Frankenstein Nature Quotes

As I stood at the door, on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak which stood about twenty yards from our house; and so soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak had disappeared, and nothing remained but a blasted stump. When we visited it the next morning, we found the tree shattered in a singular manner. It was not splintered by the shock, but entirely reduced to thin ribbons of wood. I never beheld anything so utterly destroyed.

– Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, Chapter 2. The natural world is beautiful and capable of destruction at the same time. This natural occurrance is what prompts Victor’s fascination with science.

The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.

– Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, Chapter 5. When the creature awakens and the result of his bid to create life turns out to be monstrous, Victor realizes that he made a mistake and his dream to be god-like should have remained a dream.

During this short voyage I saw the lightning playing on the summit of Mont Blanc in the most beautiful figures. The storm appeared to approach rapidly, and, on landing, I ascended a low hill, that I might observe its progress. It advanced; the heavens were clouded, and I soon felt the rain coming slowly in large drops, but its violence quickly increased.

– Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, Chapter 7. Victor Frankenstein is awed by the beauty and violence contained together in nature during a lighting storm.

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.

“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.

“Some years ago, when the images which this world affords first opened upon me, when I felt the cheering warmth of summer and heard the rustling of the leaves and the warbling of the birds, and these were all to me, I should have wept to die; now it is my only consolation. Polluted by crimes and torn by the bitterest remorse, where can I find rest but in death?”

– Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, Chapter 24. The monster recalls his first experiences of the beauty of the natural world. He is now filled with remorse and a desire to die.
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