolation-deep, dark, death-like solitude" After Justine dies. Repetition highlights loneliness.
Nature/Romanticism
Victor: "the season contributed greatly to my convalescence." Healing power of nature.
Who is the monster?
Victor: "the whole period during which I was the slave of my creature" Ironic. The monster has power over Frankenstein, the tables have turned. Monster once thought of himself as a slave to man.
Good and Evil
Victor: "your evil passions will be renewed" The monster saw only good intent in the eyes of Victor, but Victor sees only evil in the monster's. Irony is that the monster is good and Victor is bad.