“I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Frankenstein, pg 34) To me these words stuck out very strong. It shows us how Victor wanted with all of his heart to be the first one to create such a creature. He found a secret that no other scientist had found and was so excited about it. “I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter” (Frankenstein, pg 30).
The beginning of the book talks about how Victor is obsessed with an aurthor by the name of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa who wrote De Occulta Philosophia (1531) and was also a magician. Agrippa wrote of the supernatural things such as the Philosophers Stone and the elixir of life. Victor began to want to put life into something that he created in the beginning, but after his research he discovered that “Pursuing these reflections, I thought, that if I could bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in process of time (although I now found it impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body of corruption.” (Frankenstein pg 32) Victor had lost his mother right before he left to attend the University and as he studied all of life and death he wanted so much to bring her back to life or stop the process of death like with the elixir of life.
These show us how this novel will continue, with pain, suffering, learning, and more suffering. He finally gave life to something that was lifeless to only find horror in what he had created. Once the creature opened his eyes Victor was in shock and ran away. He has what I think of as a “mothers” remorse, since he himself had created this creature in which his despises, he states this to Robert with this, “catching and fearing with each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life.” (Frankenstein pg 35) Victor has so much remorse for what he had created when in the beginning he had so much happiness in creating it. From here on out Victors destiny is laid out before him with his constant battle of his creation and humanity.
I very much so enjoyed your post.
ReplyDeleteI definately agree with your choice of what struck you out of the book, as that phrase was also very attractive to myself.
I enjoy your analysis in using the quote to foreshadow the rest of the book. In adiditon I like your comment regarding Victor's response. I enjoyed your perception of the author's mindset regarding Victor's. Thanks for sharing! :)