Alienation Quote by Mary Shelley
““I learned that the possessions most esteemed by your fellow-creatures were, high and unsullied descent united with riches. A man might be respected with only one of these acquisitions; but without either he was considered, except in very rare instances, as a vagabond and slave, doomed to waste his powers for the profit of the chosen few. And what was I? Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant; but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endowed with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man. I was more agile than they, and could subsist upon coarser diet; I bore the extremes of heat and cold with less injury to my frame; my stature far exceeded their's. When I looked around, I saw and heard of none like me. Was I then a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and whom all men disowned?””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, 1818
The narrator feels alienated because he lacks wealth, status, and human appearance, leading him to question his identity as a monster.
In simple terms: He feels excluded due to poverty, lack of status, and being physically different.
Key Takeaway
Recognize worth beyond material and physical traits.
Themes
alienation
identity
social class
humanity
otherness
Mood
melancholic
reflective
hopeful
Type
literary
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- loneliness
- self‑acceptance
- community building
- advocacy for marginalized groups
- mental health support
Key Concepts
existentialism
social stratification
self‑perception
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you define worth beyond external attributes?
- Can empathy reshape societal views of “monsters”?
A Different Perspective
His perspective ignores the possibility of forming chosen families and redefining humanity beyond superficial measures.
![“Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… [The anthropologist] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner alienation as an urban intellectual.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fe1/susan-sontag-332_alienation_anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-a_15322.jpg)
