FRankenstein essay quotes and analysis

Flashcard Set: Paragraph 1 — Innate Goodness Corrupted by Society (Rousseau’s Émile)

Flashcard 1

Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Quote 1 (Creature’s connection to nature: sun and stars)

Quote: “[The Creature] missed the sun and stars.”

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Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Quote 2 (Childlike innocence through nature: winds play)

Quote: “the winds play on [his] cheeks.” Paragraph 2: Ambition – Prometheus / Playing GodFlashcard 5

Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Quote 3 (Positive nature imagery: cheering warmth of summer)

Quote: “the cheering warmth of summer.”Flashcard 7

Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Quote 4 (Rousseau’s philosophy on innate goodness)

Quote: Rousseau in Émile: “God makes all things good; man meddles with them and they become evil.”Flashcard 9

Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Quote 5 (Social rejection and cruelty: Creature attacked)

Quote: “some attacked me.”

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Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Quote 6 (Emotional longing vs fear: Creature’s hesitation to join humans)

Quote: “longed to join them, but dared not. [He] remembered too well the treatment [he] had suffered the night before.”

Flashcard 13

Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Quote 7 (Rousseau’s gentle education ideal vs Creature’s experience)

Quote: Rousseau’s tutor advises to “prepare the way by soft means,” not “harsh methods.”

Prompt: P2 – Quote 1 – Victor’s ambition to be God

Answer: “A new species would bless me as its creator and source.”

Prompt: P2 – Quote 2 – Victor’s goal to illuminate the world

Answer: “Pour a torrent of light into our dark world.”

Prompt: P2 – Quote 3 – Nature’s hiding places

Answer: “I pursued nature to her hiding places.”

Prompt: P2 – Quote 4 – Prometheus myth angering Zeus

Answer: “Zeus, who thunders on high, was stung in spirit, and his dear heart was angered.” — Theogony

Prompt: P2 – Quote 5 – Prometheus' punishment

Answer: Bound in Tartarus with his liver eaten daily; Pandora unleashed suffering on mankind.

Paragraph 3: Knowledge as Burden – Genesis / Satan

Prompt: P3 – Quote 1 – Victor on disillusionment

Answer: “I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth.”

Prompt: P3 – Quote 2 – Satan's ambition (Isaiah)

Answer: “I will raise my throne above the stars of God.”

Prompt: P3 – Quote 3 – Victor’s warning to Walton

Answer: “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.”

Prompt: P3 – Quote 4 – Genesis serpent’s promise

Answer: “When you eat from it, your eyes will be opened.”

🔍 ANALYSIS FLASHCARDS (QUOTE → HOW TO ANALYSE)Flashcard 2

Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Analysis for quote: “[The Creature] missed the sun and stars.”

Analysis: The imagery connects the Creature to nature, which the Romantics saw as a pure, soothing, and restorative force. This positions the Creature as innately innocent and uncorrupted by society. Quote: “A new species would bless me as its creator and source.”

Analysis: Language of divinity (“bless,” “creator”) reveals Victor’s God-complex. Shelley aligns this with Promethean overreach — ambition that defies natural and divine order.

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Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Analysis for quote: “the winds play on [his] cheeks.”

Analysis: The verb “play” evokes childlike innocence, reinforcing the Creature’s natural purity before corruption by society. Flashcard 6

Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Analysis for quote: “the cheering warmth of summer.”

Analysis: “Cheering” and “warmth” suggest comfort and safety, highlighting the Creature’s original innocence and joyful state in harmony with nature.

Flashcard 8

Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Analysis for quote: “God makes all things good; man meddles with them and they become evil.”

Analysis: Shelley reflects Rousseau’s idea that humans are born good but corrupted by society. The Creature’s initial innocence mirrors the ideal Émile, emphasizing nurture’s role in shaping morality. Flashcard 10

Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Analysis for quote: “some attacked me.”

Analysis: This shows the Creature’s harsh treatment by society, marking the start of his corruption and supporting the idea that external cruelty, not nature, causes his descent.

Flashcard 12

Prompt: Paragraph 1 — Analysis for quote: “longed to join them, but dared not. [He] remembered too well the treatment [he] had suffered the night before.”

Analysis: The contrast between longing and fear highlights trauma and internalised cruelty. It illustrates how society’s harshness conditions the Creature and prevents connection.Quote: “Pour a torrent of light into our dark world.”

Analysis: Enlightenment metaphors of “light” and “dark” are subverted. Shelley critiques the hubristic belief that knowledge alone can save humanity — she implies it can destroy.

Quote: “I pursued nature to her hiding places.”

Analysis: Sexual and invasive imagery frames Victor’s scientific pursuit as perverse and unnatural. Shelley feminises nature and casts Victor’s ambition as a violent intrusion.

Quote: “Zeus…was stung in spirit…his dear heart was angered.”

Analysis: Prometheus’ theft of fire incites divine wrath. The parallel to Victor’s “creation” warns that ambition against divine law invites catastrophic punishment.

Quote: Prometheus’ liver eaten, Pandora released suffering

Analysis: Mythological allusion foreshadows Victor’s torment and the creature’s destruction. Shelley uses this to critique Enlightenment ideals of noble ambition and progress.

Quote: “I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth.”

Analysis: “Chimeras” symbolise fantastical illusions. Shelley uses this metaphor to show that idealised knowledge leads to disillusionment — knowledge is not inherently fulfilling.

Quote: “I will raise my throne above the stars of God.”

Analysis: Satan’s ambition mirrors Victor’s. Both figures seek power beyond their limits and fall. Shelley warns that the pursuit of god-like knowledge leads to ruin.

Quote: “How much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world…”

Analysis: Contrasts limited, peaceful understanding with destructive aspiration. Suggests contentment lies in acceptance of human limitations — anti-Enlightenment.

Quote: “When you eat from it, your eyes will be opened.”

Analysis: Genesis allusion frames knowledge as a burden. Eve’s fall brings shame, mortality, and exile — just like Victor’s discovery brings death and despair.