John Clare quotes from Penny Dreadful

John Clare

[after killing Proteus] Your first born has returned... Father.

John Clare

Is every newborn creature abandoned the moment they are born?

John Clare

Who is the child, Frankenstein? Thee or me?

John Clare

I learned to stay in the shadows. To protect such a heart as this you gave me.

John Clare

You have not known horror until I have shown it to you.

John Clare

You made me strong and tireless. If only you had made me handsome.

John Clare

You are so fragile, you mortals, such things of skin and air. Such things of the past. The future belongs to the strong, to the immortal races, to me and my kind.

John Clare

Do not weep. I've learned that skill. It brings no solace.

John Clare

What dreams I had of my mate. Of another being, looking into these eyes, upon this face, and recoiling not. But how could that happen? For the monster is not in my face, but in my soul. I once thought that if I was like other men, I would be happy and loved. The malignance has grown, you see, from the outside in, and this shattered visage merely reflects the abomination that is my heart. Oh, my creator, why... Why did you not make me of steel and stone? Why did you allow me to feel? I would rather be the corpse I was than the man I am. Go ahead. Pull the trigger. It would be a blessing.

John Clare

What would Dr. Frankenstein be without his creature?

Victor

I cannot unmake the past!

John Clare

I'm not concerned with the past, only the future.

John Clare

My bride must be beautiful.

Victor

To match her mate?

Victor

If Proteus was any model to go by, she'll pick up language quickly. Even more quickly since I reduced the trauma of the electrical charge. It will come back to her. So too human interaction and, well, perhaps memory.

John Clare

And then?

Victor

I don't know. Proteus was just beginning to regain the memory of his former life, when you killed him.

John Clare

You don't need to remind me of my sins. Just never forget your own.

Victor

And this? Creating another sin?

John Clare

Atoning for your first. All the love and companionship you denied me, visit upon her. She is our future, Creator. Tread carefully.

John Clare

Is it not this, Ms. Ives? The glory of life surmounts the fear of death. Good Christians fear Hellfire, so to avoid it they are kind to their fellow man. Good pagans do not have this fear, so they can be who they are. Good or ill, as their nature dictates. We have no fear of God, so we are accountable to no one but each other.

Vanessa

That's a profound responsibility.

John Clare

Do you like poetry?

Vanessa

All sad people like poetry. Happy people like songs.