18 Matching Annotations
  1. Dec 2022
  2. Nov 2022
  3. Oct 2022
  4. Aug 2021
    1. William Poole, “The Genres of Milton’sCommonplace Book,” inThe Oxford Handbook of Milton, ed. NicholasMcDowell and Nigel Smith (2009), pp.367–81, argues that since Milton’scommonplace book was an exercise in moral philosophy (the discipline towhich his headings of ethics, economics, and politics correspond), it wascompiled for action.

      John Milton's commonplace book was an exercise in moral philosophy and it was compiled for action, not just a collection.

  5. Feb 2021
  6. Dec 2019
    1. Milton

      Percy Shelley especially singles out Milton among the most important classic literature, indicating his strong influence in the novel.

    2. It was indeed a paradise

      At this moment the Creature appears more strongly associated with Adam than with Satan, apparently born into a "paradise."

    3. Pandæmonium

      Pandaemonium ("All demons" in Latin), was the capital of Hell in Milton's Paradise Lost (II.119-69).

    4. I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel

      This allusion to Milton's Paradise Lost puzzles some readers because the epigram of Volume II has previously quoted Adam's entreaty to God. Is the Creature more like Adam or more like the fallen angel Satan?

    5. You are my creator, but I am your master;—obey!

      The Creature inverts the master-slave relationship, which may explain why apartheid South Africa banned the novel. Throughout the passage, the Creature seems to adopt the voice of Satan's language in Paradise Lost.

    6. It was indeed a paradise

      At this moment, the Creature appears more strongly associated with Adam than with Satan, apparently born into a "paradise." However, Shelley's allusion might be to that of the serpent or snake, as in Revelation: "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast out to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him . . . He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years (Rev. 12:9; 20:2).

    7. Like Adam

      From Milton's poem the Creature imagines himself as an Adam created by an all-powerful god (Victor). Later in the paragraph, the Creature considers if a more apt comparison for his condition might be to Satan, cast out from his companions and protector.

    8. Paradise Lost.

      By citing Adam's question to God in John Milton's Paradise Lost, Mary Shelley makes Milton's epic the most important intertext of Frankenstein. In Book II, the Creature hears the poem read aloud, and begins to think of himself as either Adam or Satan.

    9. sent me forth to this insupportable misery

      The Creature compares himself to Milton's Satan in Paradise Lost, which he has previously heard when Felix read the poem aloud.

    10. Evil thenceforth became my good.

      The Creature refers to Satan's confession in Milton's Paradise Lost: "all Good to me is lost; / Evil be thou my Good" (4:109-110).

    1. While neither the feeling of remorse of self accusation mingled with my throes; although the contempt with I was treated also prevented any sublime defiance to have a place in my mind.

      The Thomas Copy qualifies the Creature's comparison of himself to Milton's Satan. Both are outcasts treated with contempt, but unlike Satan, the Creature suffers this condition without conceiving himself as proudly rebellious against his oppressors.

  7. Apr 2018
    1. stocks and stones,

      stocks and stones: idols made of wood or rock; cf. Jeremiah 2:26-27: "As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, | Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us." See also Wisdom of Solomon 14:21: "And this was an occasion to deceive the world: for men, serving either calamity or tyranny, did ascribe unto stones and stocks the incommunicable name"; and Milton, Sonnet 18, "On the Late Massacre in Piedmont": "When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones" (4).

  8. Jul 2017