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August 7, 2025 19 mins
16 - Chapter 18. Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelley.  
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, Gothic horror novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley that was first published in 1818. The epistolary story follows a scientific genius who brings to life a terrifying monster that torments its creator. It is considered one of the first science-fiction novels. An international sensation, the story has been adapted hundreds of times in different media and has influenced pop culture at large.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information, please visit LibriVox dot
blogsom dot com. To Day's Reading by Gordon Mackenzie Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley, Chapter eighteen. Day after day, week after

(00:28):
week passed away on my return to Geneva, and I
could not collect the courage to recommence my work. I
feared the vengeance of the disappointed fiend. Yet I was
unable to overcome my repugnance to the task which was
enjoined me. I found that I could not compose a
female without again devoting several months to profound study and

(00:51):
laborious disquisition. I had heard of some discoveries having been
made by an English philosopher, the knowledge of which was
material to my success, and I sometimes thought of obtaining
my father's consent to visit England for this purpose. But
I clung to every pretense of delay, and shrank from
taking the first step in an undertaking whose immediate necessity

(01:14):
began to appear less absolute to me. A change indeed
had taken place in me. My health, which had hitherto declined,
was now much restored, and my spirits when unchecked by
the memory of my unhappy promise rose proportionably. My father
saw this change with pleasure, and he turned his thoughts

(01:35):
towards the best method of eradicating the remains of my melancholy,
which every now and then would return by fits and
with a devouring blackness overcast the approaching sunshine. At these
moments I took refuge in the most perfect solitude. I
passed whole days on the lake, a lone in a

(01:57):
little boat, watching the clouds and listening to the rippling
of the waves, silent and listless. But the fresh air
and bright sun seldom failed to restore me to some
degree of composure, and on my return I met the
salutations of my friends with a readier smile and a
more cheerful heart. It was after my return from one

(02:19):
of these rambles that my father, calling me aside, thus
addressed me. I am happy to remark, my dear son,
that you have resumed your former pleasures and seem to
be returning to yourself, and yet you are still unhappy
and still avoid our society. For some time I was
lost in conjecture as to the cause of this, But

(02:40):
yesterday an idea struck me and if it is well founded,
I conjure you to avow it. Reserve on such a
point would be not only useless, but draw down treble
misery on us. All. I trembled violently at his exordium,
and my father continued. I confess, my son, that I

(03:01):
have always looked forward to your marriage with our dear
Elizabeth as the tie of our domestic comfort and the
stay of my declining years. You were attached to each
other from your earliest infancy. You studied together, and appeared
in dispositions and tastes entirely suited to one another. But
so blind is the experience of man, that what I

(03:24):
conceived to be the best assistance to my plan may
have entirely destroyed it. You perhaps regarded her as your sister,
without any wish that she might become your wife. Nay,
you may have met with another whom you may love,
and considering yourself as bound in honor to Elizabeth. This
struggle may occasion the poignant misery which you appear to feel.

(03:48):
My dear father, reassure yourself, I love my cousin tenderly
and sincerely. I never saw any woman who excited as
Elizabeth does My warmest admiration and affection. My future hopes
and prospects are entirely bound up in the expectation of
our union. The expression of your sentiments on this subject,

(04:09):
my dear Victor, gives me more pleasure than I have
for some time experience. If you feel thus, we shall
assuredly be happy. However, present events may cast a gloom
over us. But it is this gloom which appears to
have taken so strong a hold of your mind that
I wish to dissipate. Tell me, therefore, whether you object

(04:30):
to an immediate solemnization of the marriage. We have been unfortunate,
and recent events have drawn us from that every day
tranquility befitting my years and infirmities. You are younger, Yet
I do not suppose, possessed as you are, of a
competent fortune, that an early marriage would at all interfere

(04:51):
with any future plans of honor and utility that you
may have formed. Do not suppose, however, that I wish
to dictate happiness to you, or that a delay on
your part would cause me any serious uneasiness. Interpret my
words with candor and answer me. I conjure you with
confidence and sincerity. I listened to my father in silence,

(05:15):
and remain for some time incapable of offering any reply.
I revolved rapidly in my mind a multitude of thoughts,
and endeavored to arrive at some conclusion. Alas to me,
the idea of an immediate union with my Elizabeth was
one of horror and dismay. I was bound by a

(05:35):
solemn promise which I had not yet fulfilled, and dared
not break. Or if I did, what manifold miseries might
not impend over me in my devoted family. Could I
enter into a festival with this deadly weight yet hanging
round my neck and bowing me to the ground. I

(05:56):
must perform my engagement and let the monster to part
with his mate, before I allowed myself to enjoy the
delight of a union from which I expected peace. I
remembered also the necessity imposed upon me of either journeying
to England or entering into a long correspondence with those
philosophers of that country whose knowledge and discoveries were of

(06:17):
indispensable use to me in my present undertaking. The latter
method of obtaining the desired intelligence was dilatory and unsatisfactory. Besides,
I had an insurmountable aversion to the idea of engaging
myself in my loathsome task in my father's house while
in habits of familiar intercourse with those I loved. I

(06:40):
knew that a thousand fearful accidents might occur, the slightest
of which would disclose a tale to thrill all connected
with me with horror. I was aware also that I
should often lose all self command, all capacity of hiding
the harrowing sensations that would possess me during the progress

(07:00):
of my unearthly occupation. I must absent myself from all
I loved while thus employed. Once commenced, it would quickly
be achieved, and I might be restored to my family
in peace and happiness. My promise fulfilled, the monster would
depart forever, or so my fond fancy imaged, some accident

(07:26):
might meanwhile occur to destroy him and put an end
to my slavery forever. These feelings dictated my answer to
my father. I expressed a wish to visit England, but
concealing the true reasons of this request, I clothed my
desires under a guise which excited no suspicion. While I

(07:46):
urged my desire with an earnestness that easily induced my
father to comply. After so long a period of an
absorbing melancholy that resembled madness in its intensity and effects,
he was glad to find that I was capable of
taking pleasure in the idea of such a journey, and
he hoped that change of scene and varied amusement would,

(08:08):
before my return, have restored me entirely to myself. The
duration of my absence was left to my own choice.
A few months or at most a year, was the
period contemplated. One paternal kind precaution he had taken to
insure my having a companion. Without previously communicating with me,

(08:28):
he had, in concert with Elizabeth, arranged that Clerval should
join me at Strasbourg. This interfered with the solitude I
coveted for the prosecution of my task. Yet at the
commencement of my journey, the presence of my friend could
in no way be an impediment, and truly I rejoiced
that thus I should be saved many hours of lonely,

(08:51):
maddening reflection. Nay, Henry might stand between me and the
intrusion of my foe. If I were alone, he not
at times force his abhorred presence on me to remind
me of my task or to contemplate its progress to England.
Therefore I was bound, and it was understood that my

(09:12):
union with Elizabeth should take place immediately on my return.
My father's age rendered him extremely averse to delay. For myself,
there was one reward I promised myself from my detested toils,
one consolation for my unparalleled sufferings. It was the prospect
of that day, when enfranchised from my miserable slavery, I

(09:37):
might claim Elizabeth and forget the past in my union
with her. I now made arrangements for my journey, But
one feeling haunted me, which filled me with fear and agitation.
During my absence, I should leave my friends unconscious of
the existence of their enemy and unprotected from his attacks,

(10:00):
ascerbated as he might be by my departure. But he
had promised to follow me wherever I might go, and
would he not accompany me to England. This imagination was
dreadful in itself, but soothing inasmuch as it supposed the
safety of my friends. I was agonized with the idea
of the possibility that the reverse of this might happen.

(10:24):
But through the whole period during which I was the
slave of my creature, I allowed myself to be governed
by the impulses of the moment, and my present sensation
strongly intimated that the fiend would follow me and exempt
my family from the danger of his machinations. It was
in the latter end of September that I again quitted

(10:45):
my native country. My journey had been my own suggestion,
and Elizabeth therefore acquiesced. But she was filled with disquiet
at the idea of my suffering away from her the
inroads of misery and grief. It had been her care
which prove virighted me a companion in Clerval. And yet
a man is blind to a thousand minute circumstances which

(11:06):
call forth a woman's sedulous attention. She longed to bid
me hasten my return. A thousand conflicting emotions rendered her
mute as she bade me a tearful, silent farewell. I
threw myself into the carriage that was to convey me away,
hardly knowing whither I was going, and careless of what

(11:27):
was passing around. I remembered only and it was with
a bitter anguish that I reflected on it to order
that my chemical instruments should be packed to go with me.
Filled with dreary imaginations, I passed through many beautiful and
majestic scenes, but my eyes were fixed and unobserving. I
could only think of the born of my travels and

(11:49):
the work which was to occupy me whilst they endured.
After some days spent in listless indolence, during which I
traversed many leagues, I arrived at Strasbourg, where I waited
two days for Clerval. He came alas how great was
the contrast between us. He was alive to every new scene,

(12:11):
joyful when he saw the beauties of the setting sun,
and more happy when he beheld it rise and recommence
a new day. He pointed out to me the shifting
colors of the landscape and the appearances of the sky.
This is what it is to live, he cried, How
I enjoy existence. But you, my dear Frankenstein, wherefore are

(12:32):
you desponding and sorrowful? In truth, I was occupied by
gloomy thoughts. I neither saw the descent of the evening star,
nor the golden sunrise reflected in the Rhine, and you,
my friend, would be far more amused with the journal
of Clerval, who observed the scenery with an eye of
feeling and delight, than in listening to my reflections Ay,

(12:57):
a miserable wretch haunted by a curse that shut up
every avenue to enjoyment. We had agreed to descend the
Rhine in a boat from Strasbourg to Rotterdam, whence we
might take shipping for London. During this voyage we passed
many willowy islands and saw several beautiful towns. We stayed

(13:19):
a day at Mannheim, and on the fifth from our
departure from Strasbourg arrived at Mainz. The course of the
Rhine below Mainz becomes much more picturesque. The river descends
rapidly and winds between hills not high, but steep and
of beautiful forms. We saw many ruined castles standing on

(13:40):
the edges of precipices, surrounded by black woods, high and inaccessible.
This part of the Rhine indeed presents a singularly variegated landscape.
In one spot, you view rugged hills, ruined castles overlooking
tremendous precipices, with a dark rhine rushing beneath, and on

(14:02):
the sudden turn of a promontory, flourishing vineyards with green
sloping banks, and a meandering river and populous towns occupy
the scene. We traveled at the time of the vintage,
and heard the song of the laborers as we glided
down the stream. Even I depressed in mind, and my
spirits continually agitated by gloomy feelings, even I was pleased.

(14:27):
I lay at the bottom of the boat, and as
I gazed on the cloudless, blue sky, I seemed to
drink in a tranquility to which I had long been
a stranger. And if these were my sensations, who can
describe those of Henry? He felt as if he had
been transported to fairyland and enjoyed a happiness seldom tasted

(14:47):
by man. I have seen, he said, the most beautiful
scenes of my own country. I have visited the lakes
of Lucerne and Yuri, where the snowy mountains descend almost
purpin pdicularly to the water, casting black and impenetrable shades,
which would cause a gloomy and mournful appearance, were it
not for the most verdant islands that believe the eye

(15:10):
by their gay appearance. I have seen this lake agitated
by a tempest, when the wind tore up whirlwinds of
water and gave you an idea of what the water
spout must be on the great Ocean, and the waves
dash with fury the base of the mountain where the
priest and his mistress were overwhelmed by an avalanche, and
where their dying voices are still said to be heard

(15:32):
amid the pauses of the nightly wind. I have seen
the mountains of La Valais and the Pey Duvous, But
this country Victor pleases me more than all those wonders.
The mountains of Switzerland are more majestic and strange. But
there is a charm in the banks of this devine

(15:54):
river that I never before saw equaled. Look at that
castle which overhands's yon precipice, and that also on the island,
almost concealed among the foliage of those beautiful trees. And
now that group of laborers coming from among their vines,
and that village half hid in the recess of the mountain. Oh,

(16:17):
surely the spirit that inhabits and guards this place has
a soul more in harmony with man than those who
pile the glacier, or retire to the inaccessible peaks of
the mountains of our own country. Clerval, beloved friend, even
now it delights me to record your words and to

(16:39):
dwell on the praise of which you are so eminently deserving.
He was a being formed in the very poetry of nature.
His wild and enthusiastic imagination was chastened by the sensibility
of his heart. His soul overflowed with ardent affections, and
his friendship was of that devoted and wondrous namesnature that

(17:00):
the world minded teach us to look for only in
the imagination. But even human sympathies were not sufficient to
satisfy his eager mind. The scenery of external nature, which
others regard only with admiration, he loved with ardor quote
the sounding Cataract haunted him like a passion. The tall rock,

(17:23):
the mountain, and the deep gloomy wood, their colors and
their forms were then to him an appetite, a feeling,
and a love that had no need of a remoter
charm by thoughts supplied or any interest unborrowed from the
eye end quote Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey. And where does he

(17:45):
now exist. Is this gentle and lovely being lost forever?
As this mind, so replete with ideas, imaginations, fanciful and magnificent,
which formed a world whose existence depended on the life
of it its creator. Has this mind perished? Does it
now only exist in my memory? No? It is not.

(18:09):
Thus your form, so divinely wrought and beaming with beauty,
has decayed, But your spirit still visits and consoles your
unhappy friend. Pardon this gush of sorrow. These ineffectual words
are but a slight tribute to the unexampled worth of Henry,

(18:34):
but they soothe my heart, overflowing with the anguish which
his remembrance creates. I will proceed with my tale. Beyond Cologne,
we descended to the plains of Holland, and we resolved
to post the remainder of our way, for the wind
was contrary, and the stream of the river was too

(18:55):
gentle to aid us. Our journey here lost the entry
arising from beautiful scenery. But we arrived in a few
days at Rotterdam, whence we preceded by sea to England.
It was on a clear morning in the latter days
of December that I first saw the white cliffs of Britain.
The banks of the Thames presented a new scene. They

(19:19):
were flat but fertile, and almost every town was marked
by the remembrance of some story. We saw Tilbury Fort
and remembered the Spanish Armada, gravesend Woolwich and Greenwich, places
which I had heard of even in my country. At
length we saw the numerous steeples of London, Saint Paul's

(19:42):
towering above them all, and the tower famed in English history.
End of Chapter eighteen.
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