Chapters 15 and 16 Quotes (Frankenstein): Flashcards
(58 cards)
“the history of my beloved cottagers” / “to admire their virtues and to deprecate the vices of mankind”
“As yet I looked upon crime as a distant evil; benevolence and generosity were ever present before me, inciting within me a desire to become an actor in the busy scene where so many admirable qualities were called forth and displayed”
“my protectors” repeated several times
“[the books] produced in me an infinity of new images and feelings that sometimes raised me to ecstasy, but more frequently sunk me into the lowest dejection”
“I was dependent on none and related to none” / “My person was hideous and my stature gigantic” / “What did this mean? Who was I? What was I? Whence did I come? What was my destination?”
“he elevated me [Plutarch] above the wretched sphere of my own reflections to admire and love the heroes of past ages”
“I felt the greatest ardour for virtue rise within me, and the abhorrence for vice”
“perhaps, if my first introduction to humanity had been made by a young soldier, burning for glory and slaughter, I should have been imbued with different sensations”
“Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence; but his state was far different from mine in every other respect” / “he had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous” / “he was allowed to converse with, and acquire knowledge from, beings of a superior nature”
“but I was wretched, helpless, and alone. Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition; for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors, the bitter gall of envy rose within me”
“Everything related in them which bears reference to my accursed origin” / “disgusting circumstances” / “odious and loathsome person”
“Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance”
“Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred”
“I persuaded myself that when they should become acquainted with my admiration of their virtues, they would compassionate me and overlook my personal deformity” / “who solicited their compassion and friendship?” / “I resolved, at least, not to despair, but in every way to fit myself for an interview with them which would decide my fate”
“They did not appear rich, but they were contented and happy; their feelings were serene and peaceful, while mine became every day more tumultuous”
“Increase of knowledge only discovered to me more clearly what a wretched outcast I was” / “I cherished hope […] but it vanished when I beheld my person reflected in the water”
“the trial which in a few months I resolved to undergo” / “I allowed my thoughts, unchecked by reason, to ramble in the fields of Paradise” / “amiable and lovely creatures sympathising with my feelings”
“But it was all a dream; no Eve soothed my sorrows”
“I was alone” / “But where was mine? [creator]” / “He had abandoned me: and, in the bitterness of my heart, I cursed him”
“the leaves decay and fall, and nature again assume the barren and bleak appearance”
“the more I saw of them, the greater became my desire to claim their protection and kindness; my heart yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures” / “the utmost limit of my ambition”
“I dared not think that they would turn from me with disdain and horror”
“My heart beat quick; this was the hour and moment of trial which would decide my hopes or realise my fears”
“I am now going to claim the protection of some friends, whom I sincerely love, and of whose favour I have some hopes”
