Frankenstein: Character Quotations (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “so deeply engaged” and “sufficient rest”

What the quotation means: Victor Frankenstein admits that he is very focused on his scientific experiment, and that it takes up so much of his time that he does not get enough rest

Theme: Ambition

• Victor Frankenstein is a typically gothic representation of an ambitious scientist:

  • His obsession with his creation leads to psychological torment 

  • He understates it as “deeply engaged”

• Shelley foreshadows his mental decline by hinting at the scientist’s deep preoccupation:

  • He suggests he puts the experiment before basic needs like sleep

Key word or phrase to memorise: “Wretched devil” and “extinguish the spark”

What the quotation means: Victor Frankenstein calls his Creature pitiful and evil, and threatens to destroy him by putting out the “spark” that brought him to life

Theme: Science and creation

• Victor Frankenstein believes he has the right to create life and end it as he chooses:

  • He uses imagery connoting to science (“spark”) to imply his power

  • He dehumanises the Creature and threatens to “extinguish” his life

• Victor, admitting that he has given life “negligently”, accepts his recklessness:

  • Victor calls the Creature a “devil” implying that he, as creator, is more like a god, and is able to destroy evil

  • Shelley illustrates his dangerous arrogance about science and nature

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “devote” and “destruction”

What the quotation means: Victor Frankenstein promises to destroy the Creature he has made, and says he is dedicated to this task whether alive or dead

Theme: Power and control

• Shelley presents Victor Frankenstein as unchangeable:

  • He does not learn moderation or modesty, suggesting that he can control events even after death 

  • This offers a stark warning about obsessive and powerful individuals 

• Victor’s extreme nature shifts from creation to destruction here:

  • The alliteration of “devote”, “death” and “destruction” conveys his fixation on his new task

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “sport” and “duty”

What the quotation means: The Creature confronts Victor Frankenstein and challenges his lack of responsibility, suggesting that if the scientist does what is right with him, he will do the same in return

Theme: Science and creation 

• The Creature’s rhetorical question conveys Shelley’s main challenge to science:

  • The juxtaposition of “duty” and “sport” suggests Victor has been playing instead of acting responsibly 

  • The word “dare” alludes to Victor’s arrogant abuse of power

• The Creature, in many ways, symbolises nature in contrast to science:

  • He says that if the scientist behaves responsibly, harm to “mankind” would be avoided

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “gentle manners” and “sympathised”

What the quotation means: The Creature tells Victor about his time watching the cottagers; he says how much he liked them and that he shared their emotions

Theme: Nature versus nurture

• Shelley presents the Creature as empathetic under the influence of the “gentle” cottagers:

  • This suggests the potential for the Creature to be good, rather than the monster it sees itself has

  • Emotive language highlights the Creature’s compassionate nature

• Shelley raises questions about cause and effect via the Creature’s response to its alienation:

  • This sympathetic portrayal contrasts with Shelley’s later depiction of its vengeful rage

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “impotent envy” and “thirst for revenge”

What the quotation means: The Creature becomes enraged with a sense of injustice; he is jealous at the power others have over their lives while he is “impotent” (without power), and this creates a need for revenge that cannot be satisfied

Theme: Power and control

• Shelley illustrates what she believes is the consequence of irresponsible science:

  • She depicts the outcome of reckless actions by those who have power  

• It is the Creature’s disenfranchisement that makes it envious:

  • It describes feeling powerless

  • The emotive word “envy” conveys how his sense of injustice becomes rage

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “glow with an enthusiasm” and “steady purpose” 

What the quotation means: Walton writes of his excitement about exploration, and says that a fixed purpose makes him feel like a god, and calms him

Theme: Ambition

• Shelley mirrors Victor Frankenstein’s obsessive nature with Walton’s:

  • Imagery like “heaven” and “glow” suggests Walton feels powerful

  • Perhaps Shelley wanted to challenge reckless explorers as well as scientists

• Shelley implies Walton is proud of his obsessive and restless nature:

  • He says it is a by-product of an intellectual mind

  • Walton’s language is hyperbolic, conveying instability

  • His extreme “enthusiasm” is dulled or “tranquillised” by a steady task

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “fixed as fate”

What the quotation means: Walton insists that, despite complaints about the obstacles on his journey, he will not give up, as his intentions are as certain as destiny

Theme:  Power and control

• Shelley illustrates Walton’s absolute certainty in his own power:

  • He implies that he is able to control his future with strong resolve

• However, Shelley suggests that his thinking is not as clear as he may suppose:

  • His simile refers to “fate” as “fixed”

  • This alludes to invisible forces that control his destiny 

  • The alliteration helps draw attention to Walton’s belief in himself, raising questions about individual power

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “lament the fall”  

What the quotation means: Walton has no sympathy for the Creature, believing it to have double standards, causing its own destruction by destroying others

Theme:   Nature versus nurture

• Walton’s criticism of the Creature is ironic:

  • His judgement is hypocritical as it describes Victor Frankenstein

  • Shelley may be implying that the Creature has become like his creator 

• Walton’s main challenge to the Creature is that it comes to “whine” and feels victimised:

  • This is conveyed in the metaphor alluding to starting a fire and crying in the flames 

  • Walton, who prioritises honour, demands that the Creature takes responsibility for its actions

  • Yet he seems to hold his friend to a different set of values 

Key word or phrase to memorise: “guiltless” and “guilt”

What the quotation means: Elizabeth reassures Justine that she would have stood by her and trusted that she was innocent until she confessed it herself

Theme: Isolation and companionship

• Elizabeth is depicted as a loyal friend:

  • She tries to stand by Justine

  • The repetition in “guilt” and “guiltless” conveys her sense of justice

• Elizabeth is presented as a morally pure and kind character to contrast the idea of evil:

  • She is a typical gothic female, innocent and often naive 

  • She believes Justine’s confession must have been done honestly 

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “the favourite plan of your parents” 

What the quotation means: In Elizabeth’s letter she confesses to Victor that she worries he may love someone else, and that he is marrying her to please his parents (as is his duty)

Theme: Gender

• Elizabeth’s character draws attention to social norms in Shelley’s society:

  • She implies that the marriage is out of their control and at the will of their parents

  • This illustrates her limited agency in a patriarchal society 

• Shelley presents conflicts that occur as a result of arranged marriages between the European upper classes: 

  • The fact that it has been arranged makes her doubt Victor’s love

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “whispers” and “I will not listen”

What the quotation means: Elizabeth senses something is wrong after the wedding; a strange voice tells her not to depend on a good future

Theme: Power and control

• Shelley’s gothic novel depicts the danger of being too certain of one’s own power:

  • Elizabeth hears an eerie “whisper” that warns her of tragedy to come

  • She ignores it, saying that she refuses to listen to “sinister” news

• Perhaps, Shelley not only foreshadows Elizabeth’s death here, but also conveys ideas about free will and personal control