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- [00:00]
A
Hello and welcome to Storytime for Grown Ups. I'm Faith Moore and this season we're reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Each episode I'll read a few chapters from the book, pausing from time to time to give brief explanations so it's easier to follow along. It's like an audiobook with built in notes. So brew a pot of tea, find a cozy chair and settle in. It's story time.
- [00:41]
B
Hello.
- [00:41]
A
Welcome back.
- [00:42]
C
You know, it's officially fall now, which is perfect for us because this is the perfect book for fall. And so I hope that you're enjoying your fall weather wherever you are and whatever fall weather means to you. I know we have some listeners in all Australia, so actually it's not fall there, it's spring. So I hope you're enjoying whatever season it is for you and reading this book during this time. I certainly am. It's such a joy to be reading with you. So thank you for being here. I wanted to say also thank you to those of you who came to the Tea time that we had this past Tuesday. It was really fun. We spent actually most of the time talking about these, what I've been calling short essay questions, these philosophical questions that have been coming up, like what's your responsibility to a creature you create? Should you create a creature just because you can? All of these things. We talked about the ways that all of these questions connect to modern times and how amazing and wonderful it is that this book from so many years ago is still relevant now. And it was great. It was a really fun time. So thank you to those of you who came and were there. And thank you to all of you who support the show by being a part of the Drawing Room, our online community community. If you'd like to be a part of it. If you missed tea time and you missed signing up and you want to, you can sign up. There will be another tea time in October. I haven't scheduled it yet, but when I do, I will announce it here. If you'd like to learn more about the Drawing Room, just scroll into the show notes or what's the description of this episode basically and click on the link that's there and you'll learn more while you're down there. Check out the other links that are there. There's the merch store. I'm so excited about the merch that's in there. We now have new merch. I told you about this a couple weeks ago. We have the well said forehead hat from Jane Eyre and we have the my buttered toast Waits for nobody. Shirts and mugs and all kinds of things from the Woman in White. So please check that out. There's other designs as well. I hope you'll pick up some merch.
- [02:41]
B
And, you know, buy some merch and make a friend.
- [02:43]
C
Because if you wear your shirts around or drink from your mug, maybe somebody will say, hey, story time for grown ups. And then you can tell them. And then you'll have somebody who you can talk to in real life about these books. And that's just the best. So check out those links in the show notes. And other than that, please just make sure you're subscribed.
- [03:01]
B
Please tap the five stars if you haven't already.
- [03:04]
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Please leave a positive review. And please, whether you're wearing your merch or not, just tell someone else about the show. The more the merrier.
- [03:10]
A
The more the better.
- [03:12]
C
Because we're changing the world by reading books and talking about them together. I really believe that. Okay, today we are going to be reading chapter eight of Frankenstein. We read chapter seven last time. I've got some great questions. We have a lot to talk about, so let's get into it. We'll begin with the recap.
- [03:29]
A
Okay, so where we left off? When Victor gets back from his walking tour with Henry Clerval, he finds a letter from his father telling him that his youngest brother, William, has been murdered. So Victor rushes back to Geneva, but he. He gets there after the town's gates are locked, so he can't get in until the morning. Victor decides to go to the place where his brother was murdered. And he gets caught in a terrible storm. In a flash of lightning, he thinks.
- [03:55]
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He sees the creature that he created. And he realizes that the creature must.
- [04:00]
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Be the one who killed William.
- [04:01]
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And that because he, Victor, created the creature, he is actually responsible for his brother's death.
- [04:08]
A
So when he gets home, his brother Ernest explains that the maid, Justine, has.
- [04:12]
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Been arrested for the murder because a.
- [04:14]
A
Miniature portrait of Victor's mother was found in her pocket.
- [04:18]
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This portrait was with William when he died because Elizabeth let him wear it. So Elizabeth feels that the murder is her fault for letting William wear this costly painting, which she feels is the.
- [04:29]
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Reason he was killed.
- [04:30]
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Right. To get at this valuable item. So Victor tells his family that he.
- [04:34]
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Is certain that Justine is not the killer. But he doesn't explain why, since he can't tell them about the creature without.
- [04:41]
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Seeming like a crazy person, he believes.
- [04:43]
A
That Justine won't be found guilty in a court of law because she's innocent.
- [04:48]
C
Okay, so I've got two Comments today. The first one comes from Nathan Black. And I got this comment two episodes ago, so after we finished chapter six, because he's talking about the letter that Elizabeth sends to Victor where she kind of shares the news and the gossip and talks about the servant Justine Moritz, who we learned much more about in the last episode in chapter seven. So I'm going to read this one, but just a reminder that it's from then because it will make more sense. So he writes, you were right about Shelley and backstories. We get this weird exposition moment that's a backstory of stuff that Victor should theoretically already know about this servant girl under the guise that he probably forgot about her. It's definitely an interesting writing choice to do that. I guess this is one of those moments where we have to smile, pat her on the head and go, okay, Mary, okay. And the second one comes from Elizabeth. She writes, hang on, wait. It's been two years since Victor created his creature. Did Victor never wonder where it was or what it was doing in all this time? And now it seems like it's in.
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Geneva and it killed his brother.
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C
Is this the first time it's killed? If so, what was it doing before? Why suddenly kill someone now? Okay, so, yes, it is worth reiterating that it's been kind of a long time in the grand scheme of things.
- [06:03]
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Since the creature was created.
- [06:05]
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And also that Victor basically didn't care at all about what it's been up to or what it might do in all of this time. He was like, yikes. It's horrifying. I hate it. Oh, good, it's gone. Few close call. I mean, first he has his big freak out and had to be tended to by Henry. So that took a while. Then he got better and studied Oriental languages with Henry for a while. Then he went on this long walking tour. Then his date to go home got put off by various things, and he had to wait through the winter. So it has been two years. Two years in which he basically seems to have assumed that the creature was just gone. But of course, that's ridiculous because it's alive. It's an actual sentient being. So it didn't just disappear into thin air. It went somewhere. So it's been somewhere doing something for two years, and we don't know at this point where it was or what it was doing. Maybe he's killed millions of people. Maybe this is his first kill.
- [07:00]
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But at some point in the two.
- [07:01]
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Years since Victor completely abandoned his creation, the. The creation turned into a murderer. If of Course, Victor is right, and the creature actually is the one who murdered Victor's brother. And it's not the servant Justine, or someone else entirely that we haven't discovered yet, which are both possibilities. So all these philosophical questions that we've been asking ourselves about whether or not it's okay to create a human in a lab, and whether or not it's okay to create a being without a mother to guide it, and whether or not the creator has a responsibility for what he created.
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We.
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We now have a little more information.
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With which to judge the answers.
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Because now we know that, at least in this case, one thing that happens if you create someone in the lab and then completely abandon it is that it kills your brother. Why? What exactly happened? What the creature has been doing all of this time?
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We don't have the answer to those.
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Questions yet, nor do we really know, or nor can we really judge yet whether a creature like this was always going to end up a murderer, or whether it became a murderer because it was neglected, or some other third option that we haven't thought of yet. So there's a lot we don't know. But we do know that if Victor is right, then the creature is back, and he's murdered someone that Victor loves dearly. So if Victor hated this creature before, he's going to hate him even more now.
- [08:21]
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You know, last time I asked you.
- [08:23]
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Whether the creator of a being like Victor has created has a responsibility toward what he creates. And every single one of you who wrote in about that said that, yes, he does have a responsibility. So I think we can all agree that Victor has shirked his responsibility. And now the creature has killed Victor's brother. And this servant, Justine Moritz, who, according to Elizabeth, Victor was very fond of. Right. So she has been accused of the murder because this painting that the brother had on him was found in her pocket. So everyone assumes that she killed William in order to steal the painting. So, in a way, although we don't have all the details yet, Victor is responsible for this murder just as much as his creature is. I mean, that might be debatable, but I think it is on the table. Which brings me to Nathan's comment about backstories. You know, a few of you wrote in after chapter six, when we got this long backstory about Justine Moritz, you wrote in to say, what is this even doing here? Why include this letter from Elizabeth with this long story about a servant we haven't heard of until now? So now we know, right? It was there to set up this situation with Justine accused of William's murder. That way, when we hear that it's Justine accused of the crime, we already know that we like Justine and that she's probably innocent. Right? So the letter from Elizabeth with the long backstory was a setup. It was there to give us the information we needed to make sense of.
- [09:51]
A
The situation that then unfolds in chapter seven.
- [09:54]
C
Now, I will be the first to tell you that this was clunky on Mary Shelley's part, and we probably didn't need the whole story about Justine's mother not liking her in all of this. Although it did make us feel sympathy for Justine, which is important because it signals to us what we're supposed to think now that she's accused of murder, which is that she's innocent. But I agree that Shelley could have found perhaps a more elegant way to get all of this information in there. But remember that the novel is a relatively new art form at this point.
- [10:21]
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So.
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So the kinds of things that we expect from novels now in terms of exposition and things like that, those things were still being worked out, but there's no denying that it was clunky.
- [10:30]
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But that's okay.
- [10:31]
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We smile, we nod, we pat Mary on the head, and we continue on with her brilliant, brilliant story, which, hopefully, we are all coming to love. So now Victor is in an interesting situation, right? He's created this creature who turns out.
- [10:43]
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To be a murderer.
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He knows no one's going to believe him if he tells them about the creature, because they're going to think he's crazy, because someone. Such a thing isn't possible. But someone else, an innocent woman whom he cares about, is accused of the murder. So the right thing to do here, it seems to me, anyway, is confess that he created this being and that it was the being that killed William. But Victor doesn't do that because he assumes that since Justine is innocent, that will all come out in the trial, which is about to happen, and then everything will be fine. So is he being cowardly here? I mean, maybe. Or is he being realistic in the sense that going around talking about a walking corpse guy is probably not his best bet if he wants to be taken seriously also. Maybe. But I think Victor's attitude about the.
- [11:30]
A
Creature is really interesting in this chapter. I mean, first of all, I just.
- [11:34]
C
Have to point out the wonderful, almost kind of cinematic scene in the storm where the lightning flashes and suddenly the creature's standing right there. I mean, come on, that's just great, right? It really is like a movie. You've seen that scene In a movie. A million before, I'm sure, but there were no movies back then.
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She's inventing this.
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So it's so atmospheric and so creepy and fun. Here's a quote, just to remind you. It says, as I said these words.
- [11:59]
A
I perceived in the gloom a figure.
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Which stole from behind a clump of trees near me.
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And then later it says, a flash.
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Of lightning illuminated the object and discovered its shape. Plainly to me, right? So he's there in the dark, in the rain, and suddenly, flash. And there in the light, just that quick flash of light, there is the creature. So it's great. And when Victor sees the creature there and he puts together this theory that it was the creature that murdered William, he goes, well, yeah, of course this being is evil. I knew it immediately.
- [12:29]
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That's why I ran away from it.
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And here's what he says. He says I had turned loose into the world a depraved wretch whose delight was in carnage and misery, had he not murdered my brother. Okay? So basically he's saying that this is a creature who is evil. He came into the world evil. So of course he's done an evil thing.
- [12:49]
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But I want to push back on.
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That a little, because did the creature come into the world evil? Remember that first scene of him kind of toddling after Victor and babbling and smiling and all that?
- [12:59]
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Can a being even come into the world evil?
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Is that even possible? These short essay questions just keep writing themselves, so write in about that. But anyway, Victor assumes that because. Because the creature is evil, he has, of course, done an evil thing. But remember, the creature has been gone for two years. In those two years, Victor totally neglected its education. And he showed it no love, only hatred for the brief moments that he was with it. So if the creature did murder William, isn't it more likely that it's the intervening years that have turned it into a murder and not simply the fact of its existence? Right. I would love to know what you think about that, too. But that's where I'm coming from here. But what's really interesting here, I think, is that Victor in some way identifies with the creature.
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He feels that whatever the creature has.
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Done, it's like he himself has done that thing. Here's what he says. He says, I considered the being whom I had cast among mankind and endowed.
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With the will and power to effect.
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Purposes of horror, such as the deed which he had now done nearly in the light of my own vampire, my own spirit let loose from the grave and forced to destroy all that was dear to me. Meaning it's like some bad version of himself, some evil side of himself that he didn't know he had, has come to life and killed what he loves. So that's interesting, right? He assumes the creature is somehow inherently evil before it's even had a chance to be anything at all. But he also feels that somehow the creature is him. So is this just like his ego again? Is it just that he can't conceive of the creature as a living, breathing entity that is separate from him, so anything the creature does must come back to him? Or is he in some way taking responsibility for what the creature has done because he is its creator? I think that remains to be seen. But I think the most important thing.
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Here is that Victor assumes that the.
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Creature just is evil.
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Not that circumstances have turned it evil.
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But that its very nature is to be evil.
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So anything it was ever going to do would have been evil.
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And I don't know about you, but that doesn't really sound right to me. Okay, so what is going to happen now? Because Justine is on trial for this murder, the creature is nearby, and he seems to be following Victor around. So we assume that they're going to meet again, and Victor's whole family is in mourning for this little boy who's been killed. Well, okay, one thing we know for sure is that whatever's going to happen next isn't going to be good for Victor. Right. This chapter is filled with foreshadowing. Here's just some of it. He says, I foresaw obscurely that I.
- [15:31]
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Was destined to become the most wretched of human beings.
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Here's another one. In all the misery I imagined and dreaded, I did not conceive the hundredth.
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Part of the anguish I was destined to endure.
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And then here's one more. He's essentially looking back happily on this horrible time of grieving, because it was better than what came later. He says, they were days of comparative happiness, and I think of them with pleasure. Okay, so I love this. I love all this melodrama. It's like, you think this is bad? Well, just wait, you guys. It's gonna be so much worse.
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And that should be bad.
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I mean, I'm sure it will be bad for the characters, but giving it to us with all of this kind of over the top foreshadowing, I don't know, it also makes it seem like it's going to be kind of fun, like it's going to be a fun ride, and I hope that it is. So let's get back into it. And of course, don't forget to write to me. It's faithkmoore.com and you click on Contact.
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Or you scroll into the show notes.
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And click the link that goes to the exact same page. I would love to hear from you, but respond to what I've just said, or ask questions, make comments about chapter eight, which is what we are about to read.
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A
All right, let's get started with chapter eight of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It's story time. Chapter eight. We passed a few sad hours until 11 o' clock, when the trial was to commence. My father and the rest of the family being obliged to attend as witnesses, I accompanied them to the court. During the whole of this wretched mockery of justice, I suffered living torture. It was to be decided whether the result of my curiosity and lawless devices would cause the death of two of my fellow beings. One, a smiling babe full of innocence and joy, the other, far more dreadfully murdered with every aggravation of infamy that could make the murder memorable in horror. Okay, so he's saying that the creature already killed William. If Justine is found guilty, it'll be like he killed her too, because she'll.
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Be executed as a murderer.
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Justine also was a girl of merit and possessed qualities which promised to render her life happy. Now all was to be obliterated in an ignominious grave, and I the cause. A thousand times rather would I have confessed myself guilty of the crime ascribed to Justine, but I was absent when it was committed, and such a declaration would have been considered as the ravings of a madman and would not have exculpated her, who suffered through me. So exculpated means proven not to be guilty.
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So he's saying he would have confessed.
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To the murder himself, but he was.
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Clearly out of town, so everyone would just think he was was crazy and he wouldn't save Justine.
- [18:20]
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The appearance of Justine was calm. She was dressed in mourning, and her countenance, always engaging, was rendered by the solemnity of her feelings exquisitely beautiful. Yet she appeared confident in innocence and did not tremble, although gazed on and execrated by thousands, meaning many hated her for all the kindness which her beauty might otherwise have excited, was obliterated in the minds of the spectators by the imagination of the enormous she was supposed to have committed. She was tranquil, yet her tranquillity was evidently constrained. And as her confusion had before been adduced as a proof of her guilt, she worked up her mind to an appearance of courage when she entered the court. She threw her eyes round it, and quickly discovered where we were seated. A tear seemed to dim her eye when she saw us, but she quickly recovered herself, and a look of sorrowful affection seemed to attest her utter guiltlessness. The trial began, and after the advocate against her had stated the charge, several witnesses were called. Several strange facts combined against her, which might have staggered anyone who had not such proof of her innocence as I had. She had been out the whole of the night on which the murder had been committed, and towards morning had been perceived by a market woman not far from the spot where the body of the murdered child had been afterwards found. The woman asked her what she did there, but she looked very strangely, and only returned a confused and unintelligible answer. She returned to the house about 8 o', clock, and when one inquired where she had passed the night, she replied that she had been looking for the child, and demanded earnestly if anything had been heard concerning him. When shown the body, she fell into violent hysterics and kept her bed for several days. The picture was then produced which the servant had found in her pocket, and when Elizabeth, in a faltering voice, proved that it was the same which an hour before the child had been missed, she had placed round his neck, a murmur of horror and indignation filled the court. Justine was called on for her defense. As the trial had proceeded, her countenance had altered. Surprise, horror, and misery were strongly expressed. Sometimes she struggled with her tears, but when she was desired to plead, she collected her powers and spoke in an audible, although variable voice. God knows, she said, how entirely I am innocent, but I do not pretend that my protestations should acquit me.
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I rest my innocence on a plain and simple explanation of the facts which.
- [21:07]
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Have been adduced against me, and I hope the character I have always borne will incline my judges to a favorable interpretation, where any circumstance appears doubtful or suspicious. She then related that, by the permission of Elizabeth, she had passed the evening of the night on which the murder had been committed at the house of an aunt at Chene, a village situated at about a league from Geneva. On her return, at about 9 o', clock, she met a man who asked her if she had seen anything of the child who was lost. She was alarmed by this account, and passed several hours in looking for him, when the gates of Geneva were shut, and she was forced to remain several hours of the night in a barn belonging to a cottage, being unwilling to call up the inhabitants to whom she was well known. Most of the night, she Spent here watching. Towards morning she believed that she slept for a few minutes. Some steps disturbed her, and she awoke. It was dawn, and she quitted her asylum. That she might again endeavor to find my brother. If she had gone near the spot where his body lay. It was without her knowledge. That she had been bewildered. When questioned by the market woman was not surprising, since he had passed a sleepless night and the fate of poor William was yet uncertain. Concerning the picture, she could give no account. I know, continued that unhappy victim, how heavily and fatally this one circumstance weighs against me. But I have no power of explaining it.
- [22:43]
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And when I have expressed my utter ignorance, I am only left to conjecture.
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Concerning the probabilities by which it might have been placed in my pocket.
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But here also I am checked. I believe that I have no enemy.
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On earth, and none surely would have been so wicked as to destroy me wantonly. Did the murderer place it there? I know of no opportunity afforded him for doing so.
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Or if I had, why should he have stolen the jewel to part with.
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It again so soon?
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I commit my cause to the justice of my judges. Yet I see no room for hope. I beg permission to have a few witnesses examined concerning my character. And if their testimony shall not overweigh my supposed guilt, I must be condemned.
- [23:33]
A
Although I would pledge my salvation on my innocence. Several witnesses were called who had known her for many years, and they spoke well of her. But fear and hatred of the crime of which they supposed her guilty rendered them timorous and unwilling to come forward. Elizabeth saw even this last resource, her excellent dispositions and irreproachable conduct about to fail the accused when, although violently agitated, she desired permission to address the court. I am, said she, the cousin of.
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The unhappy child who was murdered, or rather his sister, for I was educated by and have lived with his parents ever since and even long before his birth. It may therefore be judged indecent in me to come forward on this occasion. But when I see a fellow creature about to perish through the cowardice of her pretended friends, I wish to be allowed to speak that I may say what I know of her character. I am well acquainted with the accused. I have lived in the same house with her at one time for five and at another for nearly two years. During all that period, she appeared to me the most amiable and benevolent of human creatures. She nursed Madame Frankenstein, my aunt, in her last illness, with the greatest affection and care, and afterwards attended her own mother during a tedious illness in a manner that excited the admiration of all who knew her. After which she again lived in my uncle's house, where she was beloved by all the family. She was warmly attached to the child who is now dead, and acted towards him like a most affectionate mother. For my own part, I do not hesitate to say that, notwithstanding all the evidence produced against her, I believe and rely on her perfect innocence. She had no temptation for such an action.
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As to the bauble on which the.
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Chief proof rests, if she had earnestly desired it, I should have willingly given it to her. So much do I esteem and value her.
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A
A murmur of approbation followed Elizabeth's simple and powerful appeal, but it was excited by her generous interference and not in favor of poor Justine, on whom the public indignation was turned with renewed violence, charging her with the blackest ingratitude. Meaning Elizabeth's speech makes the crowd feel favorable toward Elizabeth, but not toward Justine, whom they've already condemned in their minds. She herself wept as Elizabeth spoke, but she did not answer. My own agitation and anguish was extreme during the whole trial. I believed in her innocence. I knew it. Could the demon who had I did not for a minute doubt, murdered my brother also in his hellish sport, have betrayed the innocent to death and ignominy? So ignominy means public shame. I could not sustain the horror of my situation. And when I perceived that the popular voice and the countenances of the judges had already condemned my unhappy victim, I pushed out of the court in agony. The tortures of the accused did not equal mine. She was sustained by innocence, but the fangs of remorse tore my bosom and would not forego their hold. I passed a night of unmingled wretchedness. In the morning I went to the court. My lips and throat were parched. I dared not ask the fatal question. But I was known, and the officer guessed the cause of my visit. The pallets had been thrown. They were all black. And Justine was condemned. I cannot pretend to describe what I then felt. I had before experienced sensations of horror, and I had endeavored to bestow upon them adequate expressions. But words cannot convey an idea of the heart. Sickening despair that I then endured. The person to whom I addressed myself added that Justine had already confessed her guilt. That evidence, he observed, was hardly required.
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In so glaring a case. But I am glad of it.
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And indeed, none of our judges like to condemn a criminal upon circumstantial evidence.
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Be it ever so decisive. This was strange and unexpected intelligence.
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What could it mean?
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Had my eyes deceived me, and was I really as mad as the whole world? Would believe me to be if I.
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Disclosed the object of my suspicions. I hastened to return home, and Elizabeth eagerly demanded the result. My cousin replied I, it is decided. As you may have expected, all judges had rather that 10 innocent should suffer than that one guilty should escape. But she has confessed. This was a dire blow to poor Elizabeth, who had relied with firmness upon Justine's innocence.
- [28:52]
B
Alas, said she, how shall I ever again believe in human goodness? Justine, whom I loved and esteemed as my sister, how could she put on those smiles of innocence only to betray?
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Her mild eyes seemed incapable of any severity or guile.
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And yet she has committed a murder.
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Soon after, we heard that the poor victim had expressed a desire to see my cousin. My father wished her not to go, but said that he left it to her own judgment and feelings to decide. Yes, said Elizabeth, I will go, although she is guilty.
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And you, Victor, shall accompany me.
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A
I cannot go alone. The idea of this visit was torture to me, yet I could not refuse. We entered the gloomy prison chamber and beheld Justine sitting on some straw at the farther end. Her hands were manacled and her head rested on her knees. She rose on seeing us enter, and when we were left alone with her, she threw herself at the feet of Elizabeth, weeping bitterly. My cousin wept also.
- [30:04]
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Oh, Justine, said she, why did you rob me of my last consolation? I relied on your innocence, and although I was then very wretched, I was not so miserable as I am now. And do you also believe that I am so very, very wicked? Do you also join with my enemies to crush me, to condemn me as a murderer?
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A
Her voice was suffocated with sobs.
- [30:36]
B
Rise, my poor girl, said Elizabeth. Why do you kneel if you are innocent? I am not one of your enemies. I believed you guiltless, notwithstanding every evidence, until I heard that you had yourself declared your guilt. That report you say is false. And be assured, dear Justine, that nothing can shake my confidence in you for a moment but your own confession. I did confess. But I confessed a lie. I confessed that I might obtain absolution, but now that falsehood lies heavier at my heart than all my other sins. The God of heaven forgive me. Ever since I was condemned, my confessor has besieged me. He threatened and menaced until I almost began to think that I was the monster that he said I was. He threatened excommunication and hellfire in my last moments if I continued to objurate.
- [31:38]
A
Obdurate means to stubbornly refuse to change.
- [31:40]
B
Your opinion, dear lady. I had none to support me. All looked on Me as a wretch, doomed to ignominy and perdition. What could I do in an evil hour? I subscribed to a lie, and now only am I truly miserable.
- [31:59]
A
She paused, weeping. And then I thought with horror, my.
- [32:05]
B
Sweet lady, that you should believe your Justine, whom your blessed aunt had so highly honoured and whom you loved, was a creature capable of a crime which none but the devil himself could have perpetrated. Dear William, dearest blessed child, I soon shall see you again in heaven, where we shall all be happy. And that consoles me, going as I am to suffer ignominy and death. Oh, Justine, forgive me for having for one moment distrusted you. Why did you confess? But do not mourn, dear girl, do not fear. I will proclaim. I will prove your innocence. I will melt the stony hearts of your enemies by my tears and prayers. You shall not die. You, my playfellow, my companion, my sister, perish on the scaffold. No.
- [33:04]
C
No.
- [33:05]
B
I never could survive so horrible a misfortune.
- [33:09]
A
Justine shook her head mournfully.
- [33:12]
B
I do not fear to die, she said. That pang is past. God raises my weakness and gives me courage to endure the worst. I leave a sad and bitter world, and if you remember me and think of me as of one unjustly condemned.
- [33:32]
A
I am resigned to the fate awaiting me. Learn from me, dear lady, to submit.
- [33:39]
B
In patience to the will of heaven.
- [33:43]
A
During this conversation, I had retired to a corner of the prison room where I could conceal the horrid anguish that possessed me. Despair. Who dared talk of that? The poor victim, who on the morrow was to pass the awful boundary between life and death, felt not, as I did, such deep and bitter agony. I gnashed my teeth and ground them together, uttering a groan that came from my inmost soul. Justine started. When she saw who it was, she approached me and said, dear sir, you.
- [34:18]
B
Are very kind to visit me.
- [34:21]
A
You, I hope, do not believe that I am guilty. I could not answer. No, Justine, said Elizabeth, he is more.
- [34:30]
B
Convinced of your innocence than I was. For even when he heard that you.
- [34:34]
A
Had confessed, he did not credit it.
- [34:37]
B
I truly thank him. In these last moments, I feel the sincerest gratitude toward those who think of me with kindness. How sweet is the affection of others to such a wretch as I am. It removes more than half my misfortune, and I feel as if I could die in peace now that my innocence.
- [34:57]
A
Is acknowledged by you, dear lady, and your cousin. Thus the poor sufferer tried to comfort others and herself. She indeed gained the resignation she desired. But I, the True murderer felt the never dying worm alive in my bosom, which allowed of no hope or consolation. Elizabeth also wept and was unhappy. But hers also was the misery of innocence, which, like a cloud that passes over the fair moon for a while hides, but cannot tarnish its brightness. Anguish and despair had penetrated into the core of my heart. I bore a hell within me which nothing could extinguish. We stayed several hours with Justine, and it was with great difficulty that Elizabeth could tear herself away.
- [35:49]
B
I wish, cried she, that I were to die with you. I cannot live in this world of misery.
- [35:57]
A
Justine assumed an air of cheerfulness while she with difficulty repressed her bitter tears. She embraced Elizabeth and said in a voice of half suppressed emotion, farewell, sweet lady, dearest Elizabeth, my beloved and only friend. May heaven in its bounty bless and preserve you.
- [36:19]
B
May this be the last misfortune that you will ever suffer. Live and be happy, and make others.
- [36:27]
A
So, and on the morrow, Justine died. Elizabeth's heartrending eloquence failed to move the judges from their settled conviction in the criminality of the saintly sufferer. My passionate and indignant appeals were lost upon them, and when I received their cold answers and heard the harsh, unfeeling reasoning of these men, my purposed avowal died away on my lips. Thus I might proclaim myself a madman, but not revoke the sentence passed upon my wretched victim. He saying if he had told about the creature he created, he would have convinced them that he was insane, but not that Justine was innocent. She perished on the scaffold as a murderess from the tortures of my own heart. I turned to contemplate the deep and voiceless grief of my Elizabeth. This also was my doing and my father's woe, and the desolation of that late so smiling home. All was the work of my thrice accursed hands. Ye weep, unhappy ones, but these are not your last tears. Again shall you raise the funeral wail, and the sound of your lamentations shall again and again be heard. Frankenstein, your son, your kinsman, your early, much loved friend. He who would spend each vital drop of blood for your sakes, who has no thought nor sense of joy, except as it is mirrored also in your dear countenances, who would fill the air with blessings and spend his life in serving you. He bids you weep, to shed countless tears, happy beyond his hopes, if thus inexorable fate be satisfied, and if the destruction pause before the peace of the grave have succeeded to your sad torments. Thus spoke my prophetic soul. As torn by remorse, horror and despair, I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts. Thank you so much for listening. I'd love to know what you thought of the chapters. Is there anything you'd like me to clarify? Did something particularly interest you? Please go to my website, faithkmoore.com click on contact and send me your questions and thoughts. Or you can click on the link in the Show Notes to contact me. I'll feature one or two of your entries at the start of the next episode. Speaking of links, don't forget to take a look at the other links in the Show Notes. You can learn more about me, check out our Merch store, or become a member of the Storytime for Grown Ups online community. Before I go, I'd like to ask a quick favor. This is an independent podcast. It's produced, recorded and marketed by me, so I need your help. Spread the word about the show by posting about it on social media or texting a link to your friends. Subscribe, tap those five stars and leave a positive review wherever you're listening. If you are able to support the show financially, there's a link in the Show Notes to make a donation. I would really, really appreciate it. Alright everyone, story time is over. To be continued.
- [40:01]
B
Sat.