“Seven Shades of Life and Death”

An Analysis of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Representation of Her

Own Personal Experiences Through the Rise and Fall of the Characters

in Frankenstein.

Words of Mary Shelley

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” ― Victor Frankenstein, Chapter 23, lamenting his wife’s [Elizabeth] death“I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel...” ― Frankenstein’s Monster, Chapter 10, casting responsibility onto Victor for the destruction“If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear!” ― Frankenstein’s Monster, Chapter 17, expressing his hatred for his condition and for the person he was speaking to, Victor

“Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.” ― Frankenstein’s Monster, Chapter 10, proclaiming (threateningly) to Victor that he is physically stronger than Victor and would defend himself easily against him

What is anguish?How does it keep its hold on us?

Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s what keeps us in this world and yet far away.But nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.

And what can I not bear but this world and what it gave?And I can name seven of which I could not save.

When I, alas, I did not give a drop of the blood that was spilled.No, my mother did.

My beloved cast my fears into the reality of common existence,And who is here?Who is here but I?

And what keeps us together as we fall apart?

Oh, I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel,Who departs from here and all along stays anchored in his heart,

Oh, yes, I have fallen apart.I am spent,

I have faced creation, and welcomed its rival.I have stayed the course, except when I held to survival.

Come here.Rather, go away.

I cannot create something that will not too see its day,I cannot create life from a womb,

Or face my mother’s tomb,I must look down below and make room.

For you are not near.And I cannot spark your heart into mine own ear.

If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear.I will destroy them, and myself, and my cause.

Only the paleness will serve your applause.There will be no soul come out of rest to mend it.

For life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.

Death’s Quartet

“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 endeavor 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.” (Chapter 1, Letter 1)

Robert Walton

“At that age I became acquainted with the celebrated poets of our own country…” (Chapter 1, Letter 2)“Remember me with affection, should you never hear from me again.” (Chapter 1, Letter 2)

“Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world.” (Chapter 4)

Victor Frankenstein

“The fallen angel becomes the malignant devil. Yet even the enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.” (Chapter 24)

“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.” (Chapter 3)

The Fiend“You can blast my other passions, but revenge remains—revenge, henceforth dearer than light of food! I may die, but first you, my tyrant and tormentor, shall curse the sun that gazes on your misery.” (Chapter 20)

“When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, a monster, a blot upon the earth from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?” (Chapter 13)

Works Cited

• "B&N Community." Robert Walton vs. Victor Frankenstein. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2013.

•  "Foil." Shmoop. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.•  "Frankenstein." Frankenstein. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2013.•  "Frankenstein: Quotes." LitCharts. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May

2013.•  "Mary Shelley Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks

Television, n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.•  "Mary Shelley Quotes." Mary Shelley Quotes (Author of

Frankenstein). N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2013.•  "Robert Walton." Shmoop. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.• Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Diana

Gibson. Frankenstein. Madrid, España: Edimat Libros, 2000. Print.

•  "Victor Frankenstein and Robert Walton There Similarities." - WriteWork. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013.