Frankenstein Quotes

An authors composition of a text is essential in communicating the changing values of their society in an effective and changing manner.

Frankenstein is 'an aggregate of narrative pieces and literary influences... closely related to the creature, constructed from fragments.'

Romantic writers interpreted Paradise Lost not as a text to 'justify the ways of God to man' but to highlight that the creator is the root of suffering and evil.

'Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay / to mould me man?'

'Frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the creator.'

Valued a connection with nature and freedom

'Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live!' (pg. 119)

'Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.'

'Like Adam I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence.'

Is one of the key device applied by Shelley which strengthens the key themes of monstrosity and scientific advancement

Allows for an additional character, Robert Walton, to add an alternative, critical perspective that would otherwise not be present in the text. Someone detached from the situation to provide an outsiders perspective.

That if the monster. Shelley uses direct speech for the Monsters account, giving it a sense of immediacy similar to Walton's letters to his sister.

Allows for the reader to discover numerous elements and themes of the text in a deeper and varied sense as they progress through the many perspectives given in the novel.

'Are you mad, my friend?... or whither does your senseless curiosity lead you?... learn my miseries, and do not seek to increase your own.'

God, or the creator, is responsible for evil, not the creation.

'Better to reign in hell, than to serve in heaven.'

Valued beauracracy and reason and many scientific advancements were made during this period.

In the late 18th century, Luigi Galvani carried out experiments in which he touched metal rods to dead frogs' legs. (Galvanism)

'Spark of life'

These scientific advancements, possibly through her parents, whose acquaintances included many experiments lists.

'Perhaps a corpse would be reanimated; galvanism had given token of such things.'

Crucial in communicating themes of monstrosity and the dangers of science in a nuanced and complex manner.

A monstrous version of himself; it is like looking into a mirror and he must realise the result of his actions, spiralling into a state of despair and self-loathing

Brought about rapid advancements in science science and experimentalists and scholars of the era increased their understanding of scientific movements, such as galvanism, by leaps and bounds.

That it allowed for society to engage with these explorations of scientific advancement of the era.

The Creature 'function(s) as a parodic mirror image of Frankenstein.'

'I had turned loose on the world a depraved wretch.'

Ambiguity of this statement makes me question who the real monster is.

The language used in chapter ten of the novel.

Reader expects victor to be eloquent in his speech and monster unable to form a coherent sentence.

This is the case early on but later roles switch.

'Begone, vile insect!' 'Fiend that thou art!'

'I will even be docile and mild to my natural lord and king,' 'I ought to be thy Adam but I am rather the fallen angel.'

'Great God! Why did I not then expire... life is obstinate and clings closest where it is most hated.' (pg. 176)

'with a sensation of horror not to be described, I saw at the open window a figure the most hideous and abhorred.' (of. 177)