Chapters 1-4: In My Own Words

"Remember, I am not recording the vision of a madman.  The sun does not more certainly shine in the heavens, than that which I now affirm is true.  Some miracle might have produced it, yet the stages of the discovery were distinct and probable.  After days and nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter."

"I was like the Arabian who had been buried with the dead and found a passage to life, aided only by one glimmering and seemingly ineffectual light."

In the above quote, Victor alludes to a story from The Arabian Nights, specifically to "The Fourth Voyage of Sinbad" in which Sinbad is given a beautiful wife as a present by a friendly king. He later discovers that in that particular country it is custom to be buried along with your dead spouse.   Soon after Sinbad discovers this, his wife dies. So Sinbad is "buried" with his wife in a cave.  However, he is able to see a small spot of light by which he eventually is able to escape from the cave.

For this post, recount the lifestyle that Victor is familiar with, his relationship with his parents and Elizabeth - his "more than sister," his educational interest in alchemy, and explain why his discovery allowed him to find a "passage to life."