“Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”
— Frankenstein (1818)
The creature's warning to Victor. Shelley gives the monster a voice of terrifying clarity — the one who has nothing to lose is the most dangerous of all.
Author Quotes
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley.
b. 1797d. 18514 quotes
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”
— Frankenstein (1818)
Victor's observation after the creature's birth. Shelley identifies the psychological cost of transformation — even desired change devastates the unprepared mind.
“Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it.”
— Frankenstein (1818)
The creature's stubborn attachment to existence despite its torment. Shelley channels the paradox: life is pain, and yet we cling to it.
“I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe.”
— Frankenstein (1818)
The creature's plea. Shelley makes the monster's emotional range exceed that of his creator — he is capable of both infinite tenderness and infinite fury, needing only connection to choose the former.