Chapter 2

Synopsis of Volume 2 Chapter 2

Frankenstein climbs Montanvert alone and comes face-to-face with the monster, who speaks passionately of his loneliness.

Rejected by his creator and shunned by society, he now spends his life alone in deserts and on mountains. He takes Victor to a hut high on the mountain and tells him the story of his sufferings.

Commentary on Volume 2 Chapter 2

The following morning … the joys of life.': in these three paragraphs Frankenstein describes both the nature of the mountain landscape and the effect it has on him. He deliberately decides to walk in the mountains because he finds them beautiful and because he hopes that they will lift his spirits. More on landscape and its effect?

‘We rest … mutability': Victor is quoting from Percy Shelley's poem ‘Mutability', published in 1816, after the time at which the novel is set (see Author section: Birth, upbringing and education). The sentiment is appropriate to a passage in which Victor reflects on the effect of landscape on the human mind.

‘I expected this reception … ‘: the creature has previously only uttered inarticulate sounds, but now has an impressive vocabulary and style of speaking, derived from his reading (see Volume 2, Chapter 7). This conversation is one of the most important passages in the book. More on the creature's words?

‘I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed': this striking statement brings together Adam and Satan, both frequently mentioned in the novel. As Adam, the creature is likened to the first created being, the work of God. As Satan, he is the brightest of God's angels, who defied his Creator and was cast into Hell. More on reference to Adam?

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