Sinbad the Sailor

“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.” (pg. 50)

This quote is an allusion to Sinbad the Sailor, a notable hero from the Arabic collection of folk tales called the Arabian Nights. Sinbad, over the course of the tale, undertakes seven voyages. On the fourth voyage, referenced here, Sinbad is trapped in an underground tomb alongside his deceased wife. After several days of being stranded, Sinbad finally finds an escape route. Shelley draws a connection between Frankenstein and Sinbad in that they both have escape routes. Frankenstein's escape route, however, differs from Sinbad's in that his is metaphorical. Frankenstein could have completely avoided the repercussions of his creation if he had stopped himself from making the Creature in the first place. Unfortunately, Frankenstein chooses to follow a different route, a path that he will quickly regret taking.

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