Frankenstein Chapter 3

The modern masters promise very little; they know that metals cannot be transmuted and that the elixir of life is a chimera.

But these philosophers, whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt, and their eyes to pore over the microscope or crucible, have indeed performed miracles.

Good God! In what desert land have you lived, where no one was kind enough to inform you that these fancies which you have so greedily imbibed are a thousand years old and as musty as they are ancient?

After having made a few preparatory experiments, he concluded with a panegyric upon modern chemistry, the terms of which I shall never forget:



The ancient teachers of this science,
said he,
promised impossibilities and performed nothing.

As he went on I felt as if my soul were grappling with a palpable enemy; one by one the various keys were touched which formed the mechanism of my being; chord after chord was sounded, and soon my mind was filled with one thought, one conception, one purpose.

He was an uncouth man, but deeply imbued in the secrets of his science.

As he went on I felt as if my soul were grappling with a palpable enemy; one by one the various keys were touched which formed the mechanism of my being; chord after chord was sounded, and soon my mind was filled with one thought, one conception, one purpose.

He said that
These were men to whose indefatigable zeal modern philosophers were indebted for most of the foundations of their knowledge.

I obtained from my father a respite of some weeks.

His manners in private were even more mild and attractive than in public, for there was a certain dignity in his mien during lecture which in his own house was replaced by the greatest affability and kindness.

She looked steadily on life and assumed its duties with courage and zeal.

On her deathbed the fortitude and benignity of this best of women did not desert her.

My internal being was in a state of insurrection and turmoil; I felt that order would hence arise, but I had no power to produce it.

I need not describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by that most irreparable evil, the void that presents itself to the soul, and the despair that is exhibited on the countenance.

My departure was therefore fixed at an early date, but before the day resolved upon could arrive, the first misfortune of my life occurred -- an omen, as it were, of my future misery.

She had at first yielded to our entreaties, but when she heard that the life of her favourite was menaced, she could no longer control her anxiety.

I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth.

The time at length arrives when grief is rather an indulgence than a necessity; and the smile that plays upon the lips, although it may be deemed a sacrilege, is not banished.

I, who had ever been surrounded by amiable companions, continually engaged in endeavoring to bestow mutual pleasure -- I was now alone.

They have acquired new and almost unlimited powers; they can command the thunders of heaven, mimic the earthquake, and even mock the invisible world with its own shadows.