1327

the same boat A realistic perspective on this evidence might emphasize the fact that, since both
the Creature's and Victor's boats are Scottish in make, they would therefore in all
probability resemble one another closely. But Mary Shelley seems to have another purpose
in mind. Having already forced an aura of the uncanny upon this scene through the
great distance of travel and coincidence of destination of her characters, she subtly
reinforces the interchangeability of Creature and creator that will progressively
intensify as the novel moves towards its conclusion.

1326

Mont Salêve This is a nice touch on Mary Shelley's part. The attentive reader will nod in recognition
that the previous time this mountain was reported as being in Victor's line of vision,
two years earlier, he had descried his Creature climbing its nearly perpendicular
face (I:6:22).

1325

I could not sacrifice the whole human race Even as Victor demonized his Creature and surrounded his second creation with imaginings
of the direst consequences, it is clear that in the ensuing months he has inflated
this act of destruction of the second being, transforming what appeared at the time
as an act of passionate homicide into a gesture of sublime heroism offered in behalf
of all of humankind. It is small wonder Alphone Frankenstein changes the subject:
such apparent delusions of grandeur are highly suspect.

1324

Rotterdam In 1814 the Shelley party also sailed for England from the port of Rotterdam.

1323

roarings like thunder This is the sound of the "ground sea," which had also been heard some five weeks
earlier, on the afternoon of 31 July (I:L4:5 and note). The breakup of the ice on
that occasion cut Victor Frankenstein off from his Creature, and he remembered its
violent sound (III:7:24 and note) in terms similar to those used here by Walton.

1322

Leigh Hunt's "Rimini" Leigh Hunt's Story of Rimini (1816) recounts the legendary love of Francesca da Rimini
and her brother-in-law, Paolo Malatesta, which is found in Dante's Inferno (5.73-138),
in a style at once richly textured like a medieval tapestry and linguistically contemporary.
His explanation for the illicit love was that the youthful Francesca was married to
Paolo as a stand-in for his haughty older brother and fell in love with him at first
sight. This quotation comes from the beginning of Canto 2, after the groom's elaborate
wedding party arrives with the surrogate Paolo as "the very poetry of nature" (2.47)
to fetch the bride. In 1815 Hunt had become something of a mentor to both Mary Godwin
and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and he was to remain one of their warmest friends. Indicative
of how close this circle was, Hunt's Story of Rimini was dedicated to Lord Byron.

1321

revenge remains . . . food The Creature, as it were, accepts the challenge Victor offered at the beginning of
the previous paragraph, assuming mastery over his destiny. The terms in which he defines
his revenge, indeed, will be the dominating force of the later chapters, in which
vengeance becomes a single-minded obsession for both creature and creator.

1320

a restless spectre Literally, a ghost who cannot break through the barrier separating the afterworld
from the scene of actual human life. Such a being, we should remind ourselves, is
also a "dæmon," the term used by Victor in the previous sentence to distance himself
from and dehumanize his Creature.

1319

to restrain me It would appear from this statement that Victor's capacity for violence has increased
markedly since, three months earlier, he had destroyed the female creature, "trembling
with passion" (III:3:4). Again, the terminology (e.g., "restrain") seems appropriate
to a pathological condition.

1318

I grew restless and nervous As in Ingolstadt (I:3:14), Victor's health begins to suffer from his compulsive and
solitary existence.

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