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Frankenstein

Book by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley · 42 quotes · Frankenstein, Frankenstein Novel, Ifs

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Frankenstein Quotes

“But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy; and the absence of the object of which I now feel as a most severe evil. I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection. I shall commit my thoughts to paper, it is true; but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling. I desire the company of a man who could sympathise with me; whose eyes would reply to mine. You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend. I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as of a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve or amend my plans. How would such a friend repair the faults of your poor brother!”

“It is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she, whom we saw everyday, and whose very existence appeared a part of our own, can have departed forever—that the brightness of a beloved eye can have been extinguished, and the sound of a voice so familiar, and dear to the ear, can be hushed, never more to be heard. These are the reflections of the first days; but when the lapse of time proves the reality of evil, then the actual bitterness of grief commences. Yet from whom has not that rude hand rent away some dear connexion; and why should I describe a sorrow which all have felt, and must feel?”

“I need not describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by that most irreparable evil, the void that presents itself to the soul, and the despair that is exhibited on the countenance. It is so long before the mind can persuade itself that she whom we saw every day and whose very existence appeared a part of our own can have departed forever—that the brightness of a beloved eye can have been extinguished and the sound of a voice so familiar and dear to the ear can be hushed, never more to be heard. These are the reflections of the first days; but when the lapse of time proves the reality of the evil, then the actual bitterness of grief commences. Yet from whom has not that rude hand rent away some dear connection? And why should I describe a sorrow which all have felt, and must feel? The time at length arrives when grief is rather an indulgence than a necessity; and the smile that plays upon the lips, although it may be deemed a sacrilege, is not banished. My mother was dead, but we had still duties which we ought to perform; we must continue our course with the rest and learn to think ourselves fortunate whilst one remains whom the spoiler has not seized.”

“If I have no ties and no affections, hatred and vice must be my portion; the love of another will destroy the cause of my crimes, and I shall become a thing of whose existence every one will be ignorant. My vices are the children of a forced solitude that I abhor; and my virtues will necessarily arise when I live in communion with an equal. I shall feel the affections of a sensitive being, and become linked to the chain of existence and events, from which I am now excluded.”

“Plutarch taught me high thoughts; he elevated me above the wretched sphere of my own reflections, to admire and love the heroes of past ages. Many things I read surpassed my understanding and experience. I had a very confused knowledge of kingdoms, wide extents of country, mighty rivers, and boundless seas. This book developed new and mightier scenes of action. I read of men concerned in public affairs, governing or massacring their species. I felt the greatest ardour for virtue rise within me, and abhorrence for vice.”

“From this time Elizabeth Lavenza became my playfellow, and, as we grew older, my friend. She was docile and good tempered, yet gay and playful as a summer insect. Although she was lively and animated, her feelings were strong and deep, and her disposition uncommonly affectionate. No one could better enjoy liberty, yet no one could submit with more grace than she did to constraint and caprice. Her imagination was luxuriant, yet her capability of application was great. Her person was the image of her mind; her hazel eyes, although as lively as a bird's, possessed an attractive softness. Her figure was light and airy; and, though capable of enduring great fatigue, she appeared the most fragile creature in the world. While I admired her understanding and fancy, I loved to tend on her, as I should on a favourite animal; and I never saw so much grace both of person and mind united to so little pretension. Every one adored Elizabeth. If the servants had any request to make, it was always through her intercession.”

“Sólo de ti podía esperar socorro, aunque no me despertaba otro sentimiento que el del odio. ¡Insensible, despiadado creador! ,e habías dotado de percepción y de pasiones, y luego me habías arrojado al mundo para desprecio y horror de la humanidad. Pero sólo de ti podía recabar piedad y desagravio, y en ti decidí buscar esa justicia que en vano trataba de obtener de cualquier ser con forma humana.”

“Pero ¿Dónde estaban mis amigos y familiares? No había tenido un padre que cuidase de mi infancia, ni una madre que me bendijese con sus sonrisas y caricias; y si los tuve, toda mi vida pasada no era sino tiniebla, un ciego vacío que no distinguía nada. Desde el principio de mis recuerdos, había sido como era entonces en estatura y proporción. Hasta ahora, nunca había visto a un ser que se pareciese a mí ni pretendiese contacto alguno conmigo. ¿ Qué era yo? La pregunta me surgía una y otra vez, sólo para contestarla con gemidos”

“¡ Maldito sea el día en que recibí la vida! -exclamé con agonía-. ¡Maldito mi creador! ¿ Por qué fabricaste un monstruo tan espantoso que incluso tú mismo te apartaste horrorizado de mí? Dios, en su misericordia hizo al hombre hermoso y atractivo, a su propia imagen; en cambio, mi figura era una mezcla inmunda, una parodia de la tuya, más espantosa aún por su parecido. Satanás tuvo a sus compañeros, a sus demonios seguidores, que le admiraban y alentaban; pero yo me encuentro solo y soy abominado.”

“But I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy, and the absence of which I now feel as a most severe evil, I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection. I shalll commit my thoughts to paper, it is true; but that is a poor medium for the communication of feeling. I desire the company of a man who would sympathize with me, whose eyes would reply to mine. You may deem me romantic, my dear sister, but I bitterly feel the want of a friend. I have no one near me, gentle yet courageous, possessed of a cultivated as well as a capacious mind, whose tastes are like my own, to approve or amend my plans. How would such a friend repair the faults of your poor brother!”