Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (excerpt) I do not ever remember to have trembled at a tale of superstition, or to have feared the
apparition of a spirit. Darkness had no effect upon my fancy; and a churchyard was to me merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of life, which, from being the seat of beauty and strength, had become food for the worm. 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 tolls. 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. receptacle: consummation: obliterated:
The meaning of the three words at the end of your question are:
Receptacle: a container or device, something that receives or holds something. [In this case, it refers to how a churchyard only keeps hold of dead bodies and nothing else.]
Consummation: the end, the conclusion of something. [It was gratifying to finally have reached the objective after enduring so much pain.]
Obliterated: something that has been erased from memory. [The revelation was so inmense that all the work done to achieve the results was suddenly forgotten.]
