Frankenstein quotes and important themes

Yellow quotes are those from Victor and the Green from the monster, dark blue are important themes. If anyone thinks I have missed any important quotes/themes out please add so I can edit. 

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  • Frankenstein
    • “ the first misfortune of my life occurred – an omen, as it were, of my future misery” – VF, P.25
    •  “...a dreary night... with an anxiety that almost amounted to agony” – VF and the day of creation, his mental state and pathetic fallacy, P.35
    • “...one hand was stretched out” – VF on the monster as Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam, P.36
    • “...my candle was nearly burnt out” – VF, a metaphor for his sanity, P.35
    • “...he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks” – VF on the monster as a newborn baby, P.36
    •  “During the whole of this wretched mockery of justice, I suffered living torture.” – VF, the beginning of injustice; brought on simply by himself, P.54
    •  “Justine died; she rested; and I was alive.” – VF; is death better than life at this point? P.61
    • “...deep, dark, death-like solitude” – VF, P.61- setting 
    • “All men hate the wretched” – M, proving himself different to humans, P.67 
    • “I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel” – M is comparing himself to the devil. Whereas he should have been a perfect being, he became an archetypal fallen angel, like Lucifer for example, P.68    
    •  “; my soul glowed with love and humanity” – M, until he realised he was not human, P.68
    • “Cursed be the day... in which you first saw light!” – VF. Unlike convention, the symbolism of light here is negative, P.69    
    •   “Like Adam, I was created apparently united by no link to any other being in existence, but... he had come forth from the hands of God a perfect creature, happy and prosperous... I was wretched, helpless and alone.” – M links himself to Adam, realises he is not a perfect creature, or a human. He acknowledges his alienation, his loneliness, P.90
    •  “Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition” – M is the fallen angel, P.90
    • “I am blind, and cannot judge of your countenance, but there is something in your words which persuades me that you are sincere.” – De Lacy. M speaks eloquently, is compassionate (at this point) and cares for the De Lacy family, but on the outside is a monster, P.94   
    •  “This was then the reward of my benevolence!” – M saves a woman from drowning, and is shot in doing so. Again, it is his appearance, not his intention, that is seen by mankind, P.99
    • “Oh! my creator, make me happy” – M, this is the simplest demand to his father/creator, P.102    
    •  “in his murder my crimes are consummated;” – M, upon seeing VF dead, believes justice has been done. He who abandoned him has suffered. P.158
    • “I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion” – M did actually develop fully, though. He was, however, an aborted experiment, P.160
    • I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers,  and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.- shows mans quest for knowledge 
    • My more than sister… since till death she was to be mine only -(Incest. Roles of women, shows how women are seen as objects 
    • The remains of the half finished creature, whom I had destroyed, lay scattered on the floor, and I almost felt as if I had mangled the living flesh of a human being. - Victor betrays the monster again by destroying the female 
    • “Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through…. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me”- Victor creates the monster for selfish reasons 
    • THEMES
      • Human nature
      • Monsters and men
      • Nature / nurture
      • The Creature’s idiolect
      • The double
      • The role and power of language
      • Frankenstein’s idiolect
      • How well written is Frankenstein?
      • Recurring language
      • Happy ending?
      • Comparative characters
      • IS Frankenstein Gothic?
      • Literary references
      • Can the Creature be blamed for his actions?
      • Modern popularity
      • Is Frankenstein a psychopath?
      • Influence of Shelley’s life and experiences
      • Religion
      • Death
      • Frankenstein’s (in)sanity
      • Father / son relationships
      • Knowledge and ambition
      • Romantic / Enlightenment?
      • Character and class
      • Frankenstein’s sexuality
      • Having children
      • Love
      • GenderRoles
      • Sex
      • The Family
      • 'good' and 'evil'
      • criticism of social attitudes (showing the dangers of ostracising people on unreasonable, prejudiced grounds)
      • need to respect the Creator and Creation
      • criticism of Percy Shelley as an absentee father
      • the need for family and friendship
      • a birth anxiety narrative

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