Top 3 Frankenstein quotes

  • "What may not be expected in a country of eternal light?" - Letter 1

    This is a quote from Robert Waldon in the very first letter that he addresses his sister. He is here talking about the North Pole where he believes that it is always light and the sun never sets, however, more importantly, light is a major theme that is used to represent knowledge and discovery throughout the novel. While it is used often, the most profound usage of this symbol is during Frankenstein's monster's tale of birth. The monster only experiences a light before his birth and awakening, yet he himself states that all his senses were muddled and he could not differ one from the other.

  • "I can hardly describe to you the effect of these books. They 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." - Chapter 15

    The monster says thus of the books that he discovered in the forest and how the knowledge they held shaped his outlook. John Milton's Paradise Lost is a prominent book that is referenced throughout the novel, and it is also hinted that the monster takes the contents of the books to be historically accurate. In his perception of and reliance on books, Frankenstein's monster is similar to his creator, Victor Frankenstein. At the beginning of his tale, Victor emphasizes how the books of ancient authors had awakened in his mind the ideas of summoning the dead and curing all the ailments of the human body.

  • "I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion, to be spurned at, and kicked, and trampled on." - Chapter 24

    These are the words of the monster to Robert Waldon after he has discovered the death of Victor. This outburst of self-pity that issues from the mouth of the monster gives both the reader and Walton an understanding of the motives that the monster held in doing such malicious acts as described by Victor. The theme of abortion is also a prominent one throughout the book, and in this instance, it seeks to personify unwanted life.