Frankenstein Quotes + AO2 Flashcards
(93 cards)
1
Q
What does Walton want to discover?
A
“A passage near the pole”
2
Q
Who does he write his letters to?
A
His sister
3
Q
What does Walton represent?
A
A typical Georgian gentleman with an ambitious explorer spirit
4
Q
What does Walton represent?
A
A typical Georgian gentleman with an ambitious explorer spirit
5
Q
Walton: “the joy a ….. feels when he embarks on a …… ….”
A
Child,
Little boat
6
Q
Analyse: “the joy a child feels when he embarks on a little boat”
A
- naive optimism
- ignorant of potential dangers
- does not grasp magnitude of voyage
- represents the enlightenment
Shelley refers to Walton’s feelings about embarking on a voyage of discovery as ‘the joy a child feels when he embarks on a little boat’. Walton is driven by a naive sense of optimism that seems to cloud his judgement and make him ignorant to potential dangers he may face on his journey. He does not grasp the magnitude of his exploration, reducing it to an exploration done by a ‘child’ on a ‘little boat’; this over-ambition represents the explorer spirit embraced by many late Georgians, and the political movement: The Enlightenment.
7
Q
Walton: “I may there discover the …….. power which attracts the ……”
A
Wondrous,
Needle
8
Q
Analyse: “I may there discover the wondrous power which attracts the needle”
A
- Hyperbolic language
- Highlights Walton’s hubris
9
Q
“Success shall ….. my endeavours”
A
Crown
10
Q
Analyse: “success shall crown my endeavours”
A
- Walton driven by ambition
- sees himself as a pioneer (glorified self-image)
- ‘shall’ = certainty
11
Q
“Proceed over the …….. yet …….. element”
A
Untamed,
Obedient
12
Q
Analyse: “proceed over the untamed yet obedient element”
A
- antithesis (opposites)
- disregards power of nature
- views himself as superior to nature
- can link to Romantics as AO3
13
Q
Victor and Walton are doubles - what is the term for this?
A
Doppelgängers
14
Q
Victor and Walton are doubles - what is the term for this?
A
Doppelgängers
15
Q
“He must have been a ….. creature”
A
Noble
16
Q
Analyse: “He must have been a noble creature”
A
- Victor = embodiment of the enlightenment and its consequences
- ‘creature’ - unequal relationship, pity
17
Q
Analyse: “He must have been a noble creature”
A
- Unequal relationship, pity
- Victor = embodiment of enlightenment and its consequences
18
Q
“One man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of ………”
A
Knowledge
19
Q
“One man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of ………”
A
Knowledge
20
Q
Analyse: “One man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of knowledge”
A
- reckless ambition
- Walton mirrors Victors former self
- Enlightenment
21
Q
What word could be used to describe Victor’s childhood?
A
Idyllic
22
Q
“Inexhaustible stores of ……… from a very mine of love”
A
Affection
23
Q
Analyse: “Inexhaustible stores of affection from a very mine of love”
A
- hyperbolic language
- idyllic childhood
- contrast to Shelley’s own childhood
24
Q
“The innocent and helpless creature bestowed upon them by …….”
A
Heaven
25
Analyse: “The innocent and helpless creature bestowed upon them by Heaven”
- Hyperbolic language
- connotations of purity and naivety - foreshadows his later impure actions
- views himself as a gift
26
“A …… …. that all seemed but one train of enjoyment to me”
Silken cord
27
Analyse: “A silken cord that all seemed but one train of enjoyment to me”
- connotations of wealth, comfort and luxury
- ideal and easy childhood
28
What was Victor’s cousin called?
Elizabeth
29
“I have a …… ……. for my Victor - and tomorrow he shall have it”
Pretty present
30
Analyse: “I have a pretty present for my Victor - and tomorrow he shall have it”
- Elizabeth presented as a possession for Victor to own - objectification
- Lack of agency
- ‘it’ = dehumanising
31
“…. to protect, love and cherish”
“Till death she was to be …. only”
Mine
32
Analyse:
“mine to protect, love and cherish”
“Till death she was to by mine only”
- Highlights Victor’s superiority complex in his immediate assumption that Elizabeth needs protection
- ‘mine’ repeated - obsessive ownership
- ‘death’ foreshadowing
33
“….. of distinction”
Crown
34
“Bearing a …….. stamp in all her features”
Celestial
35
Analyse:
“A crown of distinction on her head… a being heaven-sent, and bearing a celestial stamp in all her features”
- biblical imagery places Elizabeth on a pedestal
- Victor’s obsession with the superficial can be linked to physiognomy
- objectification and lack of agency
36
“I was ….. wrapt up in this”
Solely
37
Analyse: “I was solely wrapt up in this”
- Neglects his own health and his relationships with family to focus on his studies
- becomes isolated - aware that his work breaks moral rules so unable to talk about it with anyone
- controlled by a desire to fulfil ambition
38
“The moon gazed on my …….. labours”
Midnight
39
Analyse: “The moon gazed on my midnight labours”
- personification of the moon - disapproving of Victor’s work
- Women are typically associated with labour - shows Victor’s transgression of the natural order by creating life - usurping both God and women presented as unnatural
40
“Vaults and …… houses”
Charnel
41
Analyse: “vaults and charnel houses”
- liminal setting (between life and death)
- in a place populated by death
- reflects Victor’s moral corruption (behaving outside socially accepted rules)
42
“I pursued ……. to her hiding places”
Nature
43
Analyse: “I pursued nature to her hiding places”
- personification of nature undermines its power
- Victor attempting to usurp natural order and become superior to nature through scientific knowledge
44
“…… night of November”
Dreary
45
Analyse: “Dreary night of November”
- Pathetic fallacy
- foreshadows the bad event about to occur
- gothic, scary setting
46
“My ……. was nearly burnt”
Candle
47
Analyse: “my candle was nearly burnt”
- metaphorical - represents his ambition fading
- light imagery - hope fading
48
Analyse: “yellow skin” “dull yellow eye”
- connotations of illness and corruption
49
Analyse: “pearly whiteness”
- connotations of purity and beauty which is contrasted on the creature
- All parts picked out to be beautiful - Victors intentions juxtaposed with reality
50
Who was put on trial for the murder of William, Victor’s brother?
Justine
51
“Dressed in ……..”
Mourning
52
Analyse:
“The appearance of Justine was calm”
“Dressed in mourning”
- foreshadowing her death
- shows passive acceptance of fate
53
Analyse: “a few witnesses”
- deferential language
- relies on others to appeal for her innocence
- lack of agency
- powerless
54
Analyse: “I must be condemned”
- declarative language
- defeatist attitude
- woman = easy target
- othered
- no hope/ acceptance
55
“I suffered living …….”
Torture
56
Analyse: “I suffered living torture”
- hyperbolic language
- victim complex
57
Where does Victor meet the monster?
The Alps
58
Analyse:
“tremendous and ever-moving glacier”
“Sublime ecstasy”
- lots of adjectives to emphasise the emotional effect nature has on him
- nature able to uplift him and dissolve his foul mood
- can link to sublime and Romantics
59
Analyse: “gave wings to the soul”
- angelic imagery
- sense of divinity in nature
- Romantics value nature as an almost celestial force
60
Analyse:
“Vile insect!”
- insulting and dehumanising
- animalistic imagery - othered
61
Analyse:
“I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen Angel”
- biblical imagery
- feels connection to satan, who also suffered abandonment from his creator
- intertextuality (Paradise Lost)
62
“There can be no ……… between you and me”
Community
63
Analyse: “There can be no community between you and me”
- Victor denies monster the connection he craves
- places himself superior to his being
- creates sympathetic response for monster
64
Why does Shelley use a framed narrative instead of having Victor tell the monsters tale?
The monster is able to give more detail and a truthful account of his experiences which evokes a sympathetic response from the reader
65
Analyse: “In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain”
- Human response to fire in both a physical and emotional way
- link to Prometheus
- link to Tabula Rasa - burns hand and gains knowledge
66
What does Shelley call the shelter that the monster hides in next to the De Lacey’s cottage?
A hovel
67
Analyse: “fearfully took refuge in a low hovel”
- Monster has gained knowledge through his encounters with humans and has subsequently come to fear them
- now seeks a place to hide from humans, sympathetic response
68
Analyse: “agreeable asylum”
- alliteration/ oxymoron
- negative connotations
- asylums usually for the mentally ill, who are often othered from society
69
Analyse: “barbarity of man”
- separates himself from mankind, othering
- his first experience with humans foreshadows his later violence
70
Analyse: “my kennel”
- animalistic imagery
- kennels usually for dogs
- othering
71
Analyse: “that was sufficient for me”
- doesn’t believe he deserves better conditions
- low self-esteem
- beginning of internalisation of society’s view of him
72
Analyse: “a blot upon the earth”
- impurity/ error
- aware of his status and ‘otherness’
- internalisation of society’s view of him
- self-loathing
- questioning his identity and meaning - bittnerness
73
Analyse: “my form is a filthy type to yours”
- self awareness
- inner conflict and turmoil
- knowledge has caused anger
- enraged by injustice of his situation
74
Who is the monster describing?
“Lovely creatures”
“Gentle beings”
“Amiable creatures”
De Lacey’s
75
Analyse:
“Lovely creatures”
“Gentle beings”
“Amiable creatures”
- uses the dehumanising language he’s referred to with to establish a connection to the De Lacey’s - if they are on his level, he may have hope of connecting with them
- contrasts the violence he was met with by other villagers
76
Analyse: “I longed to join them, but dared not”
- innocent and naive hope
- experiences have gained him knowledge which now stops him from interacting with the De Lacey’s and potentially finding happiness
- understanding of his own otherness
77
Analyse: “my limbs failed me and I sank to the ground”
- fragility caused by the overwhelming power of his emotions contrasts with his physical strength
- sympathy for monsters hope
78
Analyse: “struck me violently with a stick”
- another violent reaction with man, reinforcing the monsters bitterness towards humanity
- Felix represents society’s rejection of him here
79
Analyse: “waited with forced impatience until the moon had sunk to commence my operations”
- transformative moment
- doesn’t want nature to witness this act
- transgression
80
Analyse: “licked it with their forked and destroying tongues”
- personification of fire
- destruction
- represents monsters connection with Satan
81
What does the monster request to victor?
To create a female monster
82
Analyse: “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me”
- superiority complex by believing this new race would be in debt to him and view him as their master or god-like figure
- ironic - he’s now in debt to the monster as he abandoned him, not fulfilling the role of master that was his intention
- no longer wants responsibility
83
Analyse: “malicious because I am miserable”
- blames his violence on his feelings, feelings are caused by his isolation that Victor is responsible for
- link to Tabula Rasa
84
Analyse: “our lives will not be happy, but they will be harmless, and free from the misery i now feel”
- wishing to find happiness is a human trait; the monster separates himself from this desire and therefore separates himself from humanity
85
Where does Victor go to create the female monster?
The Orkneys
86
Analyse:
“Hardly more than a rock”
“The soil was barren”
“Ungazed at and unmolested”
- presented as a place where life is unable to flourish
- away from society - represents Victors transgression and how his morals have digressed from those accepted by society
- lack of people to witness this transgression
87
Analyse: “A race of devils”
- structural parallel highlights a change in Victors morals
- shows the harsh consequences of attempting to usurp god
88
Analyse:
“You are my creator, but I am your master; obey”
- shows a shift in power between monster and Victor
- Victor is no longer powerful or controlled by ambition
89
Analyse: “bridal bier”
- oxymoron of life and death - bridal implies prime of life, yet bier is a slab on which the dead lie
- consummation of the marriage never happens, and the monster never allows Victor to return to normality
- consequences of crossing boundaries- you are unable to go back or be redeemed
90
Analyse:
“Learn my miseries, and do not seek to increase your own”
“Avoid ambition”
- Victor appears to have learnt his lesson about blind ambition and the reckless pursuit of science
91
Analyse: “You may give up your purpose, but mine is assigned to me by Heaven”
- Victor has not fully learnt his lesson from his experiences and continues to place himself superior to others and believes that his mission is God given, not a consequence of his own actions
92
Analyse: “your abhorrence cannot equal that with which I regard myself”
- Self-loathing, internalisation of society’s view
- shows that attempting to usurp God brings pain for both the creator and what is created
93
Analyse: “I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly, and exult in the agony of the torturing flames”
- excited/ready to die, sympathy
- presents him as human
- fire imagery - links to satan and hell. Monster believes he is satan and is condemned to death
