Biblical allusion – most of the references to heaven and hell, angels and demons in both texts are filtered through either Milton’s Paradise Lost or Dante’s Inferno (there’s a hint of Blake in Blade Runner to look out for as well). It is useful to have at least a passing knowledge of these texts.
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Victor “wandered like an evil spirit” in “a hell of intense tortures” (p105).
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Elizabeth: “I feel as if I were walking on the edge of a precipice, towards which thousands are crowding, and endeavouring to plunge me into the abyss” (p109).
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“nor the beauty of earth, nor of heaven, could redeem my soul from woe” (p110).
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For the creature, the De Lacey cottage is a “divine retreat as Pandemonium appeared to the daemons of hell after their sufferings in the lake of fire” (p125) – again, this is Paradise Lost. Reminds me of a line from Percy Shelley’s diary: “my mother fancies me on the high road to Pandemonium”.
Motif of sickness – reinforces Victor’s capacity to feel emotions deeply
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“This state of mind preyed upon my health” (p105).
The sublime – and Victor’s Romantic imagination, which allows him to take spiritual comfort from the beauty of nature
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“the dashing of the waterfalls around spoke of a power mighty as Omnipotence” (p111).
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“augmented and rendered sublime by the mighty Alps, whose white and shining pyramids and domes towered above all” (p111).
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“glorious presence – chamber of imperial Nature…they elevated me from all littleness of feeling” (p113).
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“the presence of another soul would destroy the solitary grandeur of the scene” (p114) – see Wordsworth, ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ for a similar sentiment.
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“sublime ecstasy that gave wings to the soul” (p115) – look out for references to Shelley (Percy, not Mary) around here.
Motif of ice and fire
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“pallid lightnings that played above Mont Blanc” (p112).
The ideal of the noble savage
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“Alas! why does man boast of sensibilities superior to those apparent in the brute; it only renders them more necessary beings (p115) #humblebrag.
The relationship between creator and creature
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“almost too horrible for human eyes” (p116) – Victor is horrified by the creature because of its appearance. Perhaps we, as readers, empathise with the creature precisely because we can not see it. Consider this idea when comparing descriptions of the creature with the physical beauty of the Replicants.
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“How dare you sport thus with life?” (p117) – the creature challenges Victor.
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“I am thy creature, and I will be ever mild and docile to my natural lord and king” (p118) – irony?
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“I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel” (p118) – probably the best quote in this novel, allusion to Paradise Lost.
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The creature emphasises the divide between itself and humanity, “your fellow-creatures” (p118).
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“Yet it is in your power to recompense me, and deliver them from an evil” (p119) – allusion to the Lord’s Prayer (and deliver us from evil), suggesting Victor is a god-like figure, which is reinforced by…
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“I felt what the duties of a creator towards his creature were” (p120).
The creature as complex being with a Romantic imagination of his own
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“A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me” (p121).
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“Soon a gentle light stole over the heavens, and gave me a sensation of pleasure” (p122).
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“I wished to express my sensations in my own mode” (p123)
Scientific belief
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“the light from my eyes” (p122) – I think (and this might be a stretch) that this is a reference to a Renaissance belief that the ability to see is linked to our eyes creating light.
- “I knew nothing of the science of words of letters” (p130) – and yet the creature learns by applying the scientific method, reinforcing the Enlightenment idea that men are inherently rational.
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