"Like one, one a lonesome road who,
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And, having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread" (36)
This is a allusion to Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner," a poem about a mariner who has returned from a long sea voyage. Shelley is comparing the mariners walk home to Frankenstien's walk down the street. The allusion brings credit to the story and gives it more depth. However, without the footnote, I would not have recognized this because the poem was written in 1798.
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what depth does it add?
ReplyDeleteThis shows us that Frankenstein is lost and feels alone on the street just as the mariner does.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this allusion adds an outward affirmation of Frankenstein's isolation. I do not believe that this allusion is meant to yield a recognition by the reader of the poem because of its obscurity and out-dated nature. The excerpt serves to provide foreshadowing of Frankenstein's interation with his monster rather than to parallel the novel with Coleridge's poem.
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