In the Thomas copy this passage, deleted in 1831, is tagged by Shelley in the margins as "bad".

(Deleted in 1831). Percy Shelley had suffered negative rulings by the English court system and Mary seems to share his moral judgment on the legal profession. This skepticism will soon be reinforced in the novel by the court's harsh treatment of Justine Moritz.

Victor refers to the Great Masson Caverns on the Heights of Abraham above Matlock Bath.

Holyhead is a town in Wales and serves as a major port in the Irish Sea.

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.

The Story of Rimini was composed by Leigh Hunt and published in 1816. The poem is based on Hunt's reading of Paolo and Francesca in hell, famously told in Dante's Inferno (Circle 2, Canto 5). Hunt's version is sympathetic to how the two lovers came together after Francesca was married to Paolo's brother. The lovers were later punished for the fraternal transgression. The poem advocates for compassion for all of humanity.

Elizabeth's experiences follow a trajectory similar to Mary Shelley's. Mary's mother died giving birth to her, she endured a stepmother and had a brother named William. See Barbara Johnson, "My Monster/My Self, Diacritics, 12 (Summer 1992): 2-10.