Chapters 1-6 - Quotations

English Lit: Edexcel A Level Frankenstein, topic 7.2.3

Here are key quotations from Chapters 1-6:

Victor's studies become his "sole occupation".
Victor collects his "material" from charnel houses and graveyards, which fills him with "loathing".
"I pursued nature to her hiding place".
Note the feminisation of nature here and how Victor posits himself as the hunter and nature as the prey. Shelley may be commenting on the usurping of the female from the process of life-giving and how men push women into the submissive role in society.

Victor informs Walton of his success in creating new life in November as the Monster "agitated its limbs" with a "convulsive motion", echoing the notes from Luigi Galvani’s 1780 experiment with a dead frog’s legs.

Elizabeth describing Justine: "clever and gentle".
Victor on nature: "A selfish pursuit had cramped and narrowed me until your gentleness and affection warmed and opened my senses".

Test yourself on Chapters 1-6 - Quotations