journey had begun from Geneva, a period the 1831 text identifies as "the latter end
of September." (There is a month's disparity between the two texts on this point—see
III:1 in 1818 and 1831). In her revision of the novel Mary Shelley, desiring to underpin
the professional engagement of Henry Clerval, quietly presses home the irony that
he, who once indolently indulged himself in imitating eastern poetry (see I:6:14)
now has, in contrast to Victor, a firm sense of personal mission and a commitment
to the future. Of course, in Ingolstadt at one point Victor was himself posssessed
of both traits.