Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus: 40 words to know before you read it
The 40 words Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley uses again and again in Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus that are outside the 4,000 most common in English. Learn them first and the opening chapters read much more easily. Each comes with its pronunciation and a sentence from the book.
misery/ˈmɪzɝi/63× in the book
… yet I have found a man who, before his spirit had been broken by misery, I should have been happy to have possessed as the brother of my heart.
miserable/ˈmɪzɝəbəɫ/63× in the book
He said little, but when he spoke I read in his kindling eye and in his animated glance a restrained but firm resolve not to be chained to the miserable details of commerce.
endeavour/ɪnˈdɛvɝ/56× in the book
… if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection.
despair/dɪˈspɛɹ/51× in the book
But he is generally melancholy and despairing, and sometimes he gnashes his teeth, as if impatient of the weight of woes that oppresses him.
cottage/ˈkɑtədʒ/51× in the book
… when the gates of Geneva were shut, and she was forced to remain several hours of the night in a barn belonging to a cottage, being unwilling to call up the inhabitants …
affection/əˈfɛkʃən/48× in the book
… and I greatly need a friend who would have sense enough not to despise me as romantic, and affection enough for me to endeavour to regulate my mind.
sensation/sɛnˈseɪʃən/44× in the book
I cannot describe to you my sensations on the near prospect of my undertaking.
delight/dɪˈɫaɪt/43× in the book
… I feel a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks, which braces my nerves and fills me with delight.
countenance/ˈkaʊntənəns/39× in the book
… if anyone performs an act of kindness towards him or does him any the most trifling service, his whole countenance is lighted up, as it were …
fiend/ˈfind/33× in the book
Because he knows a frightful fiend
labour/ˈɫeɪbɝ/32× in the book
I am practically industrious—painstaking, a workman to execute with perseverance and labour—but besides this there is a love for the marvellous, a belief in the marvellous …
bestow/bɪˈstoʊ/30× in the book
… on which he had designed to pass the remainder of his life; but he bestowed the whole on his rival, together with the remains of his prize-money to purchase stock …
agony/ˈæɡəni/30× in the book
With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me …
grief/ˈɡɹif/29× in the book
For my own part, I begin to love him as a brother, and his constant and deep grief fills me with sympathy and compassion.
kindness/ˈkaɪndnəs/27× in the book
Heaven shower down blessings on you, and save me, that I may again and again testify my gratitude for all your love and kindness.
murderer/ˈmɝdɝɝ/27× in the book
This picture is gone, and was doubtless the temptation which urged the murderer to the deed.
calm/ˈkɑɫm/27× in the book
… and, sailing over a calm sea, we may be wafted to a land surpassing in wonders and in beauty every region hitherto discovered on the habitable globe.
wretch/ˈɹɛtʃ/24× in the book
How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?
cottager24× in the book
The girl was young and of gentle demeanour, unlike what I have since found cottagers and farmhouse servants to be.
revenge/ɹiˈvɛndʒ/24× in the book
When I reflected on his crimes and malice, my hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation.
beloved/bɪˈɫəvd/24× in the book
Heaven bless my beloved sister!
wretched/ˈɹɛtʃɪd/23× in the book
I never saw a man in so wretched a condition.
anguish/ˈæŋɡwɪʃ/23× in the book
… and was exposed to all the damps and dews of night; Elizabeth also suffered extreme anguish.
hop/ˈhɑp/23× in the book
My courage and my resolution is firm; but my hopes fluctuate, and my spirits are often depressed.
tremble/ˈtɹɛmbəɫ/23× in the book
It is impossible to communicate to you a conception of the trembling sensation, half pleasurable and half fearful, with which I am preparing to depart.
depart/dɪˈpɑɹt/23× in the book
I shall depart for the latter town in a fortnight or three weeks; and my intention is to hire a ship there …
sympathy/ˈsɪmpəθi/23× in the book
… while it renders his conduct the more astonishing, detracts from the interest and sympathy which otherwise he would command.
conceive/kənˈsiv/23× in the book
Yet do not suppose, because I complain a little or because I can conceive a consolation for my toils which I may never know, that I am wavering in my resolutions.
vengeance/ˈvɛndʒəns/21× in the book
“Come, Victor; not brooding thoughts of vengeance against the assassin, but with feelings of peace and gentleness, that will heal, instead of festering, the wounds of our minds.
utter/ˈətɝ/21× in the book
Destiny was too potent, and her immutable laws had decreed my utter and terrible destruction.
acquaint/əˈkweɪnt/20× in the book
You are well acquainted with my failure and how heavily I bore the disappointment.
commence/kəˈmɛns/20× in the book
These are my enticements, and they are sufficient to conquer all fear of danger or death and to induce me to commence this laborious voyage with the joy a child feels when he embarks in a little boat, with his holiday mates …
sorrow/ˈsɑɹoʊ/20× in the book
… in some degree, recompensing her for the sorrows she had endured, but which gave inexpressible grace to his behaviour to her.
exclaim/ɪkˈskɫeɪm/20× in the book
you will exclaim.
creator/kɹiˈeɪtɝ/19× in the book
We felt that they were not the tyrants to rule our lot according to their caprice, but the agents and creators of all the many delights which we enjoyed.
melancholy/ˈmɛɫənˌkɑɫi/18× in the book
… his full-toned voice swells in my ears; his lustrous eyes dwell on me with all their melancholy sweetness; I see his thin hand raised in animation …
procure/pɹoʊkˈjʊɹ/18× in the book
… but it was sufficient to provide him with sustenance for some months, and in the meantime he hoped to procure some respectable employment in a merchant’s house.
consolation/ˌkɑnsəˈɫeɪʃən/18× in the book
This expectation will now be the consolation of your father.
continually/kənˈtɪnjuəɫi/18× in the book
… my men are bold and apparently firm of purpose, nor do the floating sheets of ice that continually pass us, indicating the dangers of the region towards which we are advancing …
innocence/ˈɪnəsəns/18× in the book
How much more a murdered that could destroy radiant innocence!
Pronunciation: ipa-dict (MIT), from Wiktionary.
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