Summary

Chapter 14 returns to Bedlam, the mental institution where Capitan Walton has dropped off Victor Frankenstein. Dr. Wakefield is contemplating his newest patient’s “utter remoteness” (190). He examines the papers in Victor Frankenstein’s satchel, finding notes. “To examine the causes of life we must first have recourse to death,” Frankenstein’s notebook says (191). The notebook also contains a drawing for the monster based on The Vitruvian Man. “Whence, I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed?” Frankenstein’s notebook says (192). Frankenstein continues to sleep. Wakefield also finds a gold locket with a picture of a beautiful woman inside. He guesses that Frankenstein suffers from grief. Then Wakefield reveals that he is a Quaker who had a wife, but died. He continues to read Frankenstein’s journal. It says, “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy...