Frankenstein Metaphors and Similes Quotes

No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success. 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; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs.

– Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein in Chapter 4. Victor doesn’t just have a scientific curiosity about the world and how it works. But he is arrogant and holds moral view of a world where science is the source of light, and the natural boundaries are darkness which must be overcome. He sees himself as a parental figure, bringing new individuals into the world, and a human god.

It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs.

– Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, Chapter 5. Victor Frankenstein on the first stirrings of life in his new creature. A sinister and foreboding atmosphere is created here, foreshadowing the devastation that is to come.

I remembered the effect that the view of the tremendous and ever-moving glacier had produced upon my mind when I first saw it. It had then filled me with a sublime ecstasy, that gave wings to the soul, and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to light and joy. The sight of the awful and majestic in nature had indeed always the effect of solemnizing my mind and causing me to forget the passing cares of life. I determined to go without a guide, for I was well acquainted with the path, and the presence of another would destroy the solitary grandeur of the scene.

– Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, Chapter 10. On his journey to Montanvert to mourn his brother, Victor feels lonely but the view of the glaciers calms him.

“Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good – misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.”

– Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, Chapter 10. The monster, who longs for love, blames Victor for his evil actions by failing to provide him with a loving, nourishing environment. He compares Victor to God and rebukes him for casting him as the fallen angel instead of Adam. In his allusions to the bible, the creature is referencing God’s love, which is at the heart of Christianity.

“The cold stars shone in mockery, and the bare trees waved their branches above me; now and then the sweet voice of a bird burst forth amidst the universal stillness. All, save I, were at rest or in enjoyment; I, like the arch-fiend, bore a hell within me, and finding 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.”

– Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, Chapter 16, The monster to Victor. The monster is frustrated with his inability to find even the slightest happiness. He envies everything and everyone that has peace and contentment, while he suffers hell.
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