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•     Monstrous Remorse
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Monstrous Remorse

Hiob. Artist unknown. Photographic reproduction of a halftone reproduction of a woodcut. National Library of Medicine Collection.

Once I falsely hoped to meet with beings, who, pardoning my outward form, would love me for the excellent qualities which I was capable of bringing forth. I was nourished with high thoughts of honour and devotion. But now vice has degraded me beneath the meanest animal. . . . the fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. . . . I am quite alone.

The Monster to explorer Robert Walton
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, 1818

Encountering Robert Walton aboard his ship, the monster expresses overwhelming remorse for his frightful catalogue of misdeeds, the deaths of William, Clerval, Elizabeth, and his creator. The creature informs the explorer that he will destroy himself in the frozen north, and disappears in the icy waves. The tragedy of Frankenstein and his monster is complete.