Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is a profound exploration of nature.
In this blog post, we delve into key quotes that highlight the nature theme in the story, complete with page numbers for easy reference.
You’ll discover how nature is woven through the harrowing narrative of Victor Frankenstein and his unprecedented creation.
Frankenstein Quotes With Page Numbers
Frankenstein Nature Quotes
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Robert Walton), Volume One, Letter 1, Page 7
“What may not be expected in a country of eternal light?”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Robert Walton), Volume One, Letter 1, Page 7
“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. Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Robert Walton), Volume One, Letter 4, Page 18
“The world was to me a secret, which I desired to discover; to her it was a vacancy, which she sought to people with imaginations of her own.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as the narrator), Volume One, Chapter 1, Page 26
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as the narrator), Volume One, Chapter 1, Page 29
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as the narrator), Volume One, Chapter 1, Page 29
“As I stood at the door, on a sudden I beheld a stream of fire issue from an old and beautiful oak which stood about twenty yards from our house; and so soon as the dazzling light vanished, the oak had disappeared, and nothing remained but a blasted stump. When we visited it the next morning, we found the tree shattered in a singular manner. It was not splintered by the shock, but entirely reduced to thin ribbons of wood. I never beheld anything so utterly destroyed.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as the narrator), Volume One, Chapter 1, Page 29
“They ascend into the heavens; they have discovered how the blood circulates, and the nature of the air we breathe.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Professor M. Waldman), Volume One, Chapter 2, Page 35
“They penetrate into the recesses of nature and show how she works in her hiding-places.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Professor M. Waldman), Volume One, Chapter 2, Page 35
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator), Volume One, Chapter 3, Page 41
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator), Volume One, Chapter 3, Page 42
“The dissecting room and the slaughter-house furnished many of my materials; and often did my human nature turn with loathing from my occupation, whilst, still urged on by an eagerness which perpetually increased, I brought my work near to a conclusion.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator), Volume One, Chapter 3, Page 43
“The summer months passed while I was thus engaged, heart and soul, in one pursuit. It was the most beautiful season; never did the fields bestow a more plentiful harvest, or the vines yield a more luxuriant vintage: but my eyes were insensible to the charms of nature.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator), Volume One, Chapter 3, Page 43
“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. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator), Volume One, Chapter 4, Page 42
“It was a divine spring; and the season contributed greatly to my convalescence.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator), Volume One, Chapter 4, Page 50
“Study had before secluded me from the intercourse of my fellow-creatures, and rendered me unsocial; but Clervel called forth the better feelings of my heart; he taught me again to love the aspect of nature, and the cheerful faces of children.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator), Volume One, Chapter 5, Page 58
“I contemplated the lake: the waters were placid; all around was calm, and the snowy mountains, “the palaces of nature,” were not changed.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator), Volume One, Chapte 6, Page 63
“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?”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator), Volume One, Chapte 6, Page 63
“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, and, on landing, I ascended a low hill, that I might observe its progress. It advanced; the heavens were clouded, and I soon felt the rain coming slowly in large drops, but its violence quickly increased.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator), Volume One, Chapte 6, Page 64
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator), Volume One, Chapte 6, Page 64
“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. The sight of the awful and majestic in nature had indeed always the effect of solemnizing my mind and causing me to forget the passing cares of life. I determined to go without a guide, for I was well acquainted with the path, and the presence of another would destroy the solitary grandeur of the scene.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as narrator), Volume Two, Chapter 2, Pages 87, 88
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: The Monster), Volume Two, Chapter 3, Page 94
“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, and finding myself unsympathized with, wished to tear up the trees, spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have sat down and enjoyed the ruin.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: The Monster), Volume Two, Chapter 8, Page 128
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: The Monster), Volume Two, Chapter 8, Page 132
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: The Monster), Volume Two, Chapter 8, Page 132
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein), Volume Two, Chapter 9, Page 140
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: The Monster), Volume Three, Chapter 1, Page 145
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as the narrator), Volume Three, Chapter 2, Page 154
“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.”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as the narrator), Volume Three, Chapter 6, Page 191
“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?”
~Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, (Character: Victor Frankenstein as the narrator), Volume Three, Walon in Continuation September 12th, Page 215
Frankenstein Nature Theme Analysis
The theme of nature permeates throughout Mary Shelley’s book “Frankenstein.” It is a contrasting symbol to the unnatural abhorrence exhibited by Victor Frankenstein’s creation.
The book repeatedly alludes to the natural world’s beauty, majesty, and therapeutic quality, further emphasizing the catastrophic ramifications of Victor’s experimentation with life and death.
The character of Robert Walton expresses a deep appreciation for the natural world.
Even in his broken spirit, he finds solace and elevation in the features of nature, like the starry sky and the sea. Both of these aspects suggest a sublime connection with nature.
On the other hand, Victor Frankenstein expresses his fascination with the world as a secret that needs to be discovered.
He is not content with the wonders of nature but instead seeks to uncover secrets that he believes are hidden within it.
Following this, Victor warns that pursuing knowledge can be dangerous and even disastrous.
He implies that contentment can be found in the confines of one’s own world rather than aspiring to become “greater than his nature will allow.”
One of the most strikingly raw expressions of Frankenstein’s regret can be shown through his claim, “Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”
This line complements the theme of nature by suggesting that mankind’s disposition is directly tied to the natural order of things. When the natural order is disrupted or manipulated, it can result in torment and dismay.
Victor’s narrative centers on curiosity and fascination for natural phenomena.
His awe at experiencing a violent thunderstorm and the fantastic effects of steam highlight the natural world’s role as a repository of astonishing events that inspire intellectual interest.
However, as Victor’s obsession with his experiment deepens, he becomes indifferent to the charms of nature.
He narrates that his eyes became “insensible to the charms of nature,” revealing how his pursuit to challenge the laws of life takes a toll on his capability to appreciate the beauty around him.
On the contrary, when the specter of self-imposed isolation haunts him, the therapeutic power of nature intervenes.
He finds comfort and convalescence in the divine spring season and learns “to love the aspect of nature, and the cheerful faces of children” again.
The concept of creating life from death that Victor becomes engrossed with is entirely antithetical to the natural process of life and growth presented in the book.
The extensive use of nature theme in the book highlights how Victor’s creation is an affront to the natural order.
His unnatural creation results in disastrous consequences for him and humanity, reinforcing that nature is not to be manipulated or intervened with.
In summary, nature in “Frankenstein” is portrayed as a healing, beautiful, and awe-inspiring force that contrasts sharply with the monstrous outcomes of straying away from its path and attempting to meddle with life’s natural process.
The story subtly urges us to respect the boundless marvels and secrets that the natural world encompasses instead of attempting to subvert its order.
The recurring nature theme underpins the narrative’s underlying moral directions and lessons.
How does Frankenstein’s monster relate to nature?
In Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein’s monster is seen as having the most profound respect for the natural world.
Having grown up without the guidance of his creator, Victor Frankenstein, the Creature views nature as a child respecting his parents.
His experiences of nature, however, are often depicted as dark and depressing, reflecting his loneliness and longing for companionship.
How does the creature use nature in Frankenstein?
In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the creature uses nature as a source of solace and a symbol of guidance in its isolated existence.
Having not received any guidance or care from his creator, Victor, the creature sees nature as a parent, respecting it deeply.
This respect reveals itself in how he interacts with the natural world, demonstrating caution and reverence, setting him apart from Victor, who constantly seeks to manipulate nature for his gain.