Ready to step into a Scarytale? We’ve collected our favorite, ghoulishly good Frankenstein by Mary Shelley quotes for your enjoyment. Read on to experience all the macabre and mesmerizing motivations behind Mary Shelley’s well-known characters.
The Beginning of a Scarytale for Spooky Season...
Mary Wollenscraft Shelley’s beloved gothic horror, Frankenstein, is a story that began as a challenge among friends. One rainy summer, while Mary and her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, were in Geneva, Switzerland, with their companions, Lord Byron and Dr. John Polidori, they each agreed to write a horror story. Shelley, after some toiling, spun her tale into this cherished tragic novel.
Reading these Frankenstein by Mary Shelley quotes leaves us pondering who is to blame for the tragedy that unfolds, and what truly creates a monster. Read on for our collection of some of the best Frankenstein quotes!
*Do keep in mind that, as this is a collection of ghoulishly good Frankenstein by Mary Shelley quotes, there are spoilers for the story! Stop here if you don’t want to know how this one ends (and go read it!).
In the Mind of a Monster: Our Favorite Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Quotes
“There is something at work in my soul which I do not understand.”
Robert Walton in a letter to his sister, Margaret Saville, Letter II - while this is written as a commentary on his desire to see the world and learn more of it, giving purpose to his wanderings, it’s also a bit of foreshadowing, as Walton’s quest for knowledge leads him to be pulled into the chain of events. It also seems to ask a larger question of the story—what is in the soul, much less of a created being, and in the doctor who awakens the creature?
“Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity and ruin.”
Victor Frankenstein to Robert Walton, Chapter 2 - in explaining the path that leads to his hunt for the creature. Small, seemingly insignificant decisions can change the course of your whole life. Frankenstein has, quite tragically, learned that first-hand in this tragic tale. Here we see him questioning whether his single-minded pursuit of knowledge is what led to such catastrophe, despite his own intentions.
“Nothing is more painful to the human mind than, after the feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows and deprives the soul both of hope and fear.”
Victor Frankenstein to Robert Walton, Chapter 9 - on the sadness and guilt he feels after the death of his brother, William, and the woman who is blamed, Justine. Frankenstein knows his brother is a victim of the creature he’d created, and is plagued with regrets.
Frankenstein Faces his Creation...
“Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.”
The creature to Victor Frankenstein, Chapter 10 - upon approaching to ask his creator to listen to his story. This quote gives us a look into the creature’s mind, as one who has experienced so much misery since coming to exist, and as one who has also seen that there is goodness in life.
“I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.”
The creature to Victor Frankenstein, Chapter 10 - foreshadowing his request that Frankenstein make him a companion. This quote reflects a central theme of the story: that villains are made, not born. Would the creature have become a murderer if he’d been shown kindness by his creator instead of hatred?
“It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another.”
The creature to Victor Frankenstein, Chapter 17 - after telling the tale of his experience, the creature requests that his creator make him a companion so he will no longer be alone, promising that they will go on and live alone in the wild together. The plea strikes a chord with Frankenstein, and we’re left to wonder what the ending would have been should this request have been fulfilled.
The Tragic Ending to Mary Shelley's Gothic Horror
“Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful.”
The creature to Victor Frankenstein, Chapter 20 - after Frankenstein destroys his second creature before completion, worried that creating a female will allow the pair to have children. The creature, distraught and enraged, and with nothing to lose, gives a terrifying warning.
“Farewell, Walton! Seek happiness in tranquillity, and avoid ambition, even if it be only the apparently innocent one of distinguishing yourself in science and discoveries. Yet why do I say this? I have myself been blasted in these hopes, yet another may succeed.”
Victor Frankenstein to Robert Walton, Chapter 24 - on his deathbed. His last words serve to underline the internal battle he goes through in the story, of whether the pursuit of science is worth the danger of its results.
“Am I to be thought the only criminal, when all humankind sinned against me?”
The creature to Robert Walton, Chapter 24 - spoken while standing over the body of his creator. The creature asks whether he is truly the only villain in this story, when he has suffered so much. This is an important moment where he questions how much the actions of his creator impacted his own, though he goes on to admit his own guilt and self-hatred.
“Soon these burning miseries will be extinct. I shall ascend my funeral pyre triumphantly, and exult in the agony of the torturing flames. The light of that conflagration will fade away; my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds. My spirit will sleep in peace, or if it thinks, it will not surely think thus. Farewell.”
The creature to Robert Walton, Chapter 24 and his deceased creator - facing the misery of his past and without hope, the creature flees into the icy north in pursuit of his own demise. It is a tragic ending for a tragic figure.
And so concludes our collection of some of the most meaningful Frankenstein quotes from the cherished novel written by Mary Shelley! Which one is your favorite? Did we miss one that you love?
Want to dive into the story where you can find all these Mary Shelley Quotes? Grab a copy of this stunning edition in our Gothic Horror Classics Collection, along with spine-tinglingly good editions of other gothic horror favorites. But hurry…these never stay on the shelf long!
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