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Chapter 8
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Frankenstein, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family, Society, Isolation
Ambition and Fallibility
Romanticism and Nature
Revenge
Prejudice
Lost Innocence
Summary
Analysis
Victor despairs that his good intentions have resulted in such horror. Soon the Frankensteins go to their vacation home in Belrive to escape the bad memories of what's happened. Yet Victor still has thoughts of suicide and begins to desire revenge against the monster.
Victor's response to the monster's betrayal of him mirrors the monster's response to Victor's betrayal: both isolate themselves in nature and seek revenge.
Themes
Literary Devices
Quiz
Test Yourself
One day Elizabeth tells Victor that she no longer sees the world the same way after witnessing the execution of an innocent.
Elizabeth, for so long a perfect model of innocence, begins to lose her innocence.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
A while later Victor decides to travel to Chamonix, France, hoping the trip will provide relief from his "ephemeral, because human, sorrows." Along the way he gazes at waterfalls and the towering Mont Blanc. At times the sights remind him of happier times, but never for long.
A sentiment typical of Romantic literature: human concerns are "ephemeral," or short lived, whereas Nature is as enduring as God.
Themes
Quiz
Test Yourself
