124 Matching Annotations
  1. Dec 2019
    1. Shelley’s Poems.—“On Mutability.”

      In the Thomas copy, a note at the foot of the page attributes these lines as "Shelley's Poems. -- "On Mutability." The citation does not appear in the 1831 edition.

    2. Thomas copy: pencil mark joins paragraphs.

      In the Thomas copy a pencil mark here joins these paragraphs.

    3. And the contortions that ever and anon conpulsvulsed & deformed his un-human features.

      This addition to the Thomas copy associates the creature with the "un-human," an early indication of revisions in 1831 that will make the Creature more monstrous and less compellingly human than he had been in the 1818 original.

    4. a disease that I regretted the more because I had hitherto enjoyed most excellent health, and had always boasted of the firmness of my nerves.my voice became broken, my trembling hands almost refused to accomplish their task; I became as timid as a love-sick girl, and alternate tremor and passionate ardour took the place of wholesome sensation and regulated ambition.

      This revision in the Thomas Copy adds a vivid account of Victor's symptoms as they seem to drain him of masculinity and make him quiver "as a love-sick girl." In 1831 Shelley rewrote this passage again without the gendered simile.

    5. renowned for its hospitality

      This passage is underlined in the Thomas Manuscript.

    6. The event of these enquiries interested my understanding, I may say my imagination, until I was exalted to a kind of transport. And indeed

      This brief addition in the Thomas Copy emphasizes the extent to which Victor's interest in human physiology carries away his imagination until he is "exalted to a kind of transport."

    7. ruled by different laws and in which numerous circumstances enforce a belief that the aspect of nature differs essentially from anything of which we have any experience.

      FIX

    8. and endeavoured to reason with me on the folly of giving way to immoderate grief.At first he suspected some latent cause for my affliction, but when I assured him that the late events were the causes of my dejection, he called to his aid philosophy and reason, while he endeavoured to restore me to a calmer state of mind.

      Here as in earlier versions, the Thomas Copy stresses that the father uses his "reason" to comfort Victor and restore him to calm. But this element of the father's counsel would disappear in the 1831 edition, which no longer refers to him speaking philosophically.

    9. Oppressed by the recollection of my various misfortunes,

      This phrase is underlined in the Thomas Copy. None of these underlined passages were to be revised in the 1831 edition.

    10. I remembered shuddering at the mad enthusiasm

      This phrase is underlined in the Thomas Manuscript.

    11. They returned sooner than I expected and their inopportune appearance destroyed the fruits of so many months patience and expectation. My presence of mind deserted me at this crisis, I thought that

      This slight addition in the Thomas Copy emphasizes the Creature's fragility as he ventures among the family members he has watched and learned from for much of his brief life.

    12. 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.

    13. and this makes us all very wretched, as much so nearly as after the death of your dear mother.and this suspicion fills us with anguish. I perceive that your father conceals attempts to conceal his fears from me; but cheerfulness has flown from our little circle, only to be restored by a certain assuranance that there is no foundation for our anxiety. At one time

      This revision in the Thomas Copy removes a reference in Elizabeth's letter to the father's anguish over his wife's death, and instead it elaborates on his worry for Victor's emotional health. In a more fully rewritten version in the 1831 edition, Elizabeth no longer refers to Victor's mother or father.

    14. I will relate to you an anecdote of his life, recounted to me by the parties themselves, which exemplifies the generosity, I had almost said the heroism of his nature.

      This small addition in the Thomas Copy softens Walton's initial impressions of his chief crewman. The 1831 edition makes a more substantive change by addressing Walton's sister more fully than in any of the 1818 edition's letters

      Interestingly, as the master is an "Englishman" the ready associations between Englishness and "heroism" and "generosity" are attributed to the master's "nature" in more modest terms, lending Walton's letter a slightly less chauvinistic air.

    15. Nay if by moonlight I saw a human form, with a beating heart I squatted down amid the bushes fearful of discovery. And think you that it was with no bitterness of heart that I did this? It was in intercourse with man alone that I could hope for any pleasurable sensations and I was obliged to avoid it—Oh truly, I am grateful to thee my Creator for the gift of life, which was but pain, and to thy tender mercy which deserted me on life’s threshold—to suffer—all that man can inflict

      In the Thomas Copy, Shelley underlines the Creature's desperate loneliness by having him sarcastically thank Victor, his creator, with a "gift of life" and a "mercy" that have proven to be a curse and Victor's fearful abandonment of his creation.

    16. When my father became a husband and a parent, he found his time so occupied by the duties of his new situation, that heAs my father’s age encreased he became more attached to the quiet of a domestic life, and he gradually

      This revised description of Victor's father in the Thomas Copy softens his character, and grounds him within a space of domestic affection that would be further emphasized in revisions to the 1831 edition of the text.

    17. and then he sits by himself, and tries to overcome all that is sullen or unsocial in his humour. These paroxysms pass from him like a cloud from before the sun, though his dejection never leaves him.Which veils his countenance like deep night—he neither speaks or notices anything around him, but sitting on a gun will gaze on the sea and I have sometimes observed his dark eyelash wet with a tear which falls silently silently in the deep. This unobtrusive sorrow excites in me the most painful interest, and he will at times reward my sympathy by throwing aside this veil of mortal woe, and then his ardent looks, his deep toned voice and powerful eloquence entrance me with delight.

      This substantial revision in the Thomas Copy removes a description of Victor's bouts of depression onboard the ship as "sullen" "unsocial" and as "paroxysms" that come on and pass away quickly. In its place Shelley writes a sentimental passage depicting Victor's mood as "unobtrusive sorrow" and a "veil of mortal woe." Elements of this revision survived in the longer addition to the 1831 version, such as Victor's tears.

    18. To V. Frankenstein.

      The 1818 edition's address-line to Victor is removed in the Thomas Copy and does not appear in the 1831 edition.

    19. had a refined mind; he had no desire to be idle, and was well pleased to become his father’s partner, but he believed that a man might be a very good trader, and yet possess a cultivated understanding.loved poetry and his mind was filled with the imagery and sublime sentiments of the masters of that art. A poet himself, he turned with y disgust from the details of ordinary life. His own soul mind was all the possession that he prized, beautiful & majestic thoughts the only wealth he coveted—daring as the eagle and as free, common laws could not be applied to him; and while you gazed on him you felt his soul’s spark was more divine—more truly stolen from Apollo’s sacred fire, than the glimmering ember that animates other men.

      This lengthy revision in the Thomas Copy removes the original description of Clerval as a relatively ordinary tradesman with an interest in poetry and the arts, and transforms him instead into a figure of tremendous romantic flair and verve.

      Where before he was described as "a good trader" with a "refined mind," Victor's recollection of him is now charged with profuse admiration, casting Clerval as "daring as the eagle and as free," "his soul's spark was more divine--more truly stolen from Apollo's sacred fire". He is a poet by nature, not a trader, and we now see him resisting his father's attempt to channel his abilities into narrow pursuits of profit. In the 1831 this revision is enlarged to put Clerval's passionate interests even more decisively in opposition to his father's wishes.

    20. And, indeed, I earnestly desire that period to arrive, when we shall all be united, and neither hopes or fears arise to disturb our domestic calm.”

      This sentence from the 1818 edition is underlined in the Thomas Copy, but Shelley's intentions remain unclear since she provides no new text. She may have intended to emphasize Victor's father's wish that his son and Elizabeth be wed as soon as possible after Victor's return from England, perhaps foreshadowing Victor's father's decline.

    21. My father was pleased, and Elizabeth overjoyed. “My dear cousin,” said she, “you see what happiness you diffuse when you are happy; do not relapse again!”The affectionate smile with which Elizabeth welcomed my altered mood excited me to greater exertion; and I felt as I spoke long forgotten sensations of pleasure arise in my mind. I knew that this state of being would only be temporary, that gloom and misery was near at hand, but this knowledge only acted as a stimulant, and gave added a tingling sensation of fear, while the blood danced along my veins—my eyes sparkled and my limbs even trembled beneath the influence of unaccustomed emotion.

      Shelley's revision in the Thomas Copy turns the emphasis of this passage toward Victor's emotions and no longer refers to his father's response to him. When this part of the novel is more extensively revised in 1831, Victor is traveling without family and makes this journey with only his guides as company.

    22. Thomas copy: pencil mark joins paragraphs.

      In the Thomas copy a pencil mark here joins these paragraphs.

    23. Thomas copy: pencil mark joins paragraphs.

      In the Thomas copy a pencil mark here joins these paragraphs.

    24. I cannot help remarking here the many opportunities instructors possess of directing the attention of their pupils to useful knowledge, which they utterly neglect. My father looked

      This cancelled interpolation in the Thomas copy is oddly placed since it appears to refer to instructors other than Victor's father, the focus of this passage. FIX, unclear.

    25. Thomas copy: pencil mark joins paragraphs.

      In the Thomas copy a pencil mark here joins these paragraphs. They remain separate in the 1831edition.

    26. Are we then near land, and is this unknown wast inhabited by giants, of which the being we saw is a specimen? Such an idea is contrary to all experience, but if what we saw was an optical delusion, it was the most perfect and wonderful recorded in the history of nature.

      This added text in the Thomas Copy is the only reference to the Creature as a "giant" in any version of Frankenstein. By the early nineteenth century giants were a distant figure of folklore rather than everyday experience, as Walton notes by thinking of the giant as an "optical delusion." The Creature in the novel measures at about eight feet tall.

    27. Thomas copy: pencil mark joins paragraphs.

      In the Thomas copy a pencil mark here joins these paragraphs that were separate in 1818. They remain separate in the 1831 edition.

    28. No youth could have passed more happily than mine. My parents were indulgent, and my companions amiable. Our studies were never forced; and by some means we always had an end placed in view, which excited us to ardour in the prosecution of them. It was by this method, and not by emulation, that we were urged to application. Elizabeth was not incited to apply herself to drawing, that her companions might not outstrip her; but through the desire of pleasing her aunt, by the representation of some favourite scene done by her own hand. We learned Latin and English, that we might read the writings in those languages; and so far from study being made odious to us through punishment, we loved application, and our amusements would have been the labours of other children. Perhaps we did not read so many books, or learn languages so quickly, as those who are disciplined according to the ordinary methods; but what we learned was impressed the more deeply on our memories.badWith what delight do I even now remember the details of our domestic circle, and the happy years of my childhood. Joy attended on my steps—and the ardent affection that attached me to my excellent parents, my beloved Elizabeth, and Henry, the brother of my soul, has given almost a religious and sacred feeling to the recollections of a period passed beneath their eyes, and in their society.

      This revision is one of the most important in the Thomas Copy, indicating how Mary had begun rethinking the novel in substance as early as 1823. From the 1818 edition she eliminates a detailed, careful account of how Victor and Elizabeth were educated by their Enlightenment parents. The first version had made a special point of indicating how this family education was not inculcated by punishments, but presented to the children as an adventure in knowledge, as well as preparing Victor for the kind of rigorous study he would later undertake in the modern sciences. Instead of this pedagogical detail, Mary generalizes about Victor's happy childhood and replaces the details of education with the idea of a "religious and sacred feeling" that is inimical to the secular education described in 1818. While the cancelled text remains absent his section is expanded further in the 1831 edition.

    29. Montavert and

      Shelley misspells Montanvert, one of the three largest glaciers on Mont Blanc.

    30. Thomas copy: pencil mark joins paragraphs

      Despite the indication that two paragraphs should be joined in the Thomas copy, they remained separate in the 1831 revision.

    31. Our father looks so sorrowful: this dreadful event seems to have revived in his mind his grief on the death of Mamma. Poor Elizabeth also is quite inconsolable.”the sense of our misfortune is yet unalleviated; the silence of our father is uninterrupted, and there is something more distressing than tears in his unaltered sadness—while poor Elizabeth, seeking solitude and for ever weeping, already begins to feel the effects of incessant grief—for her colour is gone, and her eyes are hollow & lustreless

      This revision in the Thomas Copy removes another reference to the death of Victor's mother. Here it is replaced with a more evocative description of Elizabeth's grief. As it does elsewhere, the Thomas Copy identifies a place needing revision, but the 1823 changes are usually not carried over into the 1831.In this case, the father's grief is emphasized both here and in 1831 despite different language used in each text.

    32. Thomas copy: pencil mark joins paragraphs

      In the Thomas copy a pencil mark here joins these paragraphs.

    33. And the clouds were gathering on the ris horison, mass rising above mass, while the lightning they emitted shewed their shapes and size.

      This addition in the Thomas Copy intensifies the description of the storm as Victor arrives back in Geneva after learning of William's death.

    1. Yet one duty remained to me, the recollection of which finally triumphed over my selfish despair. It was necessary that I should return without delay to Geneva, there to watch over the lives of those I so fondly loved; and to lie in wait for the murderer, that if any chance led me to the place of his concealment, or if he dared again to blast me by his presence, I might, with unfailing aim, put an end to the existence of the monstrous Image which I had endued with the mockery of a soul still more monstrous. My father still desired to delay our departure, fearful that I could not sustain the fatigues of a journey: for I was a shattered wreck,—the shadow of a human being. My strength was gone. I was a mere skeleton; and fever night and day preyed upon my wasted frame. Still, as I urged our leaving Ireland with such inquietude and impatience, my father thought it best to yield. We took our passage on board a vessel bound for Havre-de-Grace, and sailed with a fair wind from the Irish shores

      In the 1818 edition, Victor is chastized by a prison guard for having a guilty conscience, despite his exoneration for Clerval's murder. In the 1831 version, this exchange is replaced by Victor's weakening physical and mental state as he travels home to Geneva with his father.

    2. This circumstance, added to his well known integrity and dauntless courage, made me very desirous to engage him. A youth passed in solitude, my best years spent under your gentle and feminine fosterage, has so refined the groundwork of my character, that I cannot overcome an intense distaste to the usual brutality exercised on board ship: I have never believed it to be necessary; and when I heard of a mariner equally noted for his kindliness of heart, and the respect and obedience paid to him by his crew, I felt myself peculiarly fortunate in being able to secure his services. I heard of him first in rather a romantic manner, from a lady who owes to him the happiness of her life. This, briefly, is his story.

      In this addition to the 1831 edition, Walton turns the focus of this passage about the ship’s master onto himself and how his older sister fostered him somewhat like a mother and helped build his character. Where 1818 says little about Mrs. Saville’s character, Walton now likens her to Elizabeth, who will also act as a mother figure to Victor Frankenstein after his own mother’s death. The 1831 edition more strongly accentuates the domestic world throughout the new version.

    3. 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 light-hearted 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 80of mind which I had endured. For a short space of time

      In the 1831 edition, since Victor now travels alone rather than with his family, his perceptions seem to be more emotionally turbulent than when he shares the trip with Elizabeth and his father in the 1818 version.

    4. I must not be trifled with: and I demand an answer.

      In the 1818 edition the Creature says he had tried and failed to elicit Victor's compassion. In this 1831 revision, he is more direct and demanding.

    5. It was in the latter end of September

      In earlier editions, Victor leaves Switzerland in late August. The 1831 edition changes the timeline to late September.

    6. altered her since I last beheld her; it had endowed her with loveliness surpassing the beauty of her childish years. There was the same candour, the same vivacity, but it was allied to an expression more full of sensibility and intellect.

      This revision to 1831 emphasizes Elizabeth's "sensibility" and "intellect" as a full grown woman and her "slight and graceful" figure.

    7. when I reflect that you are pursuing the same course, exposing yourself to the same dangers which have rendered me what I am, I imagine that you may deduce an apt moral from my tale; one that may direct you if you succeed in your undertaking, and console you in case of failure. Prepare to hear of occurrences which are usually deemed marvellous. Were we among the tamer scenes of nature, I might fear to encounter your unbelief, perhaps your ridicule; but many things will appear possible in these wild and mysterious regions, which would provoke the laughter of those unacquainted with the ever-varied powers of nature:—nor can I doubt bu

      In this revision, the 1831 edition makes Victor far more explicit about the parallels between his own quest for knowledge as power and Walton's expedition. Victor also attributes this insight to the sublime context of their Arctic location. The 1818 edition only suggests Walton will learn from Victor's story.

    8. I saw him too; he was free last night!”

      In this revision to the 1831 edition, VIctor's confusion at this report of the murderer almost exposes his knowledge of the true perpetrator.

    9. so that I even saw not the faces of those mighty friends. Still I would penetrate their misty veil, and seek them in their cloudy retreats. What were rain and storm to me? My mule was brought to the door, and I resolved to ascend

      In the 1831 edition, nature is personified in greater detail. Victor continues up the Arveiron with his mule and the mountains, the "mighty friends," his only companions.

    10. The first of those sorrows which are 77sent to wean us from the earth, had visited her, and its dimming influence quenched her dearest smiles

      In this 1831 revision, Shelley emphasizes the physiognomy of Elizabeth's melancholy, witness by Victor in her somber countenance, absent in previous editions.

    11. Yet it is terrible to reflect 192that the lives of all these men are endangered through me. If we are lost, my mad schemes are the cause. And

      In this 1831 revision, Walton no longer refers to the Roman Stoic philosopher, Seneca, telling his sister he will "die with a good heart." Instead he regrets that this own "mad schemes" have resulted in a threat to the lives of many others.

    12. he was wearing away his time fruitlessly where he was; that letters from the friends he had formed in London desired his return to complete the negotiation they had entered into for his Indian enterprise. He could not any longer delay his departure; but as his journey to London might be followed, even sooner than he now conjectured, by his longer voyage, he entreated me to bestow as much of my society on him as I could spare. He besought me, therefore, to leave my solitary isle, and to meet him at Perth, that we might proceed southwards together.

      In this revision to 1831 edition, Shelley elaborates on Clerval's "Indian enterprise," mentioned earlier in the previous chapter. Clerval wishes Victor to return to Perth to spend time together before the former's voyage to India. In the 1818 edition, Clerval notes they had been traveling in Britain for a year, and should take the next year of their voyage to return to Switzerland, via France.

    13. a new spirit of life animated the decaying frame of the stranger. He manifested the greatest eagerness

      The change from Victor’s countenance as seeming “very eager” (1818) to “a new spirit of life animated the decaying frame...” (1831) prefigures the same "animation" of the Creature later in Volume 1. FIX TYPO in TEXT--DELETE "THE" "time the a new"

    14. He has frequently conversed with me on mine, which I have communicated to him without disguise. He entered attentively into all my arguments in favour of my eventual success, and into every minute detail of the measures I had taken to secure it. I was easily led by the sympathy which he evinced, to use the language of my heart; to give utterance to the burning ardour of my soul; and to say, with all the fervour that warmed me, how gladly I would sacrifice my fortune, my existence, my every hope, to the furtherance of my enterprise. One man’s life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought; for the dominion I should acquire and transmit over the elemental foes of our race. As I spoke, a dark gloom spread over my listener’s countenance. At first I perceived that he tried to suppress his emotion; he placed his hands before his eyes; and my voice quivered and failed me, as I beheld tears trickle fast from between his fingers,—a groan burst from his heaving breast. I paused; —at length he spoke, in broken accents:—“Unhappy man! Do you share my madness? Have you drank also of the intoxicating draught? Hear me,—let me reveal my tale, and you will dash the cup from your lips!” Such words, you may imagine, strongly excited my curiosity; but the paroxysm of grief that had seized the stranger overcame his weakened powers, and many hours of repose and tranquil conversation were necessary to restore his composure. Having conquered the violence of his feelings, he appeared to despise himself for being the slave of passion; and quelling the dark tyranny of despair, he led me again to converse concerning myself personally. He asked me the history of my earlier years. The tale was quickly told: 16but it awakened various trains of reflection. I spoke of my desire of finding a friend—of my thirst for a more intimate sympathy with a fellow mind than had ever fallen to my lot; and expressed my conviction that a man could boast of little happiness, who did not enjoy this blessing. “I agree with you,” replied the stranger; “we are unfashioned creatures, but half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves—such a friend ought to be—do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures.

      In this lengthy addition to the 1831 edition, Walton's brazen willingness to sacrifice the life of a human being to realize his own ambition for knowledge more strongly motivates Victor to "reveal my tale" as a powerful lesson to teach Walton's naive hopes for glory. The passage underscores the symbiotic "madness" that the mariner and the scientist share.

    15. Elizabeth

      In the 1831 version Victor still refers to Elizabeth as his cousin, but in an affectionate, rather than familial, sense.

    16. Most of the night she spent here watching; towards morning she believed that she slept for a few minutes; some steps disturbed her, and she awoke. It was dawn,

      In this 1831 addition, Justine's testimony mentions the sound of "some steps" disturbing her as she waited out the night in the barn. This may be another reference to the creature, as with Victor's near slip with Ernest.

    17. but there was something in my glance which communicated terror to her, and trembling she asked,

      In this 1831 revision, Shelley suggest that Victor's facial expression and agitation betrays his fear to Elizabeth.

    18. Elizabeth

      In this change to the 1831 edition, "Elizabeth" appears instead of "niece." Elizabeth had been the father's brother's daughter (or Victor's actual cousin) in the 1818 edition, but this is no longer true in 1831.

    19. My dearest Victor, what infatuation is this?

      In all editions before 1831, Victor's father asks his son whether he is "mad." Shelley's change of this word is peculiar, since Victor's response--"I am not mad"--seems more natural to the father's original question than it does to the 1831 question about his "infatuation."

    20. My tale was not one to announce publicly; its astounding horror would be looked upon as madness by the vulgar. Did any one indeed exist, except I, the creator, who would believe, unless his senses convinced him, in the existence of the living monument of presumption and rash ignorance which I had let loose upon the world?

      In this 1831 addition, Victor rationalizes his decision to withhold his knowledge of the creature in relation to Justine's trial by reflecting that no one would believe him, or more likely, would think him mad.

    21. But success shall crown my endeavours. Wherefore not? Thus far I have gone, tracing a secure way over the pathless seas: the very stars themselves being witnesses and testimonies of my triumph. Why not still proceed over the untamed yet obedient element? What can stop the determined heart and resolved will of man? My swelling heart involuntarily pours itself out thus. But I must finish. Heaven bless my beloved sister!

      This 1831 addition further emphasizes Walton’s bravado, pride, and ethos as an Arctic explorer. The dichotomy of rational man and untamed nature extends throughout the text. The change makes Walton further resemble Victor, who also acts on a “determined heart and resolved will” despite the consequences.

    22. And thus for a time I was occupied by exploded systems, mingling, like an unadept, a thousand contradictory theories, and floundering desperately in a very slough of multifarious knowledge, guided by an ardent imagination and childish reasoning, till an accident again changed the current of my ideas.

      The 1831 edition adds references to "exploded systems" and "contradictory theories" that underscore Victor's engagement with kinds of science animated by imagination and wonder rather than critical restraint or careful study.

      In the tale of the blasted stump that follows this passage, as with his discovery of the copy of Agrippa, once again Victor's fate is presented as the result of a confluence of his childlike enthusiasm and cosmic accident.

    23. He bitterly deplored the false pride which led his friend to a conduct so little worthy of the affection that united them. He lost no time in endeavouring to seek him out, with the hope of persuading him to begin the world again through his credit and assistance.

      This substantial revision in 1831 seems to place greater blame on Beaufort for his condition as a matter of "false pride", implying that Beaufort's sins have betrayed the affection that once united thim with Victor's father. In the 1818 version, his father's primary concern is for the loss of Beaufort's company and his contributions to Genevese society.

    24. “very poetry of nature.”

      In the 1818 edition Shelley attributed this passage in a footnote to Leigh Hunt's poem "Rimini" (1816), but she no longer cites the poem's title or author in 1831.

    25. In a thousand ways he smoothed for me the path of knowledge, and made the most abstruse enquiries clear and facile to my apprehension. My application was at first fluctuating and uncertain; it gained strength as I proceeded, and soon

      In this 1831 revision, M. Waldman's influence depends less on his personality or charisma and more on his capabilities as a teacher.

    26. tempest

      The term tempest in 1831 replaces storm in 1818.

    27. survive to add to the list of his dark crimes.

      In the first edition, Victor fears the Creature will survive to "make another such a wretch as [he] is," tormenting him out of loneliness and hopelessness. In the 1831 edition, however, Victor asks Walton to end the Creature's life, so that the Creature might not "survive to add to the list of his dark crimes."

    28. Even now, as I commence my task, his full-toned voice swells in my ears; his lustrous eyes dwell on me with all their melancholy sweetness; I see his thin hand raised in animation, while the lineaments of his face are irradiated by the soul within. Strange and harrowing must be his story; frightful the storm which embraced the gallant vessel on its course, and wrecked it—thus!

      In this revision for the 1831 edition, Shelley emphasizes the effect Victor has on Walton and stresses Victor's weakened state.

    29. professors. Chance—or rather the evil influence, the Angel of Destruction, which asserted omnipotent sway over me from the moment I turned my reluctant steps from my father’s door—led me first to M. Krempe, professor of natural philosophy. He was an uncouth man, but deeply embued in the secrets of his science. He asked me several questions concerning my progress in the different branches of science appertaining to natural philosophy. I replied carelessly; and, partly in contempt, mentioned the names of my alchymists as the principal authors I had studied.

      In the 1831 edition, the portrayal of Professor M.Krempe becomes even more unflattering than it was in the 1818 version, showing him to be "uncouth" and Victor's evil "Angel of Destruction."

    30. The voyage came to an end. We landed, and proceeded to Paris. I soon found that I had overtaxed my strength, and that I must repose before I could continue my journey. My father’s care and attentions were indefatigable; but he did not know the origin of my sufferings, and sought erroneous methods to remedy the incurable ill. He wished me to seek amusement in society. I abhorred the face of man. Oh, not abhorred! they were my brethren, my fellow beings, and I felt attracted even to the most repulsive among them, as to creatures of an angelic nature and celestial mechanism. But I felt that I had no right to share their intercourse. I had unchained an enemy among them, whose joy it was to shed their blood, and to revel in their groans. How they would, each and all, abhor me, and hunt me from the world, did they know my unhallowed acts, and the crimes which had their source in me! My father yielded at length to my desire to avoid society, and strove by various arguments to banish my

      In all editions but the 1831, Victor says he wished to avoid London because he "dreaded to see again those places in which [he] had enjoyed a few moments of tranquility with [his] beloved Clerval." The 1831 edition makes no mention of Clerval; now Victor's father entreats his son to seek solace in the company of society, which Victor refuses, out of guilt and his guilt at unleashing "an enemy among them." Also eliminated in 1813 are references to stopping at the ports of Holyhead and Portsmouth on their way to Paris.

    31. CHAPTER I.

      TITLE omitted in 1831 edition: "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus."

      In 1831 the 3 volume structure was eliminated, and replaced with sequentially numbered chapters.

    32. The wounded deer dragging its fainting limbs to some untrodden brake, there to gaze upon the arrow which had pierced it, and to die—was but a type of me.

      In this change to the 1831 edition, Shelley emphasizes the melodrama of Victor's mental decline. Judith Weissman argues the image of the deer is one of several examples that link Victor with Percy Shelley, the fawn being one of his favorite images.

      See Judith Weissman. "A Reading of Frankenstein as the Complaint of a Political Wife." Colby Quarterly 12, no. 4 (1976): 171-180, 171.

    33. Such were the professor’s words—rather let me say such the words of fate, enounced to destroy me. 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. So much has been done, exclaimed the soul of Frankenstein,—more, far more, will I achieve: treading in the steps already marked, I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation. I closed not my eyes that night. My internal being was in a state of insurrection and turmoil; I felt that order would thence arise, but I had no power to produce it. By degrees, after the morning’s dawn, sleep came. I awoke, and my yesternight’s thoughts were as a dream. There only 35remained a resolution to return to my ancient studies, and to devote myself to a science for which I believed myself to possess a natural talent. On the same day, I paid M. Waldman a visit.

      In this lengthy addition to 1831, Victor experiences an early flash of ruinous ambition during the chemistry lecture by M. Waldman. The new picture of Waldman as an evil force belongs to a pattern of provoking suspicion about scientific education in the 1831 edition that did not appear in the 1818.

    34. It was from my own Elizabeth:— “My dearest Cousin, “You have been ill, very ill, and even the constant letters of dear kind Henry are not sufficient to reassure me on your account. You are forbidden to write—to hold a pen; yet one word from you, dear Victor, is necessary to calm our apprehensions. For a long time I have thought that each post would bring this line, and my persuasions have restrained my uncle from undertaking a journey to Ingolstadt. I have prevented his encountering the inconveniences and perhaps dangers of so long a journey; yet how often have I regretted not being able to perform it myself! I figure to myself that the task of attending on your sick bed has devolved on some mercenary old nurse, who could never guess your wishes, nor minister to them with the care and affection of your poor cousin. Yet that is over now: Clerval writes that indeed you are getting better. I eagerly hope that you will confirm this intelligence soon in your own handwriting. “Get well—and return to us. You will find a happy, cheerful home, and friends who love you dearly. Your father’s health is vigorous, and he asks but to see you,—but to be assured that you are well; and not a care will ever cloud his benevolent countenance. How pleased you would be to remark the improvement of our Ernest! He is now sixteen, and full of activity and spirit. He is desirous to be a true Swiss, and to enter into foreign service;50 but we cannot part with him, at least until his elder brother return to us. My uncle is not pleased with the idea of a military career in a distant country; but Ernest never had your powers of application. He looks upon study as an odious fetter;—his time is spent in the open air, climbing the hills or rowing on the lake. I fear that he will become an idler, unless we yield the point, and permit him to enter on the profession which he has selected. “Little alteration, except the growth of our dear children, has taken place since you left us. The blue lake, and snow-clad mountains, they never change;—and I think our placid home, and our contented hearts are regulated by the same immutable laws. My trifling occupations take up my time and amuse me, and I am rewarded for any exertions by seeing none but happy, kind faces around me. Since you left us, but one change has taken place in our little household. Do you remember on what occasion Justine Moritz entered our family?

      In 1831, the opening to Elizabeth's letter is significantly re-written. Here she seems more desperate to see Victor and vouchsafe for his health. Her discussion of Ernest also changes: Shelley leaves out her lengthy excursus on the virtues of farming, as opposed to practicing law. Instead, Ernest is described as patriotic and considering a military career.

    35. I spent the following day roaming through the valley. I stood beside the sources of the Arveiron, which take their rise in a glacier, that with slow pace is advancing down from the summit of the hills, to barricade the valley. The abrupt sides of vast mountains were before me; the icy wall of the glacier overhung me; a few shattered pines were scattered around; and the solemn silence of this glorious presence-chamber of imperial Nature was broken only by the brawling waves, or the fall of some vast fragment, the thunder sound of the avalanche, or the cracking, reverberated along the mountains of the accumulated ice, which, through the silent working of immutable laws, was ever and anon rent and torn, as if it had been but a plaything in their hands. These sublime and magnificent scenes afforded me the greatest consolation that I was capable of receiving. They elevated me from all littleness of feeling; and although they did not remove my grief, they subdued and tranquillised it. In some degree, also, they diverted my mind from the thoughts over which it had brooded for the last month. I retired to rest at night; my slumbers, as it were, waited on and ministered to by the assemblance of grand shapes which I had contemplated during the day. They congregated round me; the unstained snowy mountain-top, the glittering pinnacle, the pine woods, and ragged bare ravine; the eagle, soaring amidst the clouds—they all gathered round me, and bade me be at peace.

      In 1818 a more perfunctory passage appears at the beginning of this chapter stating simply that the party "...visited the source of the Arveiron, and rode about the valley until evening."

      In 1831, Shelley replaces this brief remark with a much more vividly detailed description elaborating upon the topography of Victor's journey through the Arveiron and the "sublime and magnificent scenes" in which he finds consolation.

    36. All praises bestowed on her, I received as made to a possession of my own. We called each other familiarly by the name of cousin

      When Victor calls Elizabeth "cousin" in the 1831 edition, the word is a term of endearment but not a term to take literally, since they have no blood relation. The term likely carries over, but with an entirely changed meaning, from the 1818 edition where Elizabeth actually is Victor's cousin (the daughter of his father's brother).

      It is true, however, that incest was of significant fascination to Shelley. Her novella Mathilda, published posthumously in 1954, concerns the relationship of a woman with her father. After sending the manuscript of Mathilda to William Godwin, he told Shelley he found the depiction of incest "disgusting and detestable," and refused to return the manuscript to his daughter.

      See Janet Todd's edition of Mary's novel:Shelley, Mary. Matilda; with Mary and Maria, by Mary Wollstonecraft. Ed. Janet Todd. London: Penguin, 1992, p. xvii.

    37. pursuits. In rather a too philosophical and connected a strain, perhaps, I have given an account of the conclusions I had come to concerning them in my early years. As a child, I had not been content with the results promised by the modern professors of natural science. With a confusion of ideas only to be accounted for by my extreme youth, and my want of a guide on such matters, I had retrod the steps of knowledge along the paths of time, and exchanged the discoveries of recent enquirers for the dreams of forgotten alchymists.

      Shelley adds this 1831 passage in which she traces Victor's fascination with alchemy and outmoded scientific ideas to an impetuous childhood, while the 1818 edition shows Victor reading the ancient sciences as an adult.

    38. or rather, to word my phrase more characteristically, of advancement in his profession

      Shelley added this clarifying passage to the 1831 edition. By rephrasing “glory” as “advancement in his profession,” Shelley adopts a new expression, not usually found before 1810, indicating a more precise path to famed achievement. It was often used to mean advancement in Her Majesty’s Navy, thus it is especially apt for the lieutenant of Walton’s ship.

    39. Through my father’s exertions, a part of the inheritance of Elizabeth had been restored to her by the Austrian government. A small possession on the shores of Como belonged to her. It was agreed that, immediately after our union, we should proceed 172to Villa Lavenza, and spend our first days of happiness beside the beautiful lake near which it stood.

      In earlier editions, a house is purchased for Victor and Elizabeth, presumably by Victor's father. However, in the 1831 edition, Victor's father petitions the Austrian Government for return of Elizabeth's inheritance. The change appears to be in error, since Shelley explains that Villa Lavenza sits on the shores of Lake Como, though the borders of Austrian Empire (1804-1867) did not extend as far as Lake Como.

    40. the springing of a leak

      "The springing of a leak" in the 1831 version replaces "the breaking of the mast" in the 1818 edition. Shelley had begun revising this phrase in the Thomas copy by pencilling in "carrying away of the mast," but she discards any reference to the mast in 1831.

    41. , and by the fire of love that burns my heart,

      In this addition to the 1831 edition, Shelley emphasizes the Creature's loneliness and the desire that drives him.

    42. In this important change to the 1831 edition, Justine appears in the barn, asleep and unaware of the Creature's presence as he places the portrait of Victor's mother on Justine's person, effectively framing her for William's death. In all earlier editions, the Creature manages to place the portrait on Justine's person as she passes him by, a work of "mischief," which the Creature attributes to the "lessons of Felix".

    43. in itself would for ever have chained my tongue. But, besides, I could not bring myself to disclose a secret which would fill my hearer with consternation, and make fear and unnatural horror the inmates of his breast. I checked, therefore, my impatient thirst for sympathy, and was silent

      In this addition to the 1831 edition, Victor resists the judgment that he is "mad" by explaining his hesitance to reveal the truth about the Creature to anyone else.

    44. but my anxiety returns upon me as I conclude. Write, dearest Victor,—one line—one word will be a blessing to us. Ten thousand thanks to Henry for his kindness, his affection, and his many letters: we are sincerely grateful. Adieu! my cousin; take care of yourself; and, I entreat you, write!

      In this 1831 revision, Elizabeth's letter is slightly more urgent for some communication from Victor.

    45. and terror its alarm

      This addition to the 1831 emphasizes Victor's sense of his culpability for the Creature's actions.

    46. of my residence at Ingolstadt, which were chiefly spent in becoming acquainted with the localities, and the principal residents in my new abode.

      In this addition to 1831, Shelley emphasizes the importance of Ingolstadt as Victor's university-town environment during his medical training.

    47. her illness was severe, and she was in the greatest danger.

      In this 1831 revision, Shelley reverses Elizabeth's bout of scarlet fever from "not severe" to "severe" so that it represents the "greatest danger" to her health.

      In the 1818 edition, Elizabeth is the indirect cause of both her biological mother and stepmother's death. Her mother dies in childbirth, while Victor's mother falls fatally ill after caring for Elizabeth during her bout of scarlet fever.

    48. Her hair was the brightest living gold, and, despite the poverty of her clothing, seemed to set a crown of distinction on her head. Her brow was clear and ample, her blue eyes cloudless, and her lips and the moulding of her face so expressive of sensibility and sweetness, that none could behold her without looking on her as of a distinct species, a being heaven-sent, and bearing a celestial stamp in all her features. 22The peasant woman, perceiving that my mother fixed eyes of wonder and admiration on this lovely girl, eagerly communicated her history. She was not her child, but the daughter of a Milanese nobleman. Her mother was a German, and had died on giving her birth. The infant had been placed with these good people to nurse: they were better off then

      In 1831, the foundling Elizabeth's nobility appears to be recognizable in her physiognomy. Her features are described in terms that might be read as typical markers of whiteness: “thin of frame, fair of skin, and possessed of golden hair and blue eyes.”

      During the early 19th century the field of “race science” was already established and growing. For instance, Linnaeus’ Systema naturae (1758) infamously contains a hierarchy of homo sapiens based on skin color.

      In discussions of these contextual sources in the “race science,” scholars have often focused on the Creature as a symbol of the racialized other. This alteration to Elizabeth’s description in 1831 lends further credence to these readings by positioning Elizabeth, the spiritually and racially pure female, as has his ultimate victim.

      See, for instance: Mellor, Anne K. “Frankenstein, Racial Science, and the Yellow Peril” in Frankenstein Norton Critical Edition, 2nd Edition, ed. J. Paul Hunter (New York & London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012), 481-489.

    49. by arguments deduced from the feelings of his serene conscience and guiltless life, to inspire me with fortitude, and awaken in me the courage to dispel the dark cloud which brooded over me

      Mary Shelley made a number of changes to this passage across editions. In the manuscript, 1818, and 1823 editions, Victor's father tries "to reason" with and console his son. In the 1831 edition the appeal to reason has disappeared. Instead Victor's father makes a Romantic injunction, proceeding from a "serene conscience and guiltless life," which he hopes will "inspire [Victor] with fortitude" and awaken in him "the courage to dispel the dark clouds" brooding over him. Since Shelley also toyed with this passage in the Thomas Copy, it was clearly an unsettled moment in the novel in her mind.

    50. Havre-de-Grace

      The 1831 edition records the place as "Havre-de-Grace," which appears simply as "Havre" in earlier editions. Havre is in the Normandy region of northwestern France. It is situated on the right bank of the river Seine, on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux. It was known for its maritime traditions.

    51. the fall of a leaf startled me, and I shunned my fellow-creatures as if I had been guilty of a crime. Sometimes I grew alarmed at the wreck I perceived that I had become; the energy of my purpose alone sustained me: my labours would soon end, and I believed that exercise and amusement would then drive away incipient disease;

      in this revision to 1831 Victor's physical deterioration, as a result of his obsessive work and research, is more clearly linked to a deteriorating mental state as well.

    52. After an interval, I arose, and, as if by instinct, crawled into the room where the corpse of my beloved lay. There were women weeping around—I hung over it, and joined my sad tears to theirs—all this time no distinct idea presented itself to my mind;

      In all earlier editions, Victor's begins to cry on thinking that he must to return to his father alone, without Elizabeth. In the 1831 edition, Victor joins a group of women and "join[s] his sad tears to theirs."

    53. have contented my imagination, warmed as it was, by returning with greater ardour to my former studies

      In this 1831 revision, Victor's expression "former studies" is generalized from the specific "more rational theory of chemistry" that appears in the 1818 edition. However, it is unclear what "former studies" Shelley is intimating here, as the scene with the copy of Agrippa is presented as the fateful moment of genesis for Victor's interest in science.

      Thus, in the 1818 edition his father's gruff dismissal is presented as the foreclosure of a hypothetical redirection of Victor's curiosity towards "modern discoveries" of chemistry as an uncharted course of future study, rather than as a rebuke which threw him off the established track of his "former studies."

    54. You would not, if you saw him. You have been tutored and refined by books and retirement from the world, and you are, therefore, somewhat fastidious; but this only renders you the more fit to appreciate the extraordinary merits of this wonderful man. Sometimes I have endeavoured to discover what quality it is which he possesses, that elevates him so immeasurably above any other person I ever knew. I believe it to be an intuitive discernment; a quick but never-failing power of judgment; a penetration into the causes of things, unequalled for clearness and precision; add to this a facility of expression, and a voice whose varied intonations are soul-subduing music.

      In this 1831 revision, Walton more explicitly attributes exceptional emotional and intellectual powers to Victor than his letters in the 1818 edition make apparent.

    55. Clerval spent the last evening with us. He had endeavoured to persuade his father to permit him to accompany me, and to become my fellow student; but in vain. His father was a narrow-minded trader, and saw idleness and ruin in the aspirations and ambition of his son. Henry deeply felt the misfortune of being debarred from a liberal education. He said little; but when he spoke, I read in his kindling eye and in his animated glance a restrained but firm resolve, not to be chained to the miserable details of commerce. We sat late. We could not tear ourselves away from each other, nor persuade ourselves to say the word “Farewell!” It was said; and we retired under the pretence of seeking repose, each fancying that the other was deceived: but when at morning’s dawn I descended to the carriage which was to convey me away, they were all there—my father again to bless me, Clerval to press my hand once more, my Elizabeth to renew her entreaties that I would write often, and to bestow the last feminine attentions on her playmate and friend.

      In the 1831 revision, Henry Clerval is a more pitiable figure., acutely feeling the loss of his chance to pursue his passions in university studies.

    56. Yet still words like those I have recorded, would burst uncontrollably from me. I could offer no explanation of them; but their truth in part relieved the burden of my mysterious woe

      As in the preceding sentence, Shelley elaborates on Victor's fragile mental state. The involuntary voicings of guilt evoke Iago's betrayal of Cassio to Othello: "There are a kind of men / So loose of soul that in their sleeps will / mutter." (Othello, 3.3.425-27).

    57. “Immediately upon your being taken ill, all the papers that were on your person were brought me, and I examined them

      In the all editions but 1831, the Magistrate personally examines Victor's clothes. In the 1831 edition, an unspecified person brings the letters found on Victor's person to the Magistrate.

    58. a variety of circumstances had prevented his marrying early, nor was it until the decline of life that he became a husband and the father of a family.

      These changes to the 1831 edition make clear that Victor's father's late marriage is a result of factors beyond his control rather than carelessness or indifference, and further accentuate his familial position as the figurehead of their "domestic circle."

    59. 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 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 of my unearthly occupation. I must absent myself from all I loved while thus employed. Once 134commenced, it would quickly be achieved, and I might be restored to my family in peace and happiness. My promise fulfilled, the monster would depart for ever. Or (so my fond fancy imaged) some accident might meanwhile

      In this revision to the 1831 edition, Victor's motivation to leave his family is less about a "change of scene and variety of occupation," as it appears in the 1818 edition, than about a fear that his work will create in him a similar fragility of mind that overtook him when creating the Creature in volume 1, a fragility that will betray his objective to his family.

    60. This was strange and unexpected intelligence; what could it mean? Had my eyes deceived me? and was I really as mad as the whole world would believe me to be, if I disclosed the object of my suspicions? I hastened to return home, and

      In this change to the 1831, the certainty with which Justine is convicted causes Victor to question his own convictions about the creature's involvement.

    61. a guise which excited no suspicion, while I 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, 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 ensure my having a companion. Without previously communicating with me, he had, in concert with Elizabeth, arranged that Clerval should join me at Strasburgh. 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, maddening reflection. Nay, Henry might stand between me and the intrusion of my foe. If I were alone, would 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 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 might claim Elizabeth, and forget the past in my union with her.

      In this 1831 revision, Victor's father takes the "paternal caution" of sending Clerval to accompany Victor to England out of concern for Victor's mental state. While the 1818 edition has Victor merely reporting that Clerval "would join [him]" in England, the 1831 version shows Victor reflecting at greater length on how Clerval's presence might provide him solace and company as he undertakes the difficult task ahead.

    62. perhaps never

      The 1831 edition adds the words "perhaps never," suggesting Victor has never recovered from the shock of the Creature's animation in Volume 1, intensifying his reaction to the death of Justine.

    63. 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 blest the giver of oblivion.

      The 1831 edition adds this passage to emphasize, with the word "lullaby," the childlike fears Victor is now constantly trying to calm.

    64. Elizabeth

      Elizabeth was also the name of Percy Shelley's mother. Mary changed the character's name from Myrtella to Elizabeth in the manuscript, unless this change was one of Percy's suggested changes. In Greek and Roman mythology, the flower myrtle was sacred to the goddess Venus (Aphrodite) and symbolized love.

    65. You come to us now to share a misery which nothing can alleviate; yet your presence will, I hope, revive our father, who seems sinking under his misfortune; and your persuasions will induce poor Elizabeth to cease her vain and tormenting self-accusations.—Poor William! he was our darling and our pride!” Tears, unrestrained, fell from my brother’s eyes; a sense of mortal agony crept over my frame. Before, I had only imagined the wretchedness of my desolated home; the reality came on me as a new, and a not less terrible, disaster. I tried to calm Ernest; I enquired more minutely concerning my father, and her I named my cousin. “She most of all,” said Ernest,

      In 1818, Ernest refers specifically to their father's grief, but in 1831 this is replaced with a more general reference to the family and Elizabeth's self-recriminations color Victor and his brother Ernest's exchange.

    66. will

      In the 1831 edition, "may not" is changed to "will not", suggesting the Creature's torment will only cease in death.

    67. It appeared to me sacrilege so soon to leave the repose, akin to death, of the house of mourning, and to rush into the thick of life. I was new to sorrow, but it did not the less alarm me. I was unwilling to quit the sight of those that remained to me; and, above all, I desired to see my sweet Elizabeth in some degree consoled. She indeed veiled her grief, and strove to act the comforter to us all. She looked steadily on life, and assumed its duties with courage and zeal. She devoted herself to those whom she had been taught to call her uncle and 31cousins. Never was she so enchanting as at this time, when she recalled the sunshine of her smiles and spent them upon us. She forgot even her own regret in her endeavours to make us forget.

      In this revision for 1831 Elizabeth's comportment following her mother's death is altered slightly from an "imperious duty" to give care to her family, to a willfully "veiled" grief in an effort to forget her sorrows.

    68. attempted to accompany them, and proceeded a short distance from the house; but my head whirled round, my steps were like those of a drunken man, I fell at last in a state of utter exhaustion;

      In this 1831 revision, Victor tries to accompany the party but collapses in a "state of utter exhaustion." In all earlier editions, Victor does not attempt to accompany the party at all.

    69. I took no rest, but returned immediately to Geneva. Even in my own heart I could give no expression to my sensations—they weighed on me with a mountain’s weight, and their excess destroyed my agony beneath them. Thus I returned home, and entering the house, presented myself to the family. My haggard and wild appearance awoke intense alarm; but I answered no ques131tion, scarcely did I speak. I felt as if I were placed under a ban—as if I had no right to claim their sympathies—as if never more might I enjoy companionship with them. Yet even thus I loved them to adoration; and to save them, I resolved to dedicate myself to my most abhorred task. The prospect of such an occupation made every other circumstance of existence pass before me like a dream; and that thought only had to me the reality of life.

      In this revision to the 1818 text, the 1831 edition makes Victor's motivation for creating a companion for the Creature more explicit. Victor considers the "abhorrent task" of creating another Creature necessary to absolve him of the responsibility for the Creature's violent deeds. He invokes his family's safety as the motive for agreeing to make a companion for the Creature.

    70. is wholly uneducated: he is as silent as a Turk, and a kind of ignorant carelessness attends him, which, while it renders his conduct the more astonishing, detracts from the interest and sympathy which otherwise he would command.

      In this addition to the 1831 edition, Walton’s earlier largely admiring portrait of the shipmaster was qualified by remembering that he did not have a wide moral frame of reference, having lived his life only on a ship, so his qualities fell somewhat short of being “noble.” But 1831 darkens the portrait by making him ignorant and careless while orientalizing him (“silent as a Turk”). This is one of many passages in 1831 that replace a liberal generosity toward her several of her characters with a more harshly conservative, intolerant stance.

    71. schiavi ognor frementi

      From the Italian, "slaves forever agitating". Shelley's reference here may be referring to the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Lombardy. The "enslavement" of the Italian province occurred as a consequence of decisions made at the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815).

    72. he springs of existence suddenly gave way: he was unable to rise from his bed,

      In this change to the 1831 edition, Victor's father seems to die of an acute bout of melancholy. In earlier editions, Victor's father suffers an "apoplectic fit" (a neurological impairment brought on from cerebral hemorrhage). The changed, melancholic cause of his death seems altogether more melodramatic in the 1831 edition, not least of all because of its mysterious pathology.

    73. And on the morrow Justine died. Elizabeth’s heart-rending eloquence failed to move the judges from their settled conviction in the criminality of the saintly sufferer. My passionate and indignant appeals were lost upon them. And when I received their cold answers, and heard the harsh unfeeling reasoning of these men, my purposed avowal died away on my lips. Thus I might proclaim myself a madman, but not revoke the sentence passed upon my wretched victim. She perished on the scaffold as a murderess! From the tortures of my own heart, I turned to contemplate the deep and voiceless grief of my Elizabeth. This also was my doing! And my father’s woe, and the desolation of that late so smiling home—all was the work of my thrice-accursed hands! Ye weep, unhappy ones; but these are not your last tears! Again shall you raise 74the funeral wail, and the sound of your lamentations shall again and again be heard! Frankenstein, your son, your kinsman, your early, much-loved friend; he who would spend each vital drop of blood for your sakes—who has no thought nor sense of joy, except as it is mirrored also in your dear countenances—who would fill the air with blessings, and spend his life in serving you—he bids you weep—to shed countless tears; happy beyond his hopes, if thus inexorable fate be satisfied, and if the destruction pause before the peace of the grave have succeeded to your sad torments! Thus spoke my prophetic soul, as, torn by remorse, horror, and despair, I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts.

      In this lengthy addition to the 1831 edition, Victor and Elizabeth attempt to save Justine from the scaffold by appealing to the judges but are unsuccessful in staying her execution.

      This is followed by an extended description of the anguish and torment of Victor's "prophetic soul" that accentuates the extreme feelings of guilt and horror that he feels for the deaths of both William and Justine.

    74. Before this I was not unacquainted with the more obvious laws of electricity. On this occasion a man of great research in natural philosophy was with us, and, excited by this catastrophe, he entered on the explanation of a theory which he had formed on the subject of electricity and galvanism, which was at once new and astonishing to me. All that he said threw greatly into the shade Cornelius Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Paracelsus, the lords of my imagination; but by some fatality the overthrow of these men disinclined me to pursue my accustomed studies. It seemed to me as if nothing would or could ever be known. All that had so long engaged my attention suddenly grew despicable. By one of those caprices of the mind, which we are perhaps most subject to in early youth, I at once gave up my former occupations; set down natural history and all its progeny as a deformed and abortive creation; and entertained the greatest disdain for a would-be science, which could never even step within the threshold of real knowledge. In this mood of mind I betook myself to the mathematics, and the branches of study appertaining to that science, as being built upon secure foundations, and so worthy of my consideration. Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by such slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity or ruin. When I look back, it seems to me as if this almost miraculous change of inclination and will was the immediate suggestion of the guardian angel of my life— the last effort made by the spirit of preservation to avert the storm that was even then hanging in the stars, and ready to envelope me. Her victory was announced by an unusual tranquillity and gladness of soul, which followed the relinquishing of my ancient and latterly tormenting studies. It was thus that I was to be taught to associate evil with their prosecution, happiness with their disregard. 29It was a strong effort of the spirit of good; but it was ineffectual. Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.

      In this section, in 1831 three paragraphs of text replace a five-paragraph section in 1818.

      Awed by the destructive power of the lightning-blast and their companions discourse on galvanism, Victor throws aside the "tormenting studies" of both medieval alchemy and natural philosophy which had hitherto fueled his sense of wonder and formed the basis of his intellectual obsessions. Turning instead to mathematics, he enjoys a brief respite from his torments, but his former desires will overtake him again.

    75. Justine shook her head mournfully. “I do not fear to die,” she said; “that pang is past. God raises my weakness, and gives me courage to endure the worst. I leave a sad and bitter world; and if you remember me, and think of me as of one unjustly condemned, I am resigned to the fate awaiting me. Learn from me, dear lady, to submit in patience to the will of Heaven!”

      In 1831, this brief passage where Justine comforts Elizabeth's misery by stating that she accepts her doom replaces a lengthier exchange, in the 1818 edition, in which a distraught Elizabeth attempts to comfort Justine despite her imminent death.

    76. shrunk from taking the first step in an undertaking whose immediate necessity began to appear less absolute to me. A change indeed had taken place in me:

      In this change to the 1831 edition, Shelley makes the reason for Victor's recuperation more explicit; the Creature's apparent absence creates in Victor a false sense of security. He is unaware that the Creature is ever-present, secretly watching to see if Victor makes good on his promise to create a companion for the Creature.

    77. There was a considerable difference between the ages of my parents, but this circumstance seemed to unite them only closer in bonds of devoted affection. There was a sense of justice in my father’s upright mind, which rendered it necessary that he should approve highly to love strongly. Perhaps during former years he had suffered from the late-discovered unworthiness of one beloved, and so was disposed to set a greater value on tried worth. There was a show of gratitude and worship in his attachment to my mother, differing wholly from the doating fondness of age, for it was inspired by reverence for her virtues, and a desire to be the means of, in some degree, recompensing her for the sorrows she had endured, but which gave inexpressible grace to his behaviour to her. Every thing was made to yield to her wishes and her convenience. He strove to shelter her, as a fair exotic is sheltered by the gardener, from every rougher wind, and to surround her with all that could tend to excite pleasurable emotion in her soft and benevolent mind. Her health, and even the tranquillity of her hitherto constant spirit, had been shaken by what she had gone through. During the two years that had elapsed previous to their marriage my father had gradually relinquished all his public functions; and immediately after their union they sought the pleasant climate of Italy, and the change of scene and interest attendant on a tour through that land of wonders, as a restorative for her weakened frame. From Italy they visited Germany and France. I, their eldest child, was born at Naples, and as an infant accompanied them in their rambles. I remained for several years their only child. Much as they were attached to each other, they seemed to draw inexhaustible stores of affection from a very mine of love to bestow them upon me. My mother’s tender caresses, and my father’s smile of benevolent pleasure while regarding me, are my first recollections. I was their plaything and their idol, and something better—21their child, the innocent and helpless creature bestowed on them by Heaven, whom to bring up to good, and whose future lot it was in their hands to direct to happiness or misery, according as they fulfilled their duties towards me. With this deep consciousness of what they owed towards the being to which they had given life, added to the active spirit of tenderness that animated both, it may be imagined that while during every hour of my infant life I received a lesson of patience, of charity, and of self-control, I was so guided by a silken cord, that all seemed but one train of enjoyment to me. For a long time I was their only care. My mother had much desire to have a daughter, but I continued their single offspring. When I was about five years old, while making an excursion beyond the frontiers of Italy, they passed a week on the shores of the Lake of Como. Their benevolent disposition often made them enter the cottages of the poor. This, to my mother, was more than a duty; it was a necessity, a passion,—remembering what she had suffered, and how she had been relieved,—for her to act in her turn the guardian angel to the afflicted. During one of their walks a poor cot in the foldings of a vale attracted their notice, as being singularly disconsolate, while the number of half-clothed children gathered about it, spoke of penury in its worst shape. One day, when my father had gone by himself to Milan, my mother, accompanied by me, visited this abode. She found a peasant and his wife, hard working, bent down by care and labour, distributing a scanty meal to five hungry babes. Among these there was one which attracted my mother far above all the rest. She appeared of a different stock. The four others were dark-eyed, hardy little vagrants; this child was thin, and very fair. Her hair was the brightest living gold, and, despite the poverty of her clothing, seemed to set a crown of distinction on her head. Her brow was clear and ample, her blue eyes cloudless, and her lips and the moulding of her face so expressive of sensibility and sweetness, that none could behold her without looking on her as of a distinct species, a being heaven-sent, and bearing a celestial stamp in all her features. 22The peasant woman, perceiving that my mother fixed eyes of wonder and admiration on this lovely girl, eagerly communicated her history. She was not her child, but the daughter of a Milanese nobleman. Her mother was a German, and had died on giving her birth. The infant had been placed with these good people to nurse: they were better off then. They had not been long married, and their eldest child was but just born. The father of their charge was one of those Italians nursed in the memory of the antique glory of Italy,—one among the schiavi ognor frementi, who exerted himself to obtain the liberty of his country. He became the victim of its weakness. Whether he had died, or still lingered in the dungeons of Austria, was not known. His property was confiscated, his child became an orphan and a beggar. She continued with her foster parents, and bloomed in their rude abode, fairer than a garden rose among dark-leaved brambles. When my father returned from Milan, he found playing with me in the hall of our villa, a child fairer than pictured cherub—a creature who seemed to shed radiance from her looks, and whose form and motions were lighter than the chamois of the hills. The apparition was soon explained. With his permission my mother prevailed on her rustic guardians to yield their charge to her. They were fond of the sweet orphan. Her presence had seemed a blessing to them; but it would be unfair to her to keep her in poverty and want, when Providence afforded her such powerful protection. They consulted their village priest, and the result was, that Elizabeth Lavenza became the inmate of my parents’ house—my more than sister—the beautiful and adored companion of all my occupations and my pleasures. Every one loved Elizabeth. The passionate and almost reverential attachment with which all regarded her became, while I shared it, my pride and my delight. On the evening previous to her being brought to my home, my mother had said playfully,—“I have a pretty present for my Victor—to-morrow he shall have it.” And when, on the morrow, she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally, and looked upon Elizabeth as mine—mine to protect, love, and 23cherish. All praises bestowed on her, I received as made to a possession of my own. We called each other familiarly by the name of cousin. No word, no expression could body forth the kind of relation in which she stood to me—my more than sister, since till death she was to be mine only. CHAPTER II. We were brought up together; there was not quite a year difference in our ages. I need not say that we were strangers to any species of disunion or dispute. Harmony was the soul of our companionship, and the diversity and contrast that subsisted in our characters drew us nearer together. Elizabeth was of a calmer and more concentrated disposition; but, with all my ardour, I was capable of a more intense application, and was more deeply smitten with the thirst for knowledge. She busied herself with following the aerial creations of the poets; and in the majestic and wondrous scenes which surrounded our Swiss home—the sublime shapes of the mountains; the changes of the seasons; tempest and calm; the silence of winter, and the life and turbulence of our Alpine summers,—she found ample scope for admiration and delight. While my companion contemplated with a serious and satisfied spirit the magnificent appearances of things, I delighted in investigating their causes. The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine. Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they were unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations I can remember. On the birth of a second son, my junior by seven years, my parents gave up entirely their wandering life, and fixed themselves in their native country. We possessed a house in Geneva, and a campagne on Belrive, the eastern shore of the lake, at the distance of rather more than a league from the city. We resided principally in the latter, and 24the lives of my parents were passed in considerable seclusion. It was my temper to avoid a crowd, and to attach myself fervently to a few. I was indifferent, therefore, to my schoolfellows in general; but I united myself in the bonds of the closest friendship to one among them. Henry Clerval was the son of a merchant of Geneva. He was a boy of singular talent and fancy. He loved enterprise, hardship, and even danger, for its own sake. He was deeply read in books of chivalry and romance. He composed heroic songs, and began to write many a tale of enchantment and knightly adventure. He tried to make us act plays, and to enter into masquerades, in which the characters were drawn from the heroes of Roncesvalles, of the Round Table of King Arthur, and the chivalrous train who shed their blood to redeem the holy sepulchre from the hands of the infidels. No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself. My parents were possessed by the very spirit of kindness and indulgence. We felt that they were not the tyrants to rule our lot according to their caprice, but the agents and creators of all the many delights which we enjoyed. When I mingled with other families, I distinctly discerned how peculiarly fortunate my lot was, and gratitude assisted the developement of filial love. My temper was sometimes violent, and my passions vehement; but by some law in my temperature they were turned, not towards childish pursuits, but to an eager desire to learn, and not to learn all things indiscriminately. I confess that neither the structure of languages, nor the code of governments, nor the politics of various states, possessed attractions for me. It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things, or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my enquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or, in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world. Meanwhile Clerval occupied himself, so to speak, with the moral relations of things. The busy stage of life, the virtues of heroes, and the actions of men, were his theme; and his hope and his dream was to become one among those 25whose names are recorded in story, as the gallant and adventurous benefactors of our species. The saintly soul of Elizabeth shone like a shrine-dedicated lamp in our peaceful home. Her sympathy was ours; her smile, her soft voice, the sweet glance of her celestial eyes, were ever there to bless and animate us. She was the living spirit of love to soften and attract: I might have become sullen in my study, rough through the ardour of my nature, but that she was there to subdue me to a semblance of her own gentleness. And Clerval—could aught ill entrench on the noble spirit of Clerval?—yet he might not have been so perfectly humane, so thoughtful in his generosity—so full of kindness and tenderness amidst his passion for adventurous exploit, had she not unfolded to him the real loveliness of beneficence, and made the doing good the end and aim of his soaring ambition.

      The next 11 paragraphs have been heavily altered from the 1818 edition. See individual comments.

    78. or if I should come back to you as worn and woful as the “Ancient Mariner?” You will smile at my allusion; but I will disclose a secret. I have often attributed my attachment to, my passionate enthusiasm for, the dangerous mysteries of the ocean, to that production of the most imaginative of modern poets. There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand. I am practically industrious—pains-taking;—a workman to execute with perseverance and labour:—but besides this, there is a love for the marvellous, a belief in the marvellous, intertwined in all my projects, which hurries me out of the common pathways of men, even to the wild sea and unvisited regions I am about to explore. But to return to dearer considerations.

      In this addition to the 1831 edition, Shelley explicitly refers to her poetic source, Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Walton muses wistfully on the "dangerous mysteries" of the ocean, proposing their similarity to poetry like Coleridge's, and citing them as the root of his own profound yearnings for the dangerous and sublime discoveries of exploration.

    79. I expressed myself in measured terms, with the modesty and deference due from a youth to his instructor, without letting escape (inexperience in life would have made me ashamed) any of the enthusiasm which stimulated my intended labours. I requested his advice concerning the books I ought to procure.

      This revision to 1831 emphasizes the great pains Victor takes with his manners when seeking guidance from M. Waldman.

    80. wouldst not desire against me a vengeance greater than that which I feel.

      In all editions prior to 1831, this phrase reads "thou desirest not my life for my own misery." Here, the Creature's intention is more explicit--Victor's extreme anguish could never, in the Creature's view, equal his own. Victor has loved and lost, while the Creature has never loved at all.

    81. again quitted 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 provided me a companion in Clerval—and yet a man is blind to a thousand minute circumstances, which 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.

      In this 1831 revision, it is unclear what is meant by Elizabeth providing Victor "a companion in Clerval," since earlier Victor notes that his father had required Clerval accompany Victor to ensure Victor's well-being.

    82. Clerval had never sympathised in my tastes for natural science; and his literary pursuits differed wholly from those which had occupied me. He came to the university with the design of making himself complete master of the oriental languages, as thus he should open a field for the plan of life he had marked out for himself. Resolved to pursue no inglorious career, he turned his eyes toward the East, as affording scope for his spirit of enterprise. The Persian, Arabic, and Sanscrit languages engaged his attention, and I was easily induced to enter on the same studies. Idleness had ever been irksome to me, and now that I wished to fly from reflection, and hated my former studies, I felt great relief in being the fellow-pupil with my friend, and found not only instruction but consolation in the works of the orientalists. I did not, like him, attempt a critical knowledge of their dialects, for I did not contemplate making any other use of them than temporary amusement

      In these 1831 revisions, Clerval's interest in Eastern languages and literature is a more scholarly and focused pursuit than in 1818. For instance, where in 1818 he studies Hebrew, a familiar ancient European language, the 1831 text shows him reading "oriental" texts to study the more archaic and difficult Sanskrit.

    83. say a few words of consolation; he could only express his heartfelt sympathy. “Poor William!” said he, “dear lovely child, 59he now sleeps with his angel mother! Who that had seen him bright and joyous in his young beauty, but must weep over his untimely loss! To die so miserably; to feel the murderer’s grasp! How much more a murderer, that could destroy such radiant innocence! Poor little fellow! one only consolation have we; his friends mourn and weep, but he is at rest. The pang is over, his sufferings are at an end for ever. A sod covers his gentle form, and he knows no pain. He can no longer be a subject for pity; we must reserve that for his miserable survivors.”

      In 1831, Clerval's words emotionally underscore the abhorrent nature of the crime. This outcry replaces a more philosophical reference in 1818 to the "maxims of the Stoics."

    84. I have described myself as always having been embued with a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature. In spite of the intense labour and wonderful discoveries of modern philosophers, I always came from my studies discontented and unsatisfied. Sir Isaac Newton is said to have avowed that he felt like a child picking up shells beside the great and unexplored ocean of truth. Those of his successors in each branch of natural philosophy with whom I was acquainted, appeared even to my boy’s apprehensions, as tyros engaged in the same pursuit. The untaught peasant beheld the elements around him, and was acquainted with their practical uses. The most learned philosopher knew little more. He had partially unveiled the face of Nature, but her immortal lineaments were still a wonder and a mystery. He might dissect, anatomise, and give names; but, not to speak of a final cause, causes in their secondary and tertiary grades were 27utterly unknown to him. I had gazed upon the fortifications and impediments that seemed to keep human beings from entering the citadel of nature, and rashly and ignorantly I had repined. But here were books, and here were men who had penetrated deeper and knew more. I took their word for all that they averred, and I became their disciple. It may appear strange that such should arise in the eighteenth century; but while I followed the routine of education in the schools of Geneva, I was, to a great degree, self taught with regard to my favourite studies. My father was not scientific, and I was left to struggle with a child’s blindness, added to a student’s thirst for knowledge. Under the guidance of my new preceptors,

      In this revision for the 1831 edition, Victor narrates a period of exploration and disillusionment with the emergent discourse of modern rational science, encapsulated here by the figure of Newton.

    85. all left behind, on whom the monster might satisfy his sanguinary and merciless passions. This idea plunged me

      In this 1831 this revision of 1818's phrase "and sunk" (into a reverie) makes more specific why Victor fears for their welfare.

    86. I may receive your letters on some occasions when I need them most to support my spirits

      In the 1818 edition, Walton had doubted that he would be able to receive future letters from Margaret. The doubt now disappears from the 1831 edition.

    87. And then I bent over her, and whispered “Awake, fairest, thy lover is near—he who would give his life but to obtain one look of affection from thine eyes: my beloved, awake!” “The sleeper stirred; a thrill of terror ran through me. Should she indeed awake, and see me, and curse me, and denounce the murderer? Thus would she assuredly act, if her darkened eyes opened, and she beheld me. The thought was madness; it stirred the fiend within me—not I, but she shall suffer: the murder I have committed because I am for ever robbed of all that she could give me, she shall atone. The crime had its source in her: be hers the punishment!

      In this change to the 1831 edition, the Creature's motivation for framing Justine is made more explicit than in 1818. In earlier editions the motive for framing her is unaddressed. For a good commentary on this point, see Sylvia Bowerbank, "The Social Order vs. the Wretch: Mary Shelley's Contradictory-mindedness in Frankenstein." ELH 4.3 (1979): 418-431 at 428.

    88. Dear Victor, banish these dark passions. Remember the friends around you, 78who centre all their hopes in you. Have we lost the power of rendering you happy? Ah! while we love—while we are true to each other, here in this land of peace and beauty, your native country, we may reap every tranquil blessing,—what can disturb our peace?” And could not such words from her whom I fondly prized before every other gift of fortune, suffice to chase away the fiend that lurked in my heart? Even as she spoke I drew near to her, as if in terror; lest at that very moment the destroyer had been near to rob me of her. Thus not the tenderness of friendship, nor the beauty of earth, nor of heaven, could redeem my soul from woe: the very accents of love were ineffectual. I was encompassed by a cloud which no beneficial influence could penetrate. The wounded deer dragging its fainting limbs to some untrodden brake, there to gaze upon the arrow which had pierced it, and to die—was but a type of me. Sometimes I could cope with the sullen despair that overwhelmed me: but sometimes the whirlwind passions of my soul drove me to seek, by bodily exercise and by change of place, some relief from my intolerable sensations. It was during an access of this kind that I suddenly left my home, and bending my steps towards the near Alpine valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such scenes, to forget myself and my ephemeral, because human, sorrows. My wanderings were directed towards the valley of Chamounix. I had visited it frequently during my boyhood. Six years had passed since then: I was a wreck—but nought had changed in those savage and enduring scenes. I performed the first part of my journey on horseback. I afterwards hired a mule, as the more sure-footed, and least liable to receive injury on these rugged roads. The weather was fine: it was about the middle of the month of August, nearly two months after the death of Justine; that miserable epoch from which I dated all my woe. The weight upon my spirit was sensibly lightened as I plunged yet deeper in the ravine of Arve. The immense mountains and precipices that overhung me on every side—the sound of the river raging among the rocks, and the dashing of the 79waterfalls around, spoke of a power mighty as Omnipotence—and I ceased to fear, or to bend before any being less almighty than that which had created and ruled the elements, here displayed in their most terrific guise. Still, as I ascende

      In this lengthy revision to the 1831 edition, Shelley emphasizes Victor's wariness in becoming close to Elizabeth, should she meet the same fate as Justine. Importantly, the journey along the Arve Valley is made by Victor alone, giving him cause to reflect on his journey with greater nostalgia. In the earlier editions, Victor travels with Elizabeth, his father, and his brother Ernest.

    89. Do not fear. I will proclaim, I will prove your innocence. I will melt the stony hearts of your enemies by my tears and prayers. You shall not die!—You, my play-fellow, my companion, my sister, perish on the scaffold! No! no! I never could

      In 1818, Elizabeth vows to proclaim Justine's innocence but seems resigned to her death. This 1831 revision gives Elizabeth a more resolute will to "prove your innocence."

    1. Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay To mould me man? Did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me?— Paradise Lost.

      In all previous editions before 1831, this quote from Paradise Lost appears at the beginning of Volume 1 and Volume 3. As the 1831 edition was published in two volumes, the quote disappears from the beginning of what was volume 3 in previous editions.

    2. Gower

      Sir Thomas Gower, 2nd Baronet (c. 1605–1672) twice served as the High Sheriff of Yorkshire and supported the Royalist cause during the Civil War. In his 1823 edition of Shelley's novel, her father William Godwin changed "Gower" to "Goring," the name of another Royalist leader in the Civil War, and the 1823 change is retained in the 1831 revision of the novel.