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Critical quotations on 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley
A list of critical quotes on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, organised by theme.
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Theme Frankenstein CriticsReligion Punter on Frankenstein’s creation - "Ultimate crime against God."
Bethany Sims on Frankenstein breaching holy boundaries - "In his quest to be
immortalised, to become a godly 'creator', Frankenstein breaches sacred boundaries"
Science Brian Aldiss on science novels - "Frankenstein is the first science fiction novel."
Mellor on modern science - 'Shelley grounded her fiction... upon extensive
understanding of most recent scientific developments of her day'
Bennett on irresponsibility - 'science as a metaphor for any kind of irresponsible action'
Diane Roberts on Shelley’s fascination - 'Shelley was fascinated by the vast but perhaps
ominous potential of science.'
Bennet on the novel not being a warning against science - 'The book is not a warning
against science at all... what she was really concerned with was the politics of the era'
Victor is 'narcissistic; he's really hungry for self-aggrandisement.'
Anne Mellor on a warning against science – “implicit warning against the possible
inherent dangers of the technological developments of modern science”
Family/Mother Ellen Moers on the monster’s abandonment - "The creature's abandonment is more
and Fatherhood horrific than his creation."
Punter on Frankenstein’s lack of responsibility - 'Frankenstein's main sin is not the act of
creation but his failure to take responsibility for what he produces'
Claridge on the failure of Humans - 'the story demonstrates the failure of human beings
to parent their offspring'
Ellen Moers on birth - "Birth is a hideous thing in Frankenstein”.
Madigan on lack of compassion - “[Frankenstein] lacks compassion for his creature”
Supernatural Luisa Umana on the oppressed - "Shelley's monster reminds us that oppression creates
monsters"
The Other Luisa Umana on the Monster being oppressed - "The monster is a symbol for oppressed
people...Frankenstein is a symbol for oppressive society"
Punter on the Monster being excluded - "The creature idolises the domestic world, but
is excluded from it"
Transgression/ Hindel on Frankenstein’s desire – He "portrays an innocent desire to penetrate the
Forbidden secrets of heaven"
Knowledge Jane Blumberg on Frankenstein’s ambition - "Victor is blinded by ambition."
Punter on Frankenstein not accepting limits – “Frankenstein is an overreacher who
refuses to accept limitations and is subsequently punished.”
Hetherington on Frankenstein being punished - 'the protagonist is duly punished for
overstepping the boundaries laid down by God'
Punter on the monster’s lack of knowledge - 'Shelley is concerned to present the
monster... as born innocent, a tabula rasa'
Doppelgangers Cengage on the Monster being the evil - "The creature represents victors "evil shadow”.
Kestner on the narrators - The 'similarities among the three protagonists - Walton,
Frankenstein and the Creature- which signifies their doubleness and otherness, one the
doppelgänger of the next, including their desire to explore, their failure to love, their
loneliness, their avid reading and their egoism’.
Mishra on the doubling in narrative - suggests Frankenstein offers a 'narrative of
excessive duplication and reduplication and of dreamlike regressions and endless
mirroring'.
Lindsay Stewart on the Monster learning - "He has learnt by imitation"
Women Anna Trevor on a negative view of the women - "Women in Frankenstein are domestic,
selfless and useless."
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