It’s alive! It’s aalllliiiivveee!
Quote never said in the book. Thanks Hollywood.
Books are usually better than the movies they are made into. As entertaining as the world of Frankenstein movies have been since nearly the advent of moving pictures themselves, this book > movie rule is outlandishly true in the case of Mary Shelley’s 1818 classic. THIS BOOK IS AMAZING! I honestly had no idea how good it was. Written to win a bet with her husband and his pompous writer friends, Shelley produced one of the most enduring tales of English literature and a character that has now lived on, literally, for centuries.
One of the biggest misconceptions I had of the book was that the monster was as he’s portrayed in film: a lurking, lumbering, cross-eyed oaf who’s hard-wired to kill and can’t muster a word other than AARRGGGGGH. Not so, dear readers! Not only does the once-lifeless creation speak in the book, he narrates five full chapters. And in those storytelling sections he explains to his creator in eloquent prose how he acquired spoken language, observed cultural behaviors and, ya know, became sentient to his own mortality and the nature of his true being. I’m not kidding. Find a copy at your library and open to Chapter XI. Then prepare to have your mind blown.
With this great revelation I thought it only right to convey some of that lovely language via Library Card Life. From the second half of Frankenstein, here are 44 words used by the monster that would make any AP English teacher radiant with life.
| purloined | multiplicity | viands | execration |
| impervious | inclemency | enigmatic | cursory |
| desolate | countenance | melancholy | slothful |
| uncouth | benevolent | exhortations | degredation |
| lamented | pensive | conjectured | abject |
| disconsolate | despondency | ardently | squalid |
| debilitated | monotonous | mortification | unsullied |
| loathsome | tyrranical | amiable | vestige |
| subsist | benevolance | benefactor | deplored |
| disquisitions | consternation | perpetual | gall |
| myriad | pittance | sagacity | tenement |
As you can see, there is plenty of angst amongst his word choices. The monster realizes he is a wretch, incapable of human connection because of his appearance. As he concludes his fifth chapter of narrative to his maker, the monster demands a bride of equal construction so that they might at least have each other in an otherwise cold and disconnected world. We all just want somebody to love.
The book is nothing short of a literary masterpiece. The style is fluid, the characters engaging and the story is as tragic as it is profound. I was taken aback by this novel in multiple ways and I highly encourage anyone interested in classic horror/sci-fi stories to seek out this material at it’s source. You will find a bountiful spring sure to keep your Word A Day calendar full for at least a month or more.
1 thought on “44 SAT Words Used by Frankenstein’s Monster in the Novel”
Sharing this post with our wacky-fun Classic professor. I’ll let you know if he uses it in his upcoming curriculum. I confess, I need to look up three words from the list – viands, disquisitions and sagacity. My words for the day. Keep putting those lovely words together – I love to see what pictures you will paint for me with them.