Frankenstein

by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

for nothing contributes so much to tranquillize the mind as a steady purpose—a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.

I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path.

I am required not only to raise the spirits of others, but sometimes to sustain my own, when theirs are failing.

I greatly need a friend who would have sense enough not to despise me as romantic, and affection enough for me to endeavour to regulate my mind.

my best years spent under your gentle and feminine fosterage,

silent as a Turk,

Nice turn of phrase to remember.

you know me sufficiently to confide in my prudence and considerateness whenever the safety of others is committed to my care.

“Unhappy man! Do you share my madness? Have you drunk also of the intoxicating draught? Hear me; let me reveal my tale, and you will dash the cup from your lips!”

I spoke of my desire of finding a friend, of my thirst for a more intimate sympathy with a fellow mind than had ever fallen to my lot, and expressed my conviction that a man could boast of little happiness who did not enjoy this blessing.

Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery and be overwhelmed by disappointments, yet when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures.

divine

You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been.

He bitterly deplored the false pride which led his friend to a conduct so little worthy of the affection that united them.

Caroline Beaufort possessed a mind of an uncommon mould, and her courage rose to support her in her adversity.

Perhaps during former years he had suffered from the late-discovered unworthiness of one beloved and so was disposed to set a greater value on tried worth.

Much as they were attached to each other, they seemed to draw inexhaustible stores of affection from a very mine of love to bestow them upon me.

bestowed on them by heaven,

every hour of my infant life I received a lesson of patience, of charity, and of self-control, I was so guided by a silken cord that all seemed but one train of enjoyment to me.

a being heaven-sent, and bearing a celestial stamp in all her features.

she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as mine—mine to protect, love, and cherish.

I need not say that we were strangers to any species of disunion or dispute. Harmony was the soul of our companionship,

she found ample scope for admiration and delight.

When I mingled with other families I distinctly discerned how peculiarly fortunate my lot was, and gratitude assisted the development of filial love.

It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world.

She was the living spirit of love to soften and attract;

she was there to subdue me to a semblance of her own gentleness.

Yet he might not have been so perfectly humane, so thoughtful in his generosity, so full of kindness and tenderness amidst his passion for adventurous exploit, had she not unfolded to him the real loveliness of beneficence and...

The raising of ghosts or devils was a promise liberally accorded by my favourite authors, the fulfilment of which I most eagerly sought;

the lords of my imagination;

All that had so long engaged my attention suddenly grew despicable.

unusual tranquillity and gladness of soul

It was a strong effort of the spirit of good, but it was ineffectual. Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.

benignity

countenance

when the lapse of time proves the reality of the evil, then the actual bitterness of grief commences.

Henry deeply felt the misfortune of being debarred from a liberal education.

repugnance

ardently

uncouth

imbued

reprobated;

I had a contempt for the uses of modern natural philosophy.

chimeras

panegyric

mien

affability

indefatigable

A man would make but a very sorry chemist if he attended to that department of human knowledge alone. If your wish is to become really a man of science and not merely a petty experimentalist, I should advise you to apply to every branch of natural philosophy, including mathematics.”

pedantry.

facile