How we cite our quotes: (chapter.paragraph)
Quote #10
The astonishment which I had at first experienced on this discovery soon gave place to delight and rapture. After so much time spent in painful labour, to arrive at once at the summit of my desires was the most gratifying consummation of my toils. But this discovery was so great and overwhelming that all the steps by which I had been progressively led to it were obliterated, and I beheld only the result. What had been the study and desire of the wisest men since the creation of the world was now within my grasp. (4.5)
Notice how "all the steps by which [Victor] had been progressively led" to his creation are "obliterated"? This is the scientific equivalent of driving your car to the top of a mountain and then patting yourself on the back for admiring the view: you haven't earned it. Okay, the consequences are pretty low for hiking. But for scientific progress? According to Shelley, you have to pay the price.
Quote #11
We were immured in ice and should probably never escape, but they feared that if, as was possible, the ice should dissipate and a free passage be opened, I should be rash enough to continue my voyage and lead them into fresh dangers, after they might happily have surmounted this. They insisted, therefore, that I should engage with a solemn promise that if the vessel should be freed I would instantly direct my course southwards. (24.33)
It looks like Walton's sailors aren't as obsessed with winning glory as he is—they're much more interested in, you know, staying alive and returning to their families. Weaklings.
Quote #12
The die is cast; I have consented to return if we are not destroyed. Thus are my hopes blasted by cowardice and indecision; I come back ignorant and disappointed. It requires more philosophy than I possess to bear this injustice with patience. (24.37)
Walton comes back "ignorant" and "disappointed," but he comes back alive. We're cool with that. Is Shelley? Can we get a sense of how to read this scene—are we supposed to be disappointed with Walton, or do we all just feel a little relieved?