The Mortal Immortal Flashcards
by Mary Shelley — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: The Mortal Immortal
On what date does Winzy begin writing his narrative, and how old does he claim to be?
July 16, 1833. He states he is completing his three hundred and twenty-third year.
Why does Winzy return to work for Cornelius Agrippa after initially fleeing?
Bertha shames him for being a coward, asking if he fears to face the Devil for her sake. Her goading and the promise of gold convince him to go back.
What drives Winzy to drink the elixir from Cornelius's flask?
Jealousy and heartbreak over Bertha's flirtation with Albert Hoffer. He believes the potion is a cure for love and drinks it impulsively to end his torment.
What does Cornelius tell Winzy the elixir actually is on his deathbed?
The Elixir of Immortality. Cornelius reveals it was never a cure for love but a potion to grant eternal life.
How does the second batch of the elixir get destroyed?
As the dying Cornelius reaches for it, a loud explosion causes the glass vessel to shatter to atoms. He dies moments later without drinking it.
Why do Winzy and Bertha flee their village and move to western France?
Winzy's unchanging youth makes neighbors suspect him of dark arts. They are shunned, no one will buy their farm produce, and Bertha fears being stoned as his accomplice.
What does Winzy plan to do at the end of the story?
He plans an expedition to the Arctic, warring with frost, famine, and tempest, hoping either to die and prove his mortality or to survive and become famous.
How much of the elixir does Winzy actually drink, and why does this matter?
He drinks only half before Cornelius wakes and startles him. Winzy later reasons that drinking only half may mean he is only half-immortal, giving him hope of eventual death.
Who is Cornelius Agrippa and what role does he play in the story?
A historical alchemist-philosopher whom Winzy serves as apprentice. He creates the Elixir of Immortality but dies before he can drink it himself.
How does Bertha's personality shift over the course of the story?
In youth she is spirited, proud, and coquettish. As she ages while Winzy stays young, she becomes jealous, peevish, and obsessed with finding signs of aging in him.
Who is Albert Hoffer and what is his narrative function?
A wealthy rival suitor for Bertha, favored by her protectress. His presence triggers Winzy's jealousy, which directly causes him to drink the elixir.
What role does the old protectress play in the story?
She is a rich, childless noblewoman who adopts Bertha and pressures her to marry Albert Hoffer. She represents the social barriers of class that separate Winzy and Bertha.
How does Winzy describe himself after Bertha's death?
As a sailor without rudder or compass, a traveller lost on a heath with no landmark. He says he is more lost and hopeless than either, with no beacon except the hope of death.
How does the story portray immortality as a curse rather than a gift?
Winzy experiences isolation, the loss of everyone he loves, social persecution, and unbearable weariness of time. He ultimately longs for death as his only hope.
What does Bertha's aging reveal about the connection between love and mortality?
It shows that shared mortality is essential to human love. The growing disparity between Winzy's youth and Bertha's old age distorts their relationship and breeds jealousy and resentment.
How does the story explore the theme of science overstepping natural boundaries?
Cornelius's alchemy defies natural law, and the result is suffering rather than triumph. Winzy's immortality is an unintended consequence of tampering with nature, echoing Shelley's themes in Frankenstein.
What is the central irony of the elixir's effect on Winzy?
The potion he drinks to cure his lovesickness instead makes him immortal, binding him to an eternity of love, loss, and loneliness.
What narrative technique does Shelley use, and what effect does it create?
A first-person frame narrative. Winzy writes his own story on his 323rd birthday, creating an intimate confessional tone while raising the question of whether he is a reliable narrator.
What does Winzy's unchanging appearance symbolize?
It symbolizes his alienation from the natural human lifecycle. His perpetual youth becomes a mark of otherness that isolates him from society and from Bertha.
How does Shelley use foreshadowing when Cornelius warns Winzy about the elixir?
Cornelius tells Winzy not to drink the potion because it is a philter to cure love, but warns 'you would not cease to love your Bertha.' This hints the elixir does far more than cure love.
What does the word 'alembic' mean as used in the story?
A type of apparatus used in alchemy for distillation. Cornelius uses alembics in his laboratory to prepare his chemical concoctions.
What does 'philter' mean in the context of Cornelius's warning?
A magical potion, especially one believed to arouse love or desire. Cornelius calls the elixir a philter to cure love.
What does the word 'descanted' mean as Shelley uses it?
Spoke at length or discoursed. Bertha 'descanted on the reverence and respect due to age' while urging Winzy to appear older.
What is the significance of the quote 'You pretend to love, and you fear to face the Devil for my sake'?
Bertha's taunt reveals her manipulative yet passionate nature and directly shames Winzy into returning to Cornelius, setting the entire plot in motion.
What does Winzy mean when he calls himself 'a mortal immortal'?
The paradox captures his condition: he has human emotions, desires, and suffering (mortal in spirit) but cannot die (immortal in body). The phrase encapsulates the story's central tension.
What is the significance of Winzy's closing line about 'scattering and annihilating the atoms that compose my frame'?
It reveals his desperation to end his existence by any means possible, suggesting he will destroy his body completely if the Arctic expedition fails to kill him.