Skip to main content
We're in Beta! Found a bug? Let us know using the feedback button at the bottom right.
Word, phrase, idiom, root, affix…
⌘K
ubiquitous
colour
specere
mis-
make a decision
break the ice
↑↓ navigate
↵ open
esc close
Section 13 of 28
·
Page 2 of 2
Chapter 9
highlighted
at or above your level
Keyboard: focus a highlighted word and press ↓ for its actions. Esc closes; Enter opens the word page.
Chapter 9
Central question
How does Victor respond to compounded guilt and grief?
Main argument
Victor, overwhelmed by Justine's execution and William's death, seeks relief in the Alps and in solitude. The...
AI Summary
Frankenstein
Section 13 of 28
Chapter 9
Central question
How does Victor respond to compounded guilt and grief?
Main argument
Victor, overwhelmed by Justine's execution and William's death, seeks relief in the Alps and in solitude. The mountains do not cure him; they prepare him for a confrontation with the creature that will force the novel to shift from prosecution to explanation. The chapter turns grief into the precondition for a longer reckoning.
Key ideas
Victor seeks nature as a refuge from guilt.
Solitude intensifies, rather than resolves, suffering.
The novel moves from crime to confrontation.
Victor remains unable to confess publicly.
Key takeaway
Victor escapes into landscape, but the story follows him inward.
its tremendous dôme overlooked the valley .
A tingling long-lost
sense of pleasure often came across me during this journey .
Some turn in the road ,
some new object suddenly perceived and recognised ,
reminded me of days gone by ,
and were associated with the lighthearted gaiety of boyhood .
The very winds whispered in soothing accents ,
and maternal Nature bade me weep no more .
Then again the kindly influence ceased to act —
I found myself fettered again to grief and indulging in all the misery of reflection .
Then I spurred on my animal ,
striving so to forget the world ,
my fears ,
and more than all ,
myself —
or ,
in a more desperate fashion ,
I alighted and threw myself on the grass ,
weighed down by horror and despair .
At length I arrived at the village of Chamounix.
Exhaustion succeeded to the extreme fatigue both of body and of mind which I had endured .
For a short space of time I remained at the window watching the pallid lightnings that played above Mont Blanc
and listening to the rushing of the Arve,
which pursued its noisy way beneath .
The same lulling sounds acted as a lullaby to my too keen sensations ;
when I placed my head upon my pillow ,
sleep crept over me ;
I felt it as it came and blessed the giver of oblivion .
General
Open this dialog ?
Close dialog Esc
Open search ⌘K
Press ? anytime to toggle this dialog
Shake to open feedback
Optional on this device. Your browser may ask for motion access.