Frankenstein 5 - Allusions

"If this rule were always observed; if no man allowed any pursuit whatsoever to interfere with the tranquility of his domestic affections, Greece had not been enslaved, Caesar would have spared his country, America would have been discovered more gradually, and the empires of Mexico and Peru had not been destroyed" (Shelley 54).

This line is jam-packed with allusions. Shelley was obviously striving to make a point, but did she really achieve it by using allusions? She used too many allusions here, bogging the reader down, causing them to slow down and try to connect the allusions. I am not even sure what two of the allusions are referring two. I got so caught up trying to figure out what the allusions were that I missed the point Shelley was trying to make. I find that this is a trend in her writing. She focuses so much on extra details and flowery language that the reader loses focus of the story she is trying to convey. She stated in the preface of "Frankenstein" that the novel started off as a ghost story. Since when does a ghost story need fancy language and allusions to make it scary. I'm pretty sure no one will ever sit around a campfire and read "Frankenstein" in its entirety in efforts to scare people. Shelley also says in the author's note that she made style changes to "Frankenstein" and that the reader is viewing the revised copy. I wish she had stuck with the first draft, it was probably easier to read and more to the point, the way a good book should be.