Frankenstein
...t even exult at his success instead he confesses, “now that I had finished the beauty of the dream vanished and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created.” (34) He flees his laboratory, only to pace restlessly in his bed chamber, until at last "lassitude succeeded to the tumult" of his mind, and he is able to sleep. That sleep is not peaceful, for he experiences the following dream: I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel. I started from my sleep with horror; cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed; when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon ... I beheld the wretch--the miserable monster whom I had created. (34) Victor kept having different dreams throughout Volume I and Volume II about William and Justine. Victor seems himself as the murderer because of this creature that he produced and holds himself accountable, the creature is no where to be found and he don’t know when he will strike again. These assumptions about the nature, origin and meaning of dreams affected the fictional representation of dreams, as writers referred to these assumptions in order to make their episodes seem more dream-like. Victor's "wild dream" illustrates these theories in several ways. First, Shelley makes a point of establishing Victor's various disordered mental state. He admits that in pursuit of his goal of creating life, "I had deprived myself of rest and health" for "nearly two years," and the "tumult" of thoughts which follow the horrible completion of his project clearly suggest the great physical and emotional stress he has undergone (34). Victor's convulsive waking from the dream...