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The world was to me a secret which I desired to divine.
In this quote from Chapter 2, Victor states that his need to understand and explain secrets is his motivation for pursuing scientific discovery. As the explanation for this quote in Quotes by Character: Victor Frankenstein discusses, this is ironic given that he will put a cloak of secrecy over everything he does in the novel.
He loved enterprise, hardship and even danger, for its own sake.
We are introduced to Victor’s closest friend, Henry Clerval, in Chapter 2. The explanation for this quote in Quotes by Character: Henry Clerval discusses Henry and Victor’s shared trait of ambition.
It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things, or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my enquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world.
In Chapter 2, Victor describes his fascination and obsession with science, which only intensified as he got older. He became a "disciple" of authors like Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, and Albertus Magnus, whose musings about the wonders and mysteries of nature, "the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life," were the partial impetus behind his own experiments. His arrogance in pursuing glory and discovering the secret of immortality will later lead to death and despair.
…for when I would account to myself for the birth of that passion which afterwards ruled my destiny I find it arise, like a mountain river, from ignoble and almost forgotten sources; but, swelling as it proceeded, it became the torrent which, in its course, has swept away all my hopes and joys.
In this quote from Chapter 2, Victor explores his preoccupation with creating life through scientific means, but he also reveals dangerous flaws in his character, particularly how he has allowed ambition to supplant any sense of responsibility for his actions. This idea is discussed in further depth in Quotes by Theme: The Consequences of Ambition.
