Like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained in an eternal hell.
Letters, Walton, _in continuation._ · Victor Frankenstein
Context
Victor compares himself to Satan from Paradise Lost, explaining that his ambition to create life has led to his permanent damnation and suffering.
Analysis
The allusion to the 'archangel who aspired to omnipotence' explicitly frames Victor's fall in biblical terms, but notice the passive construction: 'I am chained,' not 'I chained myself.' This syntax subtly deflects agency, as if Victor were a victim of cosmic punishment rather than the architect of his own choices, letting him claim tragic grandeur without full responsibility.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Victor's self-comparisons to Satan are a form of self-aggrandizement—by casting himself as a tragic archangel, he elevates his suffering above ordinary moral failure and avoids reckoning with preventable mistakes.