KEY QUOTES - FRANKENSTEIN Flashcards
Ambition / Knowledge
Page 51
‘You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did.’ Victor begins to take over narrative
Cyclical
Victor’s moral lessons taught through doubling – a tale within a tale
55 ‘I pursued nature to her hiding place’ Makes himself the dominant male – repulsive power dynamic in personification of nature – vulnerability
Hunter + prey analogy > ‘But virtue to pursue and knowledge high’
Dante’s inferno
Chap
16 Creature: ‘I too can create desolation’ >Dichotomy of ‘creating desolation’
>Trying to associate himself with humanity – tried love but got rejected – attempting power in death
>Doubling with Victor – giving life vs taking life to equal power dynamic – both attempting godlike feats – critique of masculine ambition
>By revealing his actions – causes a breakdown in his argument – emotion overwhelms reason
Doubling
39 ‘Henry Clerval’
‘chivalry and romance’
‘chivalrous’ Only representation of intense masculine friendship
- evidence that Victor can love – contrary to treatment of the monster
Victor never shows examples of chivalry – dichotomy of Victor + Henry = contrasted
Victor + Creature = doubled
58 - 59
‘It breathed hard and a convulsive movement agitated its limbs’- Creature
‘every limb became convulsed’ – Victor First impression of the creature – Victor creates a negative perspective through his own description – We see the Creature’s flaws through Victor’s eyes only
Doubling establishes an immediate connection
- Significance of both being asleep shows doubling is subconscious
59 ‘It breathed hard and a convulsive movement agitated its limbs’- Creature
‘every limb became convulsed’ – Victor First impression of the creature – Victor creates a negative perspective through his own description – We see the Creature’s flaws through Victor’s eyes only
Doubling establishes an immediate connection
- Significance of both being asleep shows doubling is subconscious
89 ‘I bore a hell within me’ Justine’s Trial
Victor overwhelmed by guilt
>Echoes Dante’s inferno
>Product of hyperbole
>Personal pronoun – obsession with self
>Circumstantial evidence
>Established as source of power over religious values*
181 ‘I called myself the murderer of William, of Justine, and of Clerval’
‘I was spared the disgrace of publically appearing as a criminal’ Victor’s Trial
>Proves Victor’s conscious involvement in murders
>Juxtaposes Justine’s trial – contrast between their behaviour and treatment
>Criticism of social class – and passive role of women
Family
Chap
1 ‘I am by birth a Genevese’
‘my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic’ ‘I am’ – certainty, egocentric
‘birth’ – defined by birth not achievement
The idea that family are nothing but an established hierarchical system to support you – status in birth EUGENICS
Pride + power in heritage + pressure to live up to it = establishes Victor’s aims in life
>By focussing on the achievements of others he is diminishing his own
34 ‘She procured plain work; she plaited straw’
(Mother)
‘He came like a protecting spirit’
(Father) Admires mothers self-sacrifice
Contrast of power
Dichotomy of roles
- father is seen as ‘protecting’ despite mother working for herself
Shows 1. His idyllic view of his father and 2. his attitude of insignificance towards women
35* ‘I was their play thing, their idol’ Spoilt
First child
Parents’ idyllic view of Victor, he has acquired and transferred to his view of himself in relation to the rest of the world
Chap VI
- Letter from Liz ‘return to us’ Come home – convincing Victor never speaks of friendly home – isolates himself, prioritising ambition
Letter from Victor’s father ‘You were attached to each other from your earliest infancy’ Highlights another sinister level to incestuous context
Feminine Roles
36 ‘She appeared of different stock’ Links to Eugenics
The idea of being born into a class
Elizabeth’s appearance means she is able to have Victor’s ‘approval’ almost
‘stock’ almost animalistic breeding
37
38
‘My more than sister’
Links to:
‘mine’ ‘mine only’
Repetition – emphasises love and nature of incest
Victor supports hierarchy and orthodox – but when it comes to Elizabeth he is willing to break the rules
- his desire to possess and control her overwhelms him
he only follows society for power
39 ‘saintly soul of Elizabeth’ ‘celestial eyes’ Semantic field of the angelic - contrasted by the contextual views that females = weak Idealisation of femininity
Letter from Victor’s father Elizabeth = a ‘reward’ Element of fairy tale structure – therefore the evident struggle for heroism = victors motivation
192 ‘I confess to you my friend, that I love you’ Only time we hear a female voice – Elizabeth
>Shows Elizabeth to have her own morals – links to contextual insignificance of women
>Simultaneously strong and weak
>Open declaration – her selflessness
>Makes us question Victors reliability
Friendship
Letter Two ‘ I desire the company of a man’ >Significance of desire for ‘man’ – symbolising intellectual company
>So desperate and restricted by his views of society, we cannot trust his own narration
27
Just after Victor’s arrival: ‘a beam of benevolence and sweetness that I never saw equalled’
‘Benevolent’ old man
Literal interpretation – transposing of wanted qualities onto Victor due to desperation and loneliness, want of companion
Creature calls Mr De lacy ‘benevolent’ – mirror’s Walton – both desire acceptance - idolising
‘Your spirit still visits and consoles your unhappy friend’ Clerval’s significance as a poet
- change in Victor’s lexis – focus on emotion
- mirrors how the monster learns
Chap 15 ‘Satan had his companions, fellow devils… but I am solitary and detested’ >Compassion and desire for companionship
>Creature had learnt from Milton’s paradise Lost
>Associates himself with the devil – condemns himself as Victor does
Isolation
Letter Two ‘ I desire the company of a man’ >Significance of desire for ‘man’ – symbolising intellectual company
>So desperate and restricted by his views of society, we cannot trust his own narration
35 ‘I was their play thing, their idol’ Spoilt
First child
Parents’ idyllic view of Victor, he has acquired and transferred to his view of himself in relation to the rest of the world
Page 117 ‘friends’ >Creature associating himself with the idea of family identity
>Speaking in hindsight – regardless of how they treated him – how much do we believe him? Potential manipulation
>Or just having us associate with his position – lack of social understanding
198 ‘I earnestly intreated her to retire’ Elizabeth sent out by herself
- Doesn’t think her death will occur – Victor’s delusion – thinks he is saving her link to how he believes his father saved his mother
- ALT INTERP – doesn’t want to see her death – ‘out of sight, out of mind’
Vol 3
& Chap 5
>‘A devouring blackness overcast the approaching sunshine. At these moments I took refuge in the most perfect solitude’
-Links back to chapter 5 – initial creation of creature
>‘a black and comfortless sky’
Doubling of the depression – psychological pressure Victor cannot cope with
‘refuge’ ‘perfect solitude’ – he finds safety within himself – society protects Victor (r/ships with Elizabeth Clerval etc.)
- direct allusion to his desire for male company
- ‘sole occupation’ – solitude = tunnel vision and science over love
Love
37-38
‘My more than sister’
Links to:
‘mine’
‘mine only’
Repetition – emphasises love and nature of incest
Victor supports hierarchy and orthodox – but when it comes to Elizabeth he is willing to break the rules
- his desire to possess and control her overwhelms him
he only follows society for power
Chap VI
- Letter from Liz ‘return to us’ Come home – convincing Victor never speaks of friendly home – isolates himself, prioritising ambition
198
‘I earnestly intreated her to retire’ Elizabeth sent out by herself
1. Doesn’t think her death will occur – Victor’s delusion – thinks he is saving her link to how he believes his father saved his mother
2. ALT INTERP – doesn’t want to see her death – ‘out of sight, out of mind’
Masculinity
Letter Two ‘ I desire the company of a man’ >Significance of desire for ‘man’ – symbolising intellectual company
>So desperate and restricted by his views of society, we cannot trust his own narration
34
‘She procured plain work; she plaited straw’
(Mother)
‘He came like a protecting spirit’
(Father) Admires mothers self-sacrifice
Contrast of power
Dichotomy of roles
- father is seen as ‘protecting’ despite mother working for herself
Shows 1. His idyllic view of his father and 2. his attitude of insignificance towards women
55 ‘I pursued nature to her hiding place’ Makes himself the dominant male – repulsive power dynamic in personification of nature – vulnerability
Hunter + prey analogy
Page 51
‘You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did.’ Victor begins to take over narrative
Cyclical
Victor’s moral lessons taught through doubling – a tale within a tale
Psychological Interpretation
58- 59
‘It breathed hard and a convulsive movement agitated its limbs’- Creature
‘every limb became convulsed’ – Victor
First impression of the creature – Victor creates a negative perspective through his own description – We see the Creature’s flaws through Victor’s eyes only
Doubling establishes an immediate connection
- Significance of both being asleep shows doubling is subconscious
59 ‘He muttered some inarticulate sounds1 while a grin wrinkled his cheeks2’ 1Baby – childlike – Tabula rasa theory exaggerates the extremities of Victor’s abandonment
2Distortion of natural connotations – happiness subverted to horror through aesthetics
- Highlights Victor’s dependency on appearance/ beauty – his disappointment in his creation
79 ‘I should have looked upon it as ravings of insanity’ It wouldn’t be believed = his excuse for retaining information – unbelievable / cowardly
ALT INTERP. Potential subconscious protection of creature - parental responsibility VS. a conscious protection of self
89 ‘I bore a hell within me’ Justine’s Trial
Victor overwhelmed by guilt
>Echoes Dante’s inferno
>Product of hyperbole
>Personal pronoun – obsession with self
>Circumstantial evidence
>Established as source of power over religious values*
Rejection
34
‘But when he entered, misery and despair welcomed him’ Doubling of the monster – met by Victor’s rejection
>Subliminal introduction to the themes and events of the story – below the threshold for conscious acceptance
43
‘deformed and abortive creation’
Mirrors as a description of monster
Shows, through his psychology, that he has a veneration (love) for the beautiful – hence rejection of creature
- links back to eugenics and status being dependant on looks (Elizabeth)
59 ‘One hand stretched out, seemingly to detain me’ Unreliability in narration
- discrepancy of narration vs reality
- Peace offering?
58- 59
>‘It breathed hard and a convulsive movement agitated its limbs’- Creature
>‘every limb became convulsed’ – Victor
First impression of the creature – Victor creates a negative perspective through his own description – We see the Creature’s flaws through Victor’s eyes only
Doubling establishes an immediate connection
- Significance of both being asleep shows doubling is subconscious
Religion
39 ‘saintly soul of Elizabeth’ ‘celestial eyes’ Semantic field of the angelic - contrasted by the contextual views that females = weak Idealisation of femininity
Page 118 ‘my spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature’ >Romanticised – appreciating beauty of nature – doubles Victor
>He stops stealing food out of love for father figure – attack on Victor – existential excuse of creature
>Shows his natural absorption – link to violence being impressionable
>Simplistic beauty in nature – juxtaposes Victor’s use of the sublime
206 ‘The spirits of the departed seemed to flit around, and cast a shadow’
>supernatural vs science
>Gothic – enlightenment
>Highlights Victor’s transformation – he is haunted /broken
224 ‘lost in darkness’ Enlightenment – physical separation of Victor – shows Walton’s emotional turmoil and doubles both their lack of direction – critique of solo ambition
Society / Eugenics
Chap 1
‘I am by birth a Genevese’
‘my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic’
- ‘I am’ – certainty, egocentric
- ‘birth’ – defined by birth not achievement
The idea that family are nothing but an established hierarchical system to support you – status in birth EUGENICS
Pride + power in heritage + pressure to live up to it = establishes Victor’s aims in life
>By focussing on the achievements of others he is diminishing his own
36 ‘She appeared of different stock’ Links to Eugenics The idea of being born into a class Elizabeth’s appearance means she is able to have Victor’s ‘approval’ almost ‘stock’ almost animalistic breeding
The trials = critique
89 ‘I bore a hell within me’ Justine’s Trial
Victor overwhelmed by guilt
>Echoes Dante’s inferno
>Product of hyperbole
>Personal pronoun – obsession with self
>Circumstantial evidence
>Established as source of power over religious values*
181 ‘I called myself the murderer of William, of Justine, and of Clerval’
–>‘I was spared the disgrace of publically appearing as a criminal’ Victor’s Trial
>Proves Victor’s conscious involvement in murders
>Juxtaposes Justine’s trial – contrast between their behaviour and treatment
>Criticism of social class – and passive role of women
192 ‘I confess to you my friend, that I love you’ Only time we hear a female voice – Elizabeth
>Shows Elizabeth to have her own morals – links to contextual insignificance of women
>Simultaneously strong and weak
>Open declaration – her selflessness
>Makes us question Victors reliability
Sublime / Weather
V ‘surrounded by ice’
‘thick fog’
Weather = realm of the unknown
Walton’s inability to see truth
Ice = entrapment
- psychological entrapment of mind – search for glory
>External landscape reflecting internal environment
V ‘surrounded by ice’ ‘thick fog’ Weather = realm of the unknown Walton’s inability to see truth Ice = entrapment - psychological entrapment of mind – search for glory >External landscape reflecting internal environment
42 ‘thunder-storm’
‘thunder burst’
‘frightful loudness’ Semantic field of relishing destruction - power
Pathetic fallacy – initiates negative foreboding
Creature learns from Victor – shows the origins of his association of violence resulting in power
‘Graves End’
‘Greenwich’ –>Transgression of danger to relative local worlds – establishing relatable fears
Page 118* ‘my spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature’ >Romanticised – appreciating beauty of nature – doubles Victor
>He stops stealing food out of love for father figure – attack on Victor – existential excuse of creature
>Shows his natural absorption – link to violence being impressionable
>Simplistic beauty in nature – juxtaposes Victor’s use of the sublime
Transformation
CREATING CREATURES:
55 ‘bless me as its creator’
171 ‘I shudder to think future ages might curse me as their pest’
Biblical
Contrasts philanthropic style of writing with egotistical, omniscient, attitudes and actions
Contrast in motivations of making first and second creatures
- still egocentric (driven by opinion of others and his legacy)
- however this time he had a more defeatist attitude
POETIC - CLERVAL’s INFLUENCE
70 ‘Fire that consumes your own heart’ Developed ability to appreciate poetry – fundamental beauty and truth – Clerval’s influence >Transformation of Victor >Victor
>Clerval Keats; ‘Beauty is truth and truth, beauty’
VICTOR + CREATURE DBLD
Page 118 ‘my spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature’ >Romanticised – appreciating beauty of nature – doubles Victor
>He stops stealing food out of love for father figure – attack on Victor – existential excuse of creature
>Shows his natural absorption – link to violence being impressionable
>Simplistic beauty in nature – juxtaposes Victor’s use of the sublime
VICTOR
206 ‘The spirits of the departed seemed to flit around, and cast a shadow’ >supernatural vs science
>Gothic – enlightenment
>Highlights Victor’s transformation – he is haunted/broken
The Domestic
54 ‘how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world’ The domestic – lack of ambition
Ridiculing idea of exploration – attack on masculinity
Chap VI
- Letter from Liz ‘return to us’ Come home – convincing Victor never speaks of friendly home – isolates himself, prioritising ambition
Chap 15 ‘They are the most excellent creatures in the World’ >Perversion of expected connotations – Victor’s use of ‘Creature’ differs in meaning
- shows creature has learnt from Victor
>Irony – father’s blindness allows him to see past physical appearance
>Creature has blinded himself to the faults of the De Lacey’s
>Victor blinds himself of rationality – death of Justine
Page 117 ‘friends’ >Creature associating himself with the idea of family identity
>Speaking in hindsight – regardless of how they treated him – how much do we believe him? Potential manipulation
>Or just having us associate with his position – lack of social understanding
