How can I move thee
As Victor is self-conscious about the shape and impact of his narrative
(see 1.7.5 and note, 2.1.1 and note),
so is his Creature. His question also curiously echoes Justine Moritz's
recognition that facts alone are not sufficient to exonerate her (1.7.2 and note); if she is to establish her claim
to innocence she must move her auditors. Aside from such thematic
continuities within the novel, this issue is likewise very much alive in
the poetry that Percy Shelley was
writing contemporaneously, particularly in The Revolt of Islam, where
Cythna's eloquence is an important element in spreading political and
cultural enlightenment: see particularly Canto 8
