The language, tinged with eroticism, is suggestive of the narcissistic dimensions
of Victor's preoccupation with his knowledge and the power that might stem from it.
Johnson, in his 1755 Dictionary, becomes loquacious in his definition of the word,
suggesting shadings with implications for the novel's thematic texture:
Ecstasy; transport; violence of any pleasing passion; enthusiasm; uncommon heat of
imagination.