"For that matter," replied the old woman, "if you mean about the gentleman you murdered, I believe that it were better for you if you were dead, for I fancy it will go hard with you!"
Chapter 21
Context
The hired nurse, upon hearing Victor wish he were dead, bluntly tells him he would be better off dead given the murder charge against him.
Analysis
The nurse's matter-of-fact tone—'if you mean about the gentleman you murdered'—treats Victor's guilt as settled fact, contrasting sharply with his own evasive language. Her phrase 'it will go hard with you' is colloquial and pragmatic, belonging to a working-class register that refuses to indulge Victor's melodrama. This shift in linguistic register exposes the gap between Victor's self-dramatization and how others perceive him: as a straightforward murder suspect.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that the novel punctures Victor's tragic self-image by giving voice to characters who see him plainly—the nurse's blunt vernacular reframes him as a common criminal, not a tortured hero.