Chapter 1
“I am by birth a Genevese;
and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic.”
“This man, whose name was Beaufort, was of a proud and unbending disposition,
and could not bear to live in poverty and oblivion in the same country where
he had formerly been distinguished for his rank and magnificence.”
“I, their eldest child, was born at Naples,
and as an infant accompanied them in their rambles.”
“…their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by Heaven, …”
“They consulted their village priest, and the result was,
that Elizabeth Lavenza became the inmate of my parents’ house—my more than sister—
the beautiful and adored companion of all my occupations and my pleasures.”
Chapter 2
“…but, with all my ardour, I was capable of a more intense application,
and was more deeply smitten with the thirst for knowledge.”
“It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn;”
“I feel exquisite pleasure in dwelling on the recollections of childhood,
before misfortune had tainted my mind, …”
“I have described myself as always having been embued
with a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature.”
“My father was not scientific,
and I was left to struggle with a child’s blindness,
added to a student’s thirst for knowledge.”
“The raising of ghosts or devils was a promise liberally accorded by my favourite authors,
the fulfilment of which I most eagerly sought;”
“When I was about fifteen years old we had retired to our house near Belrive,
when we witnessed a most violent and terrible thunder-storm.”
Chapter 3
“When I had attained the age of seventeen, my parents resolved that
I should become a student at the university of Ingolstadt.”
“She died calmly; and her countenance expressed affection even in death.”
“I ardently desired the acquisition of knowledge.”
“‘Every minute,’ continued M. Krempe with warmth,
‘every instant that you have wasted on those books is utterly and entirely lost.’”
“I returned home, not disappointed, for I have said that I had
long considered those authors useless whom the professor reprobated;”
“There only remained a resolution to return to my ancient studies,
and to devote myself to a science for which I believed myself to possess a natural talent.”
Chapter 4
“From this day natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry,
in the most comprehensive sense of the term, became nearly my sole occupation.”
“Professor Krempe often asked me, with a sly smile, how Cornelius Agrippa went on?
whilst M. Waldman expressed the most heart-felt exultation in my progress.”
“One of the phenomena which had peculiarly attracted my attention
was the structure of the human frame, and, indeed, any animal endued with life.”
“To examine the causes of life, we must first have recourse to death.
I became acquainted with the science of anatomy: but this was not sufficient;
I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human body.”
“Although I possessed the capacity of bestowing animation,
yet to prepare a frame for the reception of it,
with all its intricacies of fibres, muscles, and veins,
still remained a work of inconceivable difficulty and labour.”
“It was with these feelings that I began the creation of a human being.”
“Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds,
which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world.”
“Sometimes, on the very brink of certainty, I failed;
yet still I clung to the hope which the next day or the next hour might realise.”
Chapter 5
“With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me,
that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet.”
“…by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light,
I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open;
it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs.”
“How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe,
or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?”
“His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!—Great God!”
“I had worked hard for nearly two years,
for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.
For this I had deprived myself of rest and health.”
“…but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished,
and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.”
“Nothing could equal my delight on seeing Clerval;
his presence brought back to my thoughts my father, Elizabeth,
and all those scenes of home so dear to my recollection.
I grasped his hand, and in a moment forgot my horror and misfortune;”
“You will repay me entirely, if you do not discompose yourself, but get well as fast as you can;“
Chapter 6
“You have been ill, very ill, and even the constant letters of dear kind Henry
are not sufficient to reassure me on your account.”
“I will write instantly, and relieve them from the anxiety they must feel.”
“Ever since the fatal night, the end of my labours, and the beginning of my misfortunes,
I had conceived a violent antipathy even to the name of natural philosophy.”
“When I was otherwise quite restored to health,
the sight of a chemical instrument would renew all the agony of my nervous symptoms.”
“How different from the manly and heroical poetry of Greece and Rome!”
“I felt this delay very bitterly; for I longed to see my native town and my beloved friends.”
Chapter 7
“But that would be a cruel kindness, and I dare not do it.”
“I will not attempt to console you; but will simply relate the circumstances of the transaction.”
“…clasping her hands exclaimed, ‘O God! I have murdered my darling child!’”
“…are you always to be unhappy? My dear friend, what has happened?”
“Dear mountains! my own beautiful lake! how do you welcome your wanderer?”
“Yet, as I drew nearer home, grief and fear again overcame me. …
The picture appeared a vast and dim scene of evil, and I foresaw obscurely that
I was destined to become the most wretched of human beings.”
“I quitted my seat, and walked on, although the darkness and storm increased every minute,
and the thunder burst with a terrific crash over my head.”
“…its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity,
instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the filthy dæmon, to whom I had given life.”
“No one can conceive the anguish I suffered during the remainder of the night,
which I spent, cold and wet, in the open air.”
“But I did not feel the inconvenience of the weather;
my imagination was busy in scenes of evil and despair.”
“You come to us now to share a misery which nothing can alleviate;
yet your presence will, I hope, revive our father, who seems sinking under his misfortune;”
“I was firmly convinced in my own mind that Justine,
and indeed every human being, was guiltless of this murder.”
Chapter 8
“It was to be decided, whether the result of my curiosity and lawless devices
would cause the death of two of my fellow-beings: …”
“It was dawn, and she quitted her asylum,
that she might again endeavour to find my brother.”
“A murmur of approbation followed Elizabeth’s simple and powerful appeal;”
“The ballots had been thrown; they were all black, and Justine was condemned.”
“The idea of this visit was torture to me, yet I could not refuse.”
“But I, the true murderer, felt the never-dying worm alive in my bosom,
which allowed of no hope or consolation.”
“From the tortures of my own heart, I turned to contemplate
the deep and voiceless grief of my Elizabeth. This also was my doing!”
Chapter 9
“Justine died; she rested; and I was alive.”
“This state of mind preyed upon my health,
which had perhaps never entirely recovered from the first shock it had sustained.”
“…often, I say, I was tempted to plunge into the silent lake,
that the waters might close over me and my calamities for ever.”
“I, not in deed, but in effect, was the true murderer.”
“Mont Blanc, the supreme and magnificent Mont Blanc,
raised itself from the surrounding aiguilles,
and its tremendous dôme overlooked the valley.”
Chapter 10
“I spent the following day roaming through the valley.”
“Where had they fled when the next morning I awoke?
All of soul-inspiriting fled with sleep, and dark melancholy clouded every thought.”
“It is a scene terrifically desolate.”
“It was nearly noon when I arrived at the top of the ascent.
For some time I sat upon the rock that overlooks the sea of ice.”
“As I said this, I suddenly beheld the figure of a man,
at some distance, advancing towards me with superhuman speed.”
“I entreat you to hear me, before you give vent to your hatred on my devoted head.
Have I not suffered enough, that you seek to increase my misery?”
“You accuse me of murder; and yet you would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature.”
“As he said this, he led the way across the ice: I followed.”
Chapter 11
“It is with considerable difficulty that I remember the original era of my being:
all the events of that period appear confused and indistinct.”
“By degrees, I remember, a stronger light pressed upon my nerves,
so that I was obliged to shut my eyes. Darkness then came over me, and troubled me;”
“I was a poor, helpless, miserable wretch; I knew, and could distinguish, nothing;”
“No distinct ideas occupied my mind; all was confused.”
“Sometimes I tried to imitate the pleasant songs of the birds, but was unable.
Sometimes I wished to express my sensations in my own mode,
but the uncouth and inarticulate sounds which broke from me frightened me into silence again.”
“In this emigration, I exceedingly lamented the loss of the fire
which I had obtained through accident, and knew not how to reproduce it.”
“Here then I retreated, and lay down happy to have found a shelter, however miserable,
from the inclemency of the season, and still more from the barbarity of man.”
“The family, after having been thus occupied for a short time,
extinguished their lights, and retired, as I conjectured, to rest.”
Chapter 12
“I thought of the occurrences of the day.
What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people;
and I longed to join them, but dared not.”
“Nothing could exceed the love and respect which
the younger cottagers exhibited towards their venerable companion.”
“I perceived that the words they spoke sometimes,
produced pleasure or pain, smiles or sadness, in the minds and countenances of the hearers.
This was indeed a godlike science, and I ardently desired to become acquainted with it.”
“The gentle manners and beauty of the cottagers greatly endeared them to me:
when they were unhappy, I felt depressed;
when they rejoiced, I sympathised in their joys.”
” I conjectured, therefore,
that he found on the paper signs for speech which he understood,
and I ardently longed to comprehend these also;”
“I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers—their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions:
but how was I terrified, when I viewed myself in a transparent pool!”
“My thoughts now became more active,
and I longed to discover the motives and feelings of these lovely creatures;“
Chapter 13
“I shall relate events, that impressed me with feelings which,
from what I had been, have made me what I am.”
“My senses were gratified and refreshed by
a thousand scents of delight, and a thousand sights of beauty.”
”…I observed the countenance of Felix was melancholy beyond expression;”
“Felix seemed ravished with delight when he saw her,
every trait of sorrow vanished from his face,
and it instantly expressed a degree of ecstatic joy,
of which I could hardly have believed it capable;”
“I soon perceived, that although the stranger uttered articulate sounds,
and appeared to have a language of her own,
she was neither understood by, nor herself understood, the cottagers.”
“Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base?”
“I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me:
I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge.”
“Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind,
when it has once seized on it, like a lichen on the rock.”
Chapter 14
“Some time elapsed before I learned the history of my friends.”
“The father of Safie had been the cause of their ruin.
He was a Turkish merchant, and had inhabited Paris for many years, when,
for some reason which I could not learn, he became obnoxious to the government.”
“She instructed her daughter in the tenets of her religion,
and taught her to aspire to higher powers of intellect,
and an independence of spirit, forbidden to the female followers of Mahomet.”
“The day for the execution of the Turk was fixed; but, on the night previous to it,
he quitted his prison, and before morning was distant many leagues from Paris.”
“The plot of Felix was quickly discovered, and De Lacey and Agatha were thrown into prison.”
“They found a miserable asylum in the cottage in Germany, where I discovered them.”
“Safie nursed her with the most devoted affection; but the poor girl died,
and the Arabian was left alone, unacquainted with the language of the country,
and utterly ignorant of the customs of the world.”
Chapter 15
“Such was the history of my beloved cottagers. It impressed me deeply.”
“As yet I looked upon crime as a distant evil;
benevolence and generosity were ever present before me…”
“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 ecstacy, but more frequently sunk me into the lowest dejection.”
“As I read, however, I applied much personally to my own feelings and condition.”
“Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence;
but his state was far different from mine in every other respect.”
“Many times I considered Satan as the fitter emblem of my condition;
for often, like him, when I viewed the bliss of my protectors,
the bitter gall of envy rose within me.”
“Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous
that even you turned from me in disgust?
God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring,
after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours,
more horrid even from the very resemblance.”
“The presence of Safie diffused happiness among its inhabitants;
and I also found that a greater degree of plenty reigned there.”
“They did not appear rich, but they were contented and happy;
their feelings were serene and peaceful, while mine became every day more tumultuous.”
“But my chief delights were the sight of the flowers,
the birds, and all the gay apparel of summer;”
“My attention, at this time, was solely directed towards my plan
of introducing myself into the cottage of my protectors.”
“To be friendless is indeed to be unfortunate; but the hearts of men,
when unprejudiced by any obvious self-interest, are full of brotherly love and charity.”
Chapter 16
“Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant,
did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed?”
“When night came, I quitted my retreat, and wandered in the wood;
and now, no longer restrained by the fear of discovery,
I gave vent to my anguish in fearful howlings.”
“The cold stars shone in mockery, and the bare trees waved their branches above me…”
“But I did not believe my errors to be irretrievable;
and, after much consideration, I resolved to return to the cottage,
seek the old man, and by my representations win him to my party.”
“I continued for the remainder of the day in my hovel in
a state of utter and stupid despair. My protectors had departed,
and had broken the only link that held me to the world.”
“I resolved to fly far from the scene of my misfortunes;
but to me, hated and despised, every country must be equally horrible.”
“Oh, earth! how often did I imprecate curses on the cause of my being!”
“This was then the reward of my benevolence!
I had saved a human being from destruction, and, as a recompense,
I now writhed under the miserable pain of a wound, which shattered the flesh and bone.”
“Suddenly, as I gazed on him, an idea seized me,
that this little creature was unprejudiced,
and had lived too short a time to have imbibed a horror of deformity.”
“Frankenstein! you belong then to my enemy—to him towards whom
I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim.”
“The sleeper stirred; a thrill of terror ran through me.
Should she indeed awake, and see me, and curse me, and denounce the murderer?”
“For some days I haunted the spot where these scenes had taken place;
sometimes wishing to see you, sometimes resolved to quit the world and its miseries for ever.”
Chapter 17
“The being finished speaking, and fixed his looks upon me in expectation of a reply.”
“You must create a female for me, with whom I can live in
the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being.”
“The latter part of his tale had kindled anew in me the anger
that had died away while he narrated his peaceful life among the cottagers,
and, as he said this, I could no longer suppress the rage that burned within me.”
“I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind?”
“A fiendish rage animated him as he said this;
his face was wrinkled into contortions too horrible for human eyes to behold;”
“Oh! my creator, make me happy; let me feel gratitude towards you for one benefit!”
“I was moved. I shuddered when I thought of the possible consequences of my consent;”
“How inconstant are your feelings!
but a moment ago you were moved by my representations,
and why do you again harden yourself to my complaints?”
“I consent to your demand, on your solemn oath to quit Europe for ever,
and every other place in the neighbourhood of man,
as soon as I shall deliver into your hands a female who will accompany you in your exile.”
“Saying this, he suddenly quitted me, fearful, perhaps, of any change in my sentiments.”
“His tale had occupied the whole day;
and the sun was upon the verge of the horizon when he departed.”
“Morning dawned before I arrived at the village of Chamounix;
I took no rest, but returned immediately to Geneva.”
“Even in my own heart I could give no expression to my sensations—
they weighed on me with a mountain’s weight,
and their excess destroyed my agony beneath them.”
Chapter 18
“Day after day, week after week, passed away on my return to Geneva;
and I could not collect the courage to recommence my work.”
“A change indeed had taken place in me: my health,
which had hitherto declined, was now much restored;”
“Could I enter into a festival with this deadly weight
yet hanging round my neck, and bowing me to the ground.”
“I expressed a wish to visit England; but, concealing the true reasons of this request,
I clothed my desires under a guise which excited no suspicion,
while I urged my desire with an earnestness that easily induced my father to comply.”
“Alas, how great was the contrast between us!
He was alive to every new scene; joyful when he saw the beauties of the setting sun,
and more happy when he beheld it rise, and recommence a new day.”
“Even I, depressed in mind,
and my spirits continually agitated by gloomy feelings, even I was pleased.”
Chapter 19
“I was principally occupied with the means of obtaining the
information necessary for the completion of my promise,
and quickly availed myself of the letters of introduction that I had brought with me,
addressed to the most distinguished natural philosophers.”
“Company was irksome to me; when alone, I could fill my mind
with the sights of heaven and earth; the voice of Henry soothed me,
and I could thus cheat myself into a transitory peace.”
“We quitted London on the 27th of March,
and remained a few days at Windsor, rambling in its beautiful forest.”
“But he found that a traveller’s life is one that includes much pain amidst its enjoyments.”
“I had now neglected my promise for some time,
and I feared the effects of the dæmon’s disappointment.”
“I visited Edinburgh with languid eyes and mind;
and yet that city might have interested the most unfortunate being.”
“Having parted from my friend,
I determined to visit some remote spot of Scotland,
and finish my work in solitude.”
Chapter 20
“As I sat, a train of reflection occurred to me,
which led me to consider the effects of what I was now doing.”
“I trembled, and my heart failed within me;
when, on looking up, I saw, by the light of the moon, the dæmon at the casement.”
“I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him,
and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged.”
“It is well. I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your wedding-night.”
“I burned with rage to pursue the murderer of my peace,
and precipitate him into the ocean.”
Chapter 21
“Several other men were examined concerning my landing;
and they agreed, that, with the strong north wind that had arisen during the night,
it was very probable that I had beaten about for many hours,
and had been obliged to return nearly to the same spot from which I had departed.”
“The examination, the presence of the magistrate and witnesses,
passed like a dream from my memory,
when I saw the lifeless form of Henry Clerval stretched before me.”
“I thank you; but all that you mention is nothing to me:
on the whole earth there is no comfort which I am capable of receiving.”
“As my sickness quitted me,
I was absorbed by a gloomy and black melancholy,
that nothing could dissipate.”
Chapter 22
“The voyage came to an end. We landed, and proceeded to Paris.”
“He wished me to seek amusement in society. I abhorred the face of man.”
“A thousand times would I have shed my own blood, drop by drop,
to have saved their lives; but I could not, my father,
indeed I could not sacrifice the whole human race.”
“This letter revived in my memory what I had before forgotten,
the threat of the fiend—‘I will be with you on your wedding night!’”
“Those were the last moments of my life during which I enjoyed the feeling of happiness.”
Chapter 23
“I had been calm during the day;
but so soon as night obscured the shapes of objects,
a thousand fears arose in my mind.”
“Why am I here to relate the destruction of the best hope, and the purest creature of earth?”
“It is indeed a tale so strange, that I should fear you would not credit it,
were there not something in truth which, however wonderful, forces conviction.”
“I broke from the house angry and disturbed,
and retired to meditate on some other mode of action.”
Chapter 24
“My present situation was one in which all voluntary thought was swallowed up and lost.”
“My first resolution was to quit Geneva for ever;
my country, which, when I was happy and beloved,
was dear to me, now, in my adversity, became hateful.”
“But revenge kept me alive; I dared not die, and leave my adversary in being.”
“They were dead, and I lived; their murderer also lived,
and to destroy him I must drag out my weary existence.”
“…sometimes he himself, who feared that if I lost all trace of him,
I should despair and die, left some mark to guide me.”
“Cold, want, and fatigue, were the least pains which I was destined to endure;”
“O blessed sleep! often, when most miserable,
I sank to repose, and my dreams lulled me even to rapture.”
“Sometimes, indeed, he left marks in writing on the barks of the trees,
or cut in stone, that guided me, and instigated my fury.”
“Some weeks before this period I had procured a sledge and dogs,
and thus traversed the snows with inconceivable speed.”
“…and I myself was about to sink under the accumulation of distress,
when I saw your vessel riding at anchor,
and holding forth to me hopes of succour and life.”