30.11.2021
Notes:
Volume 2, Chapter 2 – Themes of: Nature, Isolation, Man vs Monster
Structure of the creatures communication: Statement, Appeal, Threat, Offer
Varied kinds of communication with intelligence, showing his ability to reason which
separates us (humans) from animals.
‘rise in a glacier’ – the source of a great river (link to pg.40), he is about to meet the result of
Victor’s ambition and passion.
‘glorious and imperial’ – the sublime, presenting nature as majestic and a kingdom.
‘thunder sound of an avalanche’ – introducing the arrival of the creature.
‘immutable laws’ – nature cannot be changed by man, man can be changed.
‘plaything’ – Victor himself tried to make nature his plaything, he is learning that nature is
supposed to be left alone.
‘subdued and tranquilised’ – he will never be free of remorse, but nature helps to reduce his
guilt and negative feelings.
‘unstained’ – man has not touched this nature, connotations of virginity and femininity.
‘peace’ ‘recess’ – nature is comforting and a protector.
Ominous, foreboding and gothic, (link to 76-77), saw the creature – pathetic fallacy, ‘the rain
was pouring in torrents’.
‘penetrate’ – he is still trying to penetrate and see through the veil, showing that he has not
yet repented for his sins and is not a good person.
‘sublime ecstasy’ - nature has been produced by God which makes it the greatest thing ever.
Victor may be getting closer to God by being close to and appreciating nature, like in ‘The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner’.
‘terrifically desolate’ – isolated in nature, untouched and unharmed by man’s hand.
‘necessary beings’ – William Godwin believed in fate, he implies that all our actions are
inevitable in a chain reaction.
Shelley is criticising this view, saying that we are affected by external forces and are
completely responsible for our own actions, like Victor is.
‘Mutability’ by Percy Shelley 1816 - intertextuality, the poem is about change in man – that
change is dangerous and that Shelley is saying that nature doesn’t change.
Victor is saying that imagination (the ability to think, change and over-reach) is a curse and
that if me were immutable everything would be much better.
Shelley is saying that we need balance in our life and that man needs to adapt to our
environment and make the right choices according to morals and change. She is also saying
that man needs to communicate with other people in order to regulate man’s dangerous
desire and ambition.
‘sea of ice’ – ‘wander over the sea of fog’, about just observing nature and not penetrating
or unpicking.
‘covered’, ‘uneven’, ‘troubled’ – reflects Victors disorder because he is about to meet his
creation.
‘swelled with something like joy’ – really changed, in nature he can let go of his remorse for
a short time.
‘I suddenly beheld the figure of a man...he bounded…exceed that of man’
‘a mist came over my mind’ – because he is forced to see his creation instead of his
mountain which is why he is ‘troubled’.
‘rage and horror…mortal combat’ – man’s pride
Notes:
Volume 2, Chapter 2 – Themes of: Nature, Isolation, Man vs Monster
Structure of the creatures communication: Statement, Appeal, Threat, Offer
Varied kinds of communication with intelligence, showing his ability to reason which
separates us (humans) from animals.
‘rise in a glacier’ – the source of a great river (link to pg.40), he is about to meet the result of
Victor’s ambition and passion.
‘glorious and imperial’ – the sublime, presenting nature as majestic and a kingdom.
‘thunder sound of an avalanche’ – introducing the arrival of the creature.
‘immutable laws’ – nature cannot be changed by man, man can be changed.
‘plaything’ – Victor himself tried to make nature his plaything, he is learning that nature is
supposed to be left alone.
‘subdued and tranquilised’ – he will never be free of remorse, but nature helps to reduce his
guilt and negative feelings.
‘unstained’ – man has not touched this nature, connotations of virginity and femininity.
‘peace’ ‘recess’ – nature is comforting and a protector.
Ominous, foreboding and gothic, (link to 76-77), saw the creature – pathetic fallacy, ‘the rain
was pouring in torrents’.
‘penetrate’ – he is still trying to penetrate and see through the veil, showing that he has not
yet repented for his sins and is not a good person.
‘sublime ecstasy’ - nature has been produced by God which makes it the greatest thing ever.
Victor may be getting closer to God by being close to and appreciating nature, like in ‘The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner’.
‘terrifically desolate’ – isolated in nature, untouched and unharmed by man’s hand.
‘necessary beings’ – William Godwin believed in fate, he implies that all our actions are
inevitable in a chain reaction.
Shelley is criticising this view, saying that we are affected by external forces and are
completely responsible for our own actions, like Victor is.
‘Mutability’ by Percy Shelley 1816 - intertextuality, the poem is about change in man – that
change is dangerous and that Shelley is saying that nature doesn’t change.
Victor is saying that imagination (the ability to think, change and over-reach) is a curse and
that if me were immutable everything would be much better.
Shelley is saying that we need balance in our life and that man needs to adapt to our
environment and make the right choices according to morals and change. She is also saying
that man needs to communicate with other people in order to regulate man’s dangerous
desire and ambition.
‘sea of ice’ – ‘wander over the sea of fog’, about just observing nature and not penetrating
or unpicking.
‘covered’, ‘uneven’, ‘troubled’ – reflects Victors disorder because he is about to meet his
creation.
‘swelled with something like joy’ – really changed, in nature he can let go of his remorse for
a short time.
‘I suddenly beheld the figure of a man...he bounded…exceed that of man’
‘a mist came over my mind’ – because he is forced to see his creation instead of his
mountain which is why he is ‘troubled’.
‘rage and horror…mortal combat’ – man’s pride
