Frankenstein - Chapter 5 Flashcards
(13 cards)
‘It was a dreary night of_________… the rain pattered _________’
‘It was a dreary night of November… the rain pattered dismally’ - Victor, Chapter 5 - pathetic fallacy creates a gothic atmosphere. The miserable weather foreshadows Victor’s impending misery to highlight the dangerous immorality of his actions.
‘It was already ___ in the morning’
‘It was already one in the morning’ - Victor, Chapter 5 - Victor’s transgressive actions take place in the night as sinful behaviour must be hidden = immoral.
‘my _______ was nearly burnt out’/’half-_______________light’
‘my candle was nearly burnt out’/’half-extinguished light’ - Victor, Chapter 5 -
Light imagery gradually dwindling into darkness reflects diminishing hope for Victor to not transgress
contrasting ‘a sudden light broke in upon me’ (chapter 4) to highlight the dark reality of what Victor saw as enlightening discovery.
Analyse ‘catastrophe’/’wretch’
Victor, Chapter 5, dehumanises and others the monster from its’ birth with hurling insults
I beheld the _____ the _______ monster whom i had created
The demoniacal corpse to which i had so _______ given life
I beheld the wretch - the miserable monster whom i had created
The demoniacal corpse to which i had so miserably given life
violent, negative language highlights Frankenstein’s prejudices against his own creation.
Alliterative language also highlights the spite in Frankenstein’s voice - the disappointment at his own creation.
It became a thing such as even ______ could not have conceived
It became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived - Victor, Chapter 5 - intertextual reference to the inferno (epic poem by Dantes Alighieri) to suggest Victor sees the monster as so horrific that it exceeds hell
contrasts ‘the secrets of heaven and earth’ (Chapter 2)
‘Dearest Clerval.. _____________ are you to me’
Dearest Clerval.. How kind, how very good are you to me’
Clerval may represent the one, true, friendship that Victor manages to maintain until his death. Perhaps the only character that attempts to save victor from isolation and creating even worse monstrosities. Perhaps his kindness is emphasised by Shelley to form an emotional bond between reader and Clerval, so that when we see his eagerness and ambition to learn in later chapters, there is a genuine fear of what this could lead to. Then he dies through it.
‘__________. Beautiful! Great ___!
‘beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! - Victor, Chapter 5 - anadiplosis emphasises the stark contrast between what Victor imagined the monster to be and the reality. Reference to God creates irony surrounding Victor’s unholy actions as he previously aspired to become God-like
‘___________ skin’/’___ yellow eye’/’dun-_____sockets’
‘Yellow skin’/’dull yellow eye’/’dun-white sockets’ - Victor, Chapter 5 - Colour imagery
creates a semantic field of disease and contamination to convey the impure existence of the monster in reflection of Victor’s corruption
Why does Shelley use a repetition of first person pronouns in Victor’s narration?
Examples - ‘I passed the night so wretchedly’/’my pulse’/’I nearly sank’/’I felt the bitterness’ - emphasises Victor’s self-obsession and the consequential neglect of the monster to suggest Victor’s selfishness overpowers his ability to properly care for his creation.
‘this catastophe’/’the wretch’
‘lifeless thing’/’its limbs’
“Through _______ and extreme _________”
“Through languor and extreme weakness” - Victor, chapter 5 physical punishment for Victor’s actions emphasise his rebellion against the natural order and, in turn, god
