“You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.” – RW pg 2

“What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man?” -RW pg 134 

“One man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought” to which Victor replies with “Unhappy man! Do you share my madness? Have you drunk also of the intoxicating draught?” – RW and VF pg 20

“I was their plaything and their idol, and something better—their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery,  according as they fulfilled their duties towards me.” – VF pg 27 (When Victor talks about his childhood, he suggests that parents play a big role in how their kids turn out, either “to happiness or misery.” Sure, blame it on your folks. Everyone else does.)

“…was capable of a more intense application and was more deeply smitten with the thirst for knowledge.” -VF pg 31 

“It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world.” –VF pg 33 

“…those events which led, by insensible steps, to my after tale of misery, for when I would account to myself for the birth of that passion which afterward ruled my destiny I find it arise, like a mountain river, from ignoble and almost forgotten sources; but, swelling as it proceeded, it became the torrent which, in its course, has swept away all my hopes and joys.” – VF pg 34(simile comparing a mountain river to his uncontrollable desire)

“I should certainly have thrown Agrippa aside and have contented my imagination, warmed as it was, by returning with greater ardour to my former studies. It is even possible that the train of my ideas would never have received the fatal impulse that led to my ruin.” – VF pg 35 (foreshadow)

“Wealth was an inferior object, but what glory would attend the discovery if I could banish disease from the human frame and render man invulnerable to any but a violent death! Nor were these my only visions. The raising of ghosts or devils was a promise liberally accorded by my favourite authors, the fulfilment of which I most eagerly sought” – VF pg 36 

“Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow.” – VF

“Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source…” – VF pg 54

“The summer months passed while I was thus engaged, heart and soul, in one pursuit. It was a most beautiful season; never did the fields bestow a more plentiful harvest or the vines yield a more luxuriant vintage, but my eyes were insensible to the charms of nature. And the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom I had not seen for so long a time. I knew my silence disquieted them…” – VF pg 55 (The beauty of nature distracts Victor from his other worries. Nature’s beauty has the capacity to alter human feelings)

” … I had selected his features as beautiful… but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast ” – VF pg 58(turning point… After the monster is created and comes to life, Victor realises the mistake he has made, upon first glance, he sees the beauty, but the horrid contrast of the beauty hits him and he quickly begins to associate the creature with negative descriptors.)

“One secret which I alone possessed was the hope to which I had dedicated my self; and the moon gazed on my midnight labours, while, with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding-places” – VF pg 55 (Tells us he has discovered a secret, he kept his project and studies secret, conducting experiments in a solitary chamber)

“In a solitary chamber, or rather cell, at the top of the house, and separated from all the other apartments by a gallery and staircase, I kept my workshop of filthy creation;” – VF pg 55

“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?” – VF pg 58

“A flash of lightning illuminated the object, and discovered its shape plainly to me; 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 daemon, to whom I had given life to.” – VF pg 83 (Victor is shocked and angered to encounter his creation after 2 years, this anger and hateful descriptors he attributes being symbolized by the incoming storm brewing in the mountains. The increasing conflict and tension between the two truly form in this encounter and the brewing storm shows this building rage.)

“I was tempted to plunge into the silent lake, that the waters might close over me and my calamities forever. But I was restrained…” -VF pg 103 ( Victor feels guilt and grief for Justine and William’s deaths, feeling responsible, as he created the monster who conducted these assassinations. He contemplates suicide. Victor has a deep depression, similar to how he felt right after he created the monster when Clerval had to nurse him to health. He often boats to the middle of the lake and ponders about jumping in and sinking in his sorrows, drowning in his guilt and grief.

“… bending my steps towards the near Alpine valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such scenes, to forget myself and my ephemeral, because human, sorrows.” – VF pg 106 (To escape the guilt of the murders, Victor decides to seek comfort from nature, venturing into the beautiful valleys while on his way to the village of Chamonix. Nature is a sedative for Victor, allowing him to lull away from the madness and tragedy that has recently occurred)

“If you will comply with my conditions, I will leave them and you at peace; but if you refuse, I will glut the maw of death, until it be satiated with the blood of your remaining friends.” -C pg 113 (While admiring the natural beauty of the valley, Victor comes across the monster and as the monster proposes that he either cares for him or he will kill more of his friends. Victor expresses immense hatred to the monster’s face, causing the monster, whom is trying to reason with him, to make a threat against him)

“Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it” – C pg 114

“I felt light, and hunger, and thirst, and darkness; innumerable sounds rang in my ears, and on all sides various scents saluted me; the only object that I could distinguish was the bright moon, and I fixed my eyes on that with pleasure.” -C pg 119 (The monster takes refuge in a forest near Ingolstadt, surviving on berries and guided by moonlight: The monster’s early life after being reanimated is very similar to that of a baby, knowing little of the world and having senses slowly develop.)

“The wind fanned the fire, and the cottage was quickly enveloped by the flames, which clung to it and licked it with their forked and destroying tongues.” -C pg 166 (Pain and anguish succumbs the monster, fueled by vengeance against his creator and the outcome of the trial. After discovering the eviction of the cottage family due to insufficient rent payment, he sets the cottage in flames and flees into the woods at night from the sights of man: The monster planned to return to the cottage and resolve issues between them, and when this plan fails he is in despair, restoring to turning his fury against inanimate objects and eventually sets fire to the cottage.)

“Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel.” -C 114 – (Allusion)

“I slept, indeed but I was disturbed by the wildest dreams. I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death... and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother.”- VF pg 59 Foreshadowing Elizabeth’s death through a dream)

“If I were engaged in any high undertaking or design, fraught with extensive utility to my fellow creatures, then could I live to fulfil it. But such is not my destiny; I must pursue and destroy the being to whom I gave existence; then my lot on earth will be fulfilled and I may die.” -RW pg 263 (The narrative now switches to Walton, as he finishes the story (therefore symmetrical) via letters to Margaret. Victor finishes telling his tale and we are now back to the present. One week has passed while he has been telling his tale and in this time the vessel still remains stuck and Victors health is deteriorating: Victor proves his story is true, showing letters between Felix and Saphie of the De Lacey cottage family and from seeing this as well as the apparition of the monster on a sled from the ship, Walton believes the monster and his tale is real. Walton is also discovered to have been writing notes whilst Victor told his tale. Walton idolizes Victor, inspired by his tale, but Victor disapproves of himself as a heroic figure, explaining his downfall from his days of prosperity, now being “chained in an eternal hell”, and insists that Walton learn not to follow in his footsteps by surrendering to dire ambitions. No one can replace Clerval as a friend and Elizabeth a lover, deciding that a friendship between him and Walton isn’t enough for him to sustain living in this world.)

“The storm appeared to approach rapidly… It advanced; the heavens were clouded, and I soon felt the rain coming slowly in large drops, but its violence quickly increased.” – VF pg 82 Storm foreshadows

“…the lake reflected the scene of the busy heavens, rendered still busier by the restless waves that were beginning to rise. Suddenly a heavy storm of rain descended.” – VF pg 240 Storms foreshadow that trouble is brewing

“Yet the idea that the field should live and triumphant my rage and vengeance returned, and like a mighty tide, overwhelmed every other feeling.” – VF pg 256 Simile showing VF’s uncontrollable need for revenge

“I contemplated the lake: the waters were placid; all around was calm; and the snowy mountains, `the palaces of nature,’ were not changed. By degrees the calm and heavenly scene restored me, and I continued my journey towards Geneva.” – VF pg 81 Setting – Geneva, the effect on VF of nature

“The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine. Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they were unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations I can remember.” – VF pg 31

“A serene sky and verdant fields filled me with ecstasy. The present season was indeed divine; the flowers of spring bloomed in the hedges, while those of summer were already in bud.” – VF pg 76 effect of nature on him

“The desert mountains and dreary glaciers are my refuge.” – M pg 115 isolation

“All, save I, were at rest or in enjoyment; I, like the arch fiend, bore a hell within me, and find- ing myself unsympathized with, wished to tear up the trees, spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have sat down and enjoyed the ruin.” – C pg 161

“No; from that moment I declared everlasting war against the species, and more than all, against him who had formed me and sent me forth to this insupportable misery.” -C pg 163 turning point

“…. if I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear, and chiefly towards you my archenemy…” – M pg 175 conflict

“Death snatches away many blooming children, the only hopes of their doting parents; how many brides and youthful lovers have been one day in the bloom of health and hope, and the next a prey for worms and the decay of the tomb!” – VF pg 217

“I swear; and by thee, O Night, and the spirits that preside over thee, to pursue the daemon who caused this misery, until he or I shall perish in mortal conflict.” – VF pg 250

“We are still surrounded by mountains of ice, still in imminent danger of being crushed in their conflict.” – RW pg 264 Analogy?

“Light, feeling, and sense will pass away; and in this condition must I find my happiness.” – RW pg 266 (At midnight Walton is startled to discover the monster peering over Victor’s dead lifeless body. About to escape, Walton asks him to stay, curious but mindful of Victor’s dying words. The monster admits he is a wretch, has done wrong in killing innocent lives and leaves to fulfil his wish to die by venturing North in order to find happiness in death: Walton listens to the monsters claims. He is trying to persuade Walton into believing that Victor is the true monster, claiming he endured much more misery than Victor. He is hated and despised by mankind, kicked and trampled even though he isn’t the only criminal in this horrible world (Felix and Victor). He leaves the vessel to fulfil his wish, presumably about to venture into death, darkness and desolation.)

“He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance.” – RW pg 277