Frankenstein: Key Quotes and Analysis

Flashcards on Frankenstein quotes and analysis.

Victor's description of Cornelius Agrippa's works, indicating the start of his fatal obsession.

"the birth of that passion, which afterwards ruled my destiny"

Victor blaming external forces for his downfall.

"It is even possible that the train of my ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin"

Victor reflecting on his idyllic childhood.

"during every hour of my infant life I received a lesson of patience, of charity, and of self-control, I was so guided by a silken cord"

Victor's continued blame on destiny.

"Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction"

Ironic quote from Victor on maintaining a calm mind.

"A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind and never allow passion or transitory desire to disturb his tranquillity"

Victor's self-centeredness during Justine's execution.

"The tortures of the accused did not equal mine"

Victor's ambition to overcome death.

"the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life"

Victor's focus on glory in scientific discovery.

"But what glory would attend the discovery, if I could banish disease from the human frame and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death!"

Victor's desire to be seen as a divine creator.

"A new species would bless me as its creator and source"

Victor's ambition to create life.

"bestow animation upon lifeless matter"

The physical toll of Victor's creation.

"my cheek had grown pale with study"

Victor's arrogance in judging based on appearance.

"dark eyed, hardy little vagrants" yet Elizabeth is a "distinct species, a being heaven-sent"

Victor's dismissal based on appearance.

"M. Krempe was a little squat man, with a gruff voice and a repulsive countenance; the teacher, therefore, did not prepossess me in favour of his pursuits"

Added words that change our interpretation of the Creature.

"with a howl of devilish despair, and revenge, withdrew"

Forceful word with connotations of male dominance.

"penetrate"

Painting echoed in Elizabeth's death.

Fuseli's 'The Nightmare'

Victor's disconnect with nature after creating the creature.

"the fall of a leaf startled me"

Victor's perception of beauty as malicious.

"Is this to prognosticate peace, or to mock at my unhappiness?"

Victor's self-imposed isolation.

"At these moments I took refuge in the most perfect solitude"

Victor's rejection of family even in Geneva.

"I was tempted to plunge into the silent lake, that the waters might close over me and my calamities forever"

The Creature's insightful acceptance of expected rejection.

"I expected this reception"

The Creature's comfort in the sublime.

"The caves of ice, which I only do not fear, are a dwelling to me"

The Creature's respect for nature.

"These bleak skies I hail, for they are kinder to me than your fellow beings"

The Creature's understanding of nature's punishment.

"you and your family… shall be swallowed up in the whirlwind of its rage"

The Creature's realization of human savagery.

"miserable, from the inclemency of the season and still more from the barbarity of man"

The Creature's pain at seeing love.

"He raised her, and smiled with such kindness and affection that I felt sensations of a peculiar and overpowering nature"

The Creature's destructive turn.

"destroyed every vestige of cultivation in the garden"

Victor identifying with the Creature.

"I had turned loose into the world a depraved wretch"

The Creature's comparison to Adam.

"I ought to be thy Adam…"

Walton's expression of destructive loneliness.

"I bitterly feel the want of a friend"

Walton's desire for companionship to regulate his mind.

Walton desires a companion to help "regulate his mind"

Walton's romantic description of Victor.

"He is so gentle, yet so wise; his mind is so cultivated, and when he speaks, although his words are culled with the choicest art, yet they flow with rapidity and unparalleled eloquence"

Walton's romantic view of Victor.

Walton describes Victor as a "noble creature destroyed by misery"

Walton's Romantic ideal of unexplored beauty.

"the Region of beauty and delight"

Walton's understanding of nature's power.

"I shall kill no albatross"

The Arctic as a symbol of pure knowledge.

The Arctic is a "country of eternal light"

Walton's ambition to explore uncharted territory.

Walton wishes to "tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man"

Walton's Romantic belief in deep feeling.

"There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand"

Frankenstein's warning about the dangers of knowledge.

"you seek for knowledge and wisdom… I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been"

Victor's preference for intense application over Elizabeth's balanced nature.

"Elizabeth was of a calmer and more concentrated disposition; but, with all my ardour, I was capable of a more intense application"

Elizabeth's softening influence.

"The saintly soul of Elizabeth shone like a shrine dedicated lamp in our peaceful home … she was the living spirit of love to soften and attract"

Elizabeth's bravery in defending Justine.

"although violently agitated, [Elizabeth] desired permission to address the court"

Clerval's sensitivity to Victor's mental state.

"[Clerval] had removed all my apparatus from my view. He had also changed my apartment, for he perceived that I had acquired a dislike for the room which had previously been my laboratory"

Clerval's role in reconnecting Victor with nature.

"I was fond of exercise, and Clerval had always been my favourite companion in the rambles of this nature that I had taken among the scenes of my native country"

Clerval as a figure representing the Romantic movement.

Frankenstein comments on how Clerval "was alive to every new scene" yet "I was occupied with gloomy thoughts"

Clerval showing the same curiosity with more control.

"[Clerval] was inquisitive, and anxious to gain experience and instruction"

The sublime representing nature's power.

"the immense mountains and precipices that overhung me on every side… spoke of a power mighty as Omnipotence - and I ceased to fear, or to bend before any being less almighty than that which had created and ruled the elements"

Nature avenging Frankenstein's transgressions.

"Every thought that was devoted to it was an extreme anguish, and every word that I spoke in allusion to it caused my lips to quiver and my heart to palpitate"

Women having a softening influence on men.

"A youth passed in solitude, my best years spent under your gentle and feminine fosterage, has so refined the groundwork of my character that I cannot overcome an intense distaste to the usual brutality exercised on board ship"

Elizabeth being objectified and forced into a passive role.

"I have a pretty present for my Victor - tomorrow he shall have it"

Possessive, controlling language to refer to Elizabeth

Victor's repetition of "mine" to refer to Elizabeth

The possession of women in society is prominent

"I demand a creature of another sex"

Creature wanting peace for love.

"For that one creature's sake I would make peace with the whole kind!"

The creature's transformation from good to evil due to misery.

"I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend"

Powerful imagery relating to knowledge and destruction.

"the cottage was quickly enveloped by flames, which clung to it and licked it with their forked and destroying tongues"

Victor's work is interpreted with sexual elements

"With unrelaxed and breathless eagerness" and "a resistless, and almost frantic impulse urged me forward"

Suffering being caused by losing family relationships

"You will find a happy, cheerful home, and friends who love you dearly"

The Creature being rejected from society

"I almost began to believe that I was the monster that he said I was"

The Creature believing his appearance is his identity

"I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am"

The Creature's deformity makes him isolated from society

"Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?"

Light continuously shown to be an symbol of knowledge

"a sudden light broke in upon me - a light so brilliant and wondrous, yet so simple, that while I became dizzy with the immensity of the prospect which it illustrated, I was surprised … that I alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret"

Knowledge is simultaneously beautiful and painful.

"How strange, I thought, that the same cause should produce such opposite effects"

The tree that Frankenstein sees being destroyed by lightning may be a visual metaphor for Frankenstein's desire to use knowledge and science to dominate nature

"on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak … and so soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak had disappeared and nothing had remained but a blasted stump"

Victor continuing to show a strong desire for glory

Victor persuades Walton not to turn back, or give up on a 'glorious expedition' which would give him 'honour'

Shelley demonstrating the dangers of science and knowledge

"I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit"

Blindness allowing Mr. De Lacey to see the creature clearly

"I am blind and cannot judge your countenance"

Creature has a greater appreciation for nature than Victor

"These bleak skies I hail, for they are kinder to me than your fellow beings"

Reconnection with nature creates happiness

"cheered even me by the loveliness of its sunshine and the balminess of the air. I felt emotions of gentleness and pleasure that long appeared dead, revive in me"

Victor appearing as a biased narrator and the first sighting of the creature

"one hand was stretched out, seeming to detain me"

Victor unable to separate feelings of compassion from scientific work

"I compassionated him… but when I looked upon him… my heart sickened and my feelings were altered to those of horror and hatred"

Creature being monstrous because of Percy Shelley additions

"with a howl of devilish despair, and revenge, withdrew"

Fear of the unknown

"miserable, from the inclemency of the season and still more from the barbarity of man"

Bravery of a woman

Elizabeth "although violently agitated, she desired permission to address the court"

Solidarity with Justine

"the poor sufferer tried to comfort others"

fear of her sexuality.

"The idea of the immediate union with my Elizabeth was one of horror and dismay"

Beauty defines one's life quality

Orphans are "dark eyed, hardy little vagrants", while Elizabeth is "distinct species, a being heaven-sent"

His science and thirst for knowledge has taken over

"exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein"

Sacrifices herself for her family

"Elizabeth was saved, but the consequences of this imprudence were fatal to her preserver"

loving family relationship

the Creature calls the De Lacey's "my protectors"

Turning point to destructive because of no family

"destroyed every vestige of cultivation in the garden"

Shocking act at the time

"I collected bones"

Foreshadows eventual punishment

Victor becomes "emaciated" whilst creating the Creature