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Shulammite Lin
Professor M. Ogbara
English 1A
14 December 2015
Victors Inner Trial
Passage: Mary Shelleys Frankenstein (Chapter Eight, paragraphs one and two):
We passed a few sad hours, until eleven o'clock, when the trial was to commence. My
father and the rest of the family being obliged to attend as witnesses, I accompanied them to the
court. During the whole of this wretched mockery of justice I suffered living torture. It was to be
decided, whether the result of my curiosity and lawless devices would cause the death of two of
my fellow-beings: one a smiling babe, full of innocence and joy; the other far more dreadfully
murdered, with every aggravation of infamy that could make the murder memorable in horror.
Justine also was a girl of merit, and possessed qualities which promised to render her life happy:
now all was to be obliterated in an ignominious grave; and I the cause! A thousand times rather
would I have confessed myself guilty of the crime ascribed to Justine; but I was absent when it
was committed, and such a declaration would have been considered as the ravings of a madman,
and would not have exculpated her who suffered through me.
The appearance of Justine was calm. She was dressed in mourning; and her countenance, always
engaging, was rendered, by the solemnity of her feelings, exquisitely beautiful. Yet she appeared
confident in innocence, and did not tremble, although gazed on and execrated by thousands; for
all the kindness which her beauty might otherwise have excited, was obliterated in the minds of
the spectators by the imagination of the enormity she was supposed to have committed. She was

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tranquil, yet her tranquility was evidently constrained; and as her confusion had before been
adduced as a proof of her guilt, she worked up her mind to an appearance of courage. When she
entered the court, she threw her eyes round it, and quickly discovered where we were seated. A
tear seemed to dim her eye when she saw us; but she quickly recovered herself, and a look of
sorrowful affection seemed to attest her utter guiltlessness.
Explication:
This passage begins Victors narration of Justines trial for the murder of his younger
brother, William. Though Victor is inwardly aware of her innocence, she was unfortunately to
blame due to complications of the situation. In these two paragraphs, Victor travels through a
wave of emotions, evident from his figurative language used to describe the dark situation. He
uses personification to lead the situation, with sad hours representing his anxiety and living
torture representing his pain. His diction is quite impactful as he describes the trial as a
wretched mockery of justice, as he ridicules the event, disgusted by its honorable corruption.
He then immerses himself in guilt, as he admits that the deaths of both his fellow-beings would
be the result of [his] curiosity and lawless devices. Victor then declares that he would much
rather take his rightful place in front of the judge, however, his logic proved that those scenarios
would be hopeless in saving Justines sufferings.
Following his self-shaming, Victor turns to describe Justines appearance with utter
adoration and sympathy. Though she is being publicly humiliated, he assesses that all her actions
proved her guiltless, yet there was no way around her sentence. Shelley uses curious
contradictions in her descriptions, such as describing Justine to be confident in innocence and

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having tranquility which was evidently constrained. With these phrases, Shelley points to the
complications which come in the trial room, and the many conflicts which come into the search
for justice. It can be argued that Shelley is pointing out her dissatisfaction with systems of
justice, as she exposes that their objective, which is basically to command some type of
punishment upon the weakest participants of unfortunate situations, only adds to the confusion
and sufferings of those subject to the system.
Though this passage is altogether an emotional journey for the characters of Victor and
Justine, it can be argued that Shelley is shining a brighter light on the corrupted justice systems.
That the search for justice can often become an even bigger injustice, leading to the punishment
and destruction of innocent people. She also points out that things are not always as they seem,
and though the public didnt outwardly see any fault in Justine (as they were looking at the same
situation Victor was), their need to close a case and punish anyone became a bigger monster in
themselves.