2 quotations linked to Frankenstein by or associated with Mary Shelley, with source notes, explanations and related topics.
Ambition, responsibility, isolation, grief, remorse, revenge, creation and the moral consequences of acts that cannot simply be undone.
Use these links when you want to inspect the wording in its wider work or edition.
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”
Abrupt change can overwhelm the mind because adaptation requires time, making disruption painful even before its long-term consequences are understood.
Frankenstein; the narrator reflects on the psychological strain created by sudden changes in circumstances.
“I ardently wished to extinguish that life which I had so thoughtlessly bestowed.”
Victor’s regret is inseparable from responsibility and revenge: after William and Justine’s deaths, he wishes he could reverse the act of creation whose consequences he believes he failed to foresee or govern.
Frankenstein, Chapter 9 in Project Gutenberg #84. Victor narrates the wish to extinguish the life he created after William’s murder and Justine’s execution, amid remorse, guilt, hatred and a stated desire for revenge. It is fictional first-person narration, not a healthy coping model or clinical guidance.
