NOTES

the fiend with an air of exultation

Nothing in the Creature's statements in the previous paragraph—particularly given the stark alternatives he lays before Victor at its end—suggests that he is exulting at this point. Rather, the remark along with the epithet convey Victor's intrinsic sense of superiority and of his right to wield a power capable of affording satisfaction to an underling. Whatever Victor may regard as "the duties of a creator," they do not yet forestall him from calling his creature a "fiend" and regarding him as "odious."