How does the raw, untamed power of the natural world shape ambition, offer solace, and mirror the turbulent inner lives of its characters in Mary Shelley’s iconic novel?
In Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818 text), Nature is a dynamic, multifaceted presence. Shelley masterfully employs Romantic and Gothic traditions to portray landscapes that inspire awe and terror, profoundly influencing Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and his sentient Creature.
Our curated collection of 29 Frankenstein nature quotes with page numbers (Penguin Classics 2018 edition, referencing the 1818 text) examines how Shelley’s vivid imagery and sensory details bring the environment to life.
Each quote, with insightful analysis, explores nature’s role as inspiration, sanctuary, a terrifying force, and a reflection of the characters’ struggles with creation, ambition, and isolation.
The novel opens with Robert Walton’s ambitious Arctic voyage, where his perception of nature is deeply colored by Romantic ideals of discovery, beauty, and the sublime, contrasting with the desolation he will later encounter.
The Explorer’s Vision: Nature as a Realm of Sublime Discovery
Robert Walton’s letters frame the narrative, and his initial descriptions of the Arctic reveal a Romantic fascination with nature’s grandeur and its potential for revealing unknown wonders. Shelley uses his perspective to establish nature as a powerful, almost sentient entity, capable of inspiring both awe and a dangerous disregard for its inherent perils.
“I try in vain to be persuaded that the pole is the seat of frost and desolation; it ever presents itself to my imagination as the region of beauty and delight.”
(Character: Robert Walton, Volume I, Letter I, Page 7)
Walton’s optimistic self-deception highlights the Romantic idealization of unexplored nature. Shelley shows his “imagination” overriding factual warnings, portraying the pole not as a desolate wasteland but as a source of “beauty and delight,” foreshadowing the dangerous allure that nature and ambition hold.
“What may not be expected in a country of eternal light?”
(Character: Robert Walton, Volume I, Letter I, Page 7)
This rhetorical question encapsulates Walton’s fervent hope tied to his Arctic expedition. The “eternal light” symbolizes not just prolonged daylight but enlightenment, discovery, and uncovering of nature’s secrets, a pursuit mirroring Victor’s initial scientific zeal.
“Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth.”
(Character: Robert Walton, describing Victor Frankenstein, Volume I, Letter IV, Page 18)
Walton observes Victor’s profound connection to nature, even in his despair. This highlights the Romantic ideal of nature’s inherent power to soothe and elevate the human spirit, suggesting that Victor, despite his transgressions, retains a deep sensitivity to the natural world’s sublime beauty. Shelley uses Walton’s voice to underscore nature’s persistent influence.
For Victor Frankenstein, nature initially represents a source of childhood wonder and a field for his burgeoning scientific curiosity. However, his obsession with transgressing natural boundaries leads to a profound alienation from its restorative powers, to which he only later, and often fleetingly, returns for solace.
Victor’s Gaze: From Natural Philosophy to Nature’s Neglected Charms
Victor’s relationship with nature is dynamic and tragic. Initially a source of inspiration and intellectual pursuit, it’s later overshadowed by his consuming ambition, only to be sought again as a refuge. Shelley uses Victor’s changing perceptions to highlight the destructive consequences of his unnatural creation.
“The world was to me a secret, which I desired to discover; to her [Elizabeth] it was a vacancy, which she sought to people with imaginations of her own.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter I, Page 26)
Victor’s early declaration frames his ambition: to “discover” nature’s hidden truths. This contrasts with Elizabeth’s imaginative engagement, suggesting Victor’s approach is more invasive, a desire to unveil and control nature’s secrets, foreshadowing his transgressive experiments.
“When I was about fifteen years old…we witnessed a most violent and terrible thunder-storm…I remained, while the storm lasted, watching its progress with curiosity and delight.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter I, Page 29)
Victor’s youthful fascination with the “violent and terrible” power of a thunderstorm, experienced with “curiosity and delight,” marks a pivotal moment. This sensory experience of nature’s raw energy, described with an almost scientific detachment, ignites his interest in its governing forces and steers him towards fateful studies.
“As I stood at the door, on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak… so soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak had disappeared, and nothing remained but a blasted stump… I never beheld anything so utterly destroyed.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter I, Page 29)
The vivid, sensory description of the oak’s utter destruction by lightning profoundly impacts Victor. Shelley uses this powerful image—the “dazzling light” and the “blasted stump”—to symbolize nature’s capacity for instantaneous annihilation, foreshadowing the power Victor seeks and the devastation he will unleash.
“They ascend into the heavens; they have discovered how the blood circulates, and the nature of the air we breathe.”
(Character: Professor M. Waldman, Volume I, Chapter II, Page 35)
Professor Waldman’s praise for scientists unraveling nature’s mysteries fuels Victor’s ambition, highlighting the era’s scientific optimism and the drive to understand the natural world’s fundamental workings.
“They penetrate into the recesses of nature and show how she works in her hiding-places.”
(Character: Professor M. Waldman, Volume I, Chapter II, Page 35)
Waldman’s personification of nature with “hiding-places” that can be “penetrated” frames scientific inquiry as a potentially invasive act. This language subtly foreshadows Victor’s transgressive pursuit of nature’s deepest secrets—the mystery of life itself—and the violation inherent in his ambition.
“Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be his world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter III, Page 41)
Victor’s warning connects his pursuit of knowledge to a transgression against natural limits (“greater than his nature will allow”), a core Romantic concern regarding human endeavor versus the natural world’s inherent order.
“One secret which I alone possessed was the hope to which I had dedicated myself; and the moon gazed on my midnight labours, while, with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding-places.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter III, Page 42)
Victor echoes Waldman’s sentiment as he obsesses over creation. The personification of the “moon gazed on my midnight labours” adds a Gothic, almost voyeuristic element, suggesting nature is a silent, perhaps judging, witness to his unnatural pursuit of its “hiding-places.”
“The summer months passed while I was thus engaged, heart and soul, in one pursuit… my eyes were insensible to the charms of nature.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter III, Page 43)
Victor’s admission of being “insensible to the charms of nature” during his obsessive work highlights his profound disconnection from the natural world. Shelley contrasts the “most beautiful season” with his internal blindness, showing how his unnatural pursuit alienates him from nature’s restorative qualities.
“It was a divine spring; and the season contributed greatly to my convalescence.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter IV, Page 50)
Following the horror of his creation, nature, in a “divine spring,” plays a crucial role in Victor’s initial recovery. This illustrates the Romantic theme of nature’s healing power, offering solace and restoration after intense emotional or psychological distress.
“Study had before secluded me from the intercourse of my fellow-creatures, and rendered me unsocial; but Clerval called forth the better feelings of my heart; he taught me again to love the aspect of nature, and the cheerful faces of children.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter V, Page 58)
Through Clerval’s companionship, Victor rediscovers his appreciation for nature. This emphasizes nature’s role in fostering “better feelings” and social connection, contrasting with the isolating effects of his obsessive, unnatural studies.
“I contemplated the lake: the waters were placid; all around was calm, and the snowy mountains, “the palaces of nature,” were not changed.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter VI, Page 63)
Victor finds momentary peace in his native landscape. The term “palaces of nature” for the mountains evokes the Romantic sublime, suggesting nature’s inherent grandeur and stability in contrast to his internal turmoil.
“I wept like a child. “Dear mountains! my own beautiful lake! how do you welcome your wanderer? Your summits are clear; the sky and lake are blue and placid. Is this to prognosticate peace, or to mock at my unhappiness?”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter VI, Page 63)
Victor’s emotional address to his beloved natural surroundings reveals a deep connection and profound despair. Nature’s serene beauty, described with sensory details (“blue and placid”), contrasts sharply with his inner torment, leading him to question if its tranquility is a promise of peace or a cruel mockery of his misery—a key example of nature reflecting his psychological state.
“During this short voyage I saw the lightning playing on the summit of Mont Blanc in the most beautiful figures… The storm appeared to approach rapidly…”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter VI, Page 64)
The dramatic storm over Mont Blanc is a powerful Gothic and Romantic element. Shelley uses the personification of lightning “playing” and the “beautiful figures” it creates, alongside the advancing storm, to mirror Victor’s internal agitation and foreshadow the dark, “monstrous” truth he is about to confirm.
“Vivid flashes of lightning dazzled my eyes, illuminating the lake, making it appear like a vast sheet of fire; then for an instant every thing seemed of a pitchy darkness, until the eye recovered itself from the preceding flash.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter VI, Page 64)
Shelley’s powerful visual and sensory imagery (“vast sheet of fire,” “pitchy darkness”) emphasizes the sublime terror of the storm. With its dramatic shifts in light, this natural spectacle reflects Victor’s internal chaos and the violent disruption his creation has brought to the natural order.
“I remembered the effect that the view of the tremendous and ever-moving glacier had produced upon my mind when I first saw it. It had then filled me with a sublime ecstasy, that gave wings to the soul, and allowed it to soar from the obscure world to light and joy.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume II, Chapter II, Pages 87-88)
Victor describes the profound impact of the sublime Alpine landscape. Shelley’s language (“tremendous,” “sublime ecstasy”) captures the Romantic awe for nature’s overwhelming power and beauty, which can temporarily elevate the human spirit above earthly suffering, offering fleeting transcendence from his guilt.
“Oh! Stars, and clouds and winds, ye are all about to mock me; if ye really pity me, crush sensation and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, depart, depart, and leave me in darkness.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein, Volume II, Chapter IX, Page 140)
In his anguish, Victor addresses the elements of nature directly. His apostrophe reveals a tormented mind that perceives nature’s beauty or indifference as a mockery. He desires either annihilation or complete darkness, a harsh rejection of the natural world that once offered solace.
“Clerval eagerly desired to accept this invitation, and I, although I abhorred society, wished to view again mountains and streams and all the wondrous works with which Nature adorns her chosen dwelling-places.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume III, Chapter II, Page 154)
Despite his deep misanthropy, Victor retains a vestigial desire to reconnect with nature’s beauty (“wondrous works”). This illustrates nature’s enduring pull as a potential comfort, even for a tormented spirit.
For the Creature, nature is his first teacher and a source of initial, bewildered pleasure. Yet, as he experiences human rejection, even the natural world seems to reflect his isolation and despair, its beauty sometimes a painful contrast to his perceived monstrosity.
The Creature’s Lens: Nature as First Teacher, Cruel Mirror, Final Refuge
The Creature’s relationship with nature is his initial sanctuary and source of learning, where he discovers beauty and sustenance. However, his growing awareness of his alienation from humanity leads him to perceive nature, at times, as an indifferent or even mocking force, reflecting his internal desolation.
“Soon a gentle light stole over the heavens and gave me a sensation of pleasure. I started up and beheld a radiant form rise from among the trees. I gazed with a kind of wonder. It moved slowly, but it enlightened my path; and I again went out in search of berries.”
(Character: The Creature, Volume II, Chapter III, Page 94)
The Creature’s experience of the rising moon is filled with childlike “wonder.” Shelley uses sensory details (“gentle light,” “radiant form”) to depict his initial, innocent response to natural beauty. For the newly awakened Creature, nature provides sustenance and his first aesthetic experiences, highlighting his innate capacity for appreciating the sublime before society corrupts him.
“The cold stars shone in mockery, and the bare trees waved their branches above me; now and then the sweet voice of a bird burst forth amidst the universal stillness. All, save I, were at rest or in enjoyment; I, like the arch-fiend, bore a hell within me…”
(Character: The Creature, Volume II, Chapter VIII, Page 128)
After the De Lacey rejection, the Creature’s perception of nature shifts. The “cold stars” now “shine in mockery,” and bird song highlights his profound isolation. Shelley employs pathetic fallacy, as the indifference of the “universal stillness” seems to amplify his internal “hell,” underscoring his alienation from a world where “All, save I, were at rest or in enjoyment.”
“Nature decayed around me, and the sun became heatless; rain and snow poured around me; mighty rivers were frozen; the surface of the earth was hard and chill, and bare, and I found no shelter.”
(Character: The Creature, Volume II, Chapter VIII, Page 132)
As the Creature travels towards Geneva, consumed by bitterness, the external environment mirrors his internal state. Shelley’s depiction of a harsh, decaying, and unwelcoming nature (“sun became heatless,” “earth was hard and chill”) uses vivid sensory details to reflect his growing despair and lack of solace, contrasting with nature’s earlier benevolence.
“The mildness of my nature had fled, and all within me was turned to gall and bitterness. The nearer I approached to your habitation, the more deeply did I feel the spirit of revenge enkindled in my heart. Snow fell, and the waters were hardened; but I rested not.”
(Character: The Creature, Volume II, Chapter VIII, Page 132)
The Creature explicitly states the loss of his “mildness,” replaced by “gall and bitterness.” Shelley juxtaposes this internal decay with the harshness of the external winter (“Snow fell, and the waters were hardened”), showing nature as a parallel to, and perhaps amplifier of, his vengeful state as he seeks his creator.
“At these moments I took refuge in the most perfect solitude. I passed whole days on the lake alone in a little boat, watching the clouds, and listening to the rippling of the waves, silent and listless.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein, Volume III, Chapter I, Page 145)
During deep melancholy, Victor seeks “perfect solitude” in nature. His passive observation—”watching the clouds,” “listening to the rippling of the waves”—shows nature as a place of retreat. The gentle sensory details of the waves offer a soothing contrast to his inner turmoil, though nature’s ability to heal him is now severely diminished by his overwhelming guilt.
“The natural phenomena that take place every day before our eyes did not escape my examinations. Distillation, and the wonderful effects of steam, processes of which my favourite authors were utterly ignorant, excited my astonishment.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter 1, Page 29)
This quote, from Victor’s youth, shows his early scientific bent and fascination with understanding natural processes. His “astonishment” at everyday “natural phenomena” like steam underscores an initial, perhaps purer, form of scientific inquiry before it becomes a transgressive obsession. His note about his “favourite authors” (alchemists) being ignorant of these observable processes hints at his eventual turn towards modern science.
“The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body… but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume I, Chapter IV, Page 42)
Upon animating his creation, the “beauty of the dream”—his godlike ambition to conquer nature and death—vanishes, replaced by horror. This illustrates the tragic consequences of his attempt to override natural processes with his scientific ambition, countering the harmonious “feelings of human nature” he sought to replicate or control.
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change. The sun might shine or the clouds might lower, but nothing could appear to me as it had done the day before.”
(Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator, Volume III, Chapter VI, Page 191)
After Elizabeth’s death, Victor’s grief alters his perception of the entire world. Even nature’s constancy (“The sun might shine or the clouds might lower”) loses its familiar appearance. This emphasizes how profound emotional trauma can sever one’s connection to nature’s perceived stability, making its indifference or beauty equally unbearable.
“Some years ago, when the images which this world affords first opened upon me, when I felt the cheering warmth of summer and heard the rustling of the leaves and the warbling of the birds, and these were all to me, I should have wept to die; now it is my only consolation. Polluted by crimes and torn by the bitterest remorse, where can I find rest but in death?”
(Character: The Creature to Walton, Volume III, Walton in Continuation, Page 215)
In his final lament, the Creature contrasts his initial, innocent joy in nature’s sensory delights (“cheering warmth of summer,” “rustling of the leaves”) with his current despair. Then, nature represented life so profoundly he “should have wept to die.”
Now, “polluted by crimes” and consumed by “bitterest remorse,” nature no longer offers solace, and death becomes his “only consolation,” a tragic testament to his corrupted innocence and lost connection to the natural world that first nurtured him.
Conclusion: Nature’s Enduring Presence in Frankenstein
Mary Shelley masterfully weaves Nature throughout Frankenstein as a powerful, multifaceted force—sublime and terrifying, a source of solace and inspiration.
Yet nature is also an unyielding order that, when violated, unleashes devastation. The Romantic reverence for nature’s beauty is constantly juxtaposed with the Gothic horror of Victor’s unnatural creation and the desolate landscapes reflecting his and the Creature’s internal suffering.
Nature initially inspires Walton and Victor, later offering Victor fleeting comfort. For the Creature, it is a first teacher of beauty, tragically insufficient to counter human rejection, eventually mirroring his desolation.
Shelley’s vivid sensory details and personification make nature an almost active character, often amplifying the characters’ emotions through pathetic fallacy or a counter to their turmoil.
Shelley’s depiction of nature underscores the perils of ambition that disrespects its boundaries. Frankenstein suggests wisdom lies not in conquering nature’s “hiding-places,” but in recognizing its intrinsic value, healing power, and the profound consequences of severing our connection to its intricate balance.
Nature remains undeniable, silently witnessing human hubris and its monstrous outcomes.
To explore the full narrative arc of this iconic novel, delve into our main collection of Frankenstein quotes with page numbers, or examine the specific perspectives of its central figures in our Frankenstein Creature quotes.
A Note on Page Numbers & Edition:
Nature’s majesty in Frankenstein is timeless, but page numbers shift with each printing. These page numbers reference the Penguin Classics (January 16, 2018) paperback edition (ISBN-13: 978-0143131847) of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which utilizes the 1818 text. For academic precision, always verify these page numbers against your specific copy, as pagination can vary across printings of the 1818 text.
Jeremy Mortis, founder of Ageless Investing, applies a rigorous analytical approach (the AAM framework) to distill timeless wisdom and contextualized quotes from classic literature, saving you time while deepening understanding. Learn more about Jeremy’s unique background and methodology on his author bio page.