Ah! It is well for the unfortunate to be resigned, but for the guilty there is no peace. The agonies of remorse poison the luxury there is otherwise sometimes found in indulging the excess of grief.
Chapter 22 · Narrator
Context
Victor reflects on why Elizabeth's attempts to console him fail, distinguishing between the resigned suffering of the unfortunate and the unending torment of the guilty.
Analysis
Victor draws a sharp line between "the unfortunate" and "the guilty," placing himself firmly in the second category and claiming that guilt "poison[s]" even the small comforts grief might offer. The verb "poison" suggests remorse is not just painful but toxic—it contaminates and spoils, turning what might console others into something that sickens him. Yet this self-diagnosis also functions as a kind of performance: by insisting his suffering is uniquely unrelievable, Victor distinguishes himself from ordinary mourners and reasserts his exceptional status.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Victor's self-flagellation is a form of self-aggrandizement—by insisting his guilt places him beyond consolation, he reclaims a tragic grandeur that sets him apart from 'mere' unfortunates, turning even his remorse into a mark of his extraordinary nature.