Original artwork, not a still
Frankenstein ‧ 1818
I am malicious because I am miserable.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is a whole philosophy of villainy in seven words: cruelty as the symptom of loneliness, not its cause. The creature argues from cause and effect, and the novel lets the reader feel the force of it before the murders pile up. The line is still quoted whenever someone defends a villain's origin story.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for FrankensteinShow the scene
In Chapter 17 of the 1818 novel, in the Alpine mountains, the creature has finished telling Victor his story and demands that Victor make him a female companion. Victor refuses, saying no threat will make him base in his own eyes or make another being like the first. The creature drops his threats and reasons with him instead, answering that he is malicious because he is miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind, he asks, and why should he pity man more than man pities him?
Sources (1)
- Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (Project Gutenberg #84)Chapter 17 (Volume II, Chapter 9)Reference checked
Context reviewed
