1191

  • the journal of Clerval Lacking the journal of Clerval, we will have to settle for that of Mary Shelley,
    who traversed this route in 1814 and published it in her History of a Six Weeks' Tour
    just before Frankenstein. At that time the point of departure for the Shelley party
    was Basel.

    Yet, that we lack Clerval's journal might in context seem strange. The entire novel
    is based on the presence of an overload of documentary information that includes the
    letters of Alphonse Frankenstein and Elizabeth Lavenza, the journal letter of Robert
    Walton, his representation of Victor's narrative (dutifully "corrected" by Victor),
    which in turn contains the Creature's narrative, which is, in part, attested to by
    the letters of Felix that the Creature promised to leave with Victor when he finished.
    If we lack this last piece of evidence, however, we do not lack its effect on the
    narrative, since Victor here calls attention to the nature and quality of Clerval's
    writing.

    • 1190

  • I will not The reader may have forgotten, but certainly Victor Frankenstein has not, that he
    deserted the ice floe on which Walton's crew had discovered him and boarded the sailing
    vessel only because its course lay to the north, the destination toward which his
    pursuit of the Creature was leading him (I:L4:8). Now that Walton's ship veers to
    the south, remaining aboard can no longer serve his purpose, which is as single-minded
    in its vengeance as ever.

    • 1189

  • it was he . . . nurse Mary Shelley's emphasis is delicate but marked. In his several months of illness
    and misery it appears that only late does Victor recognize that there are medical
    costs that had to be borne by someone. He has focussed critically on the quality of
    the care without inquiring who had accepted the expence on his behalf.

    • 1188

  • the lovely Isis The Upper Thames River is called the Isis as it flows through Oxford.

    • 1187

  • company was irksome to me Victor's rationalizations for his withdrawal from social interaction have an obvious
    logic to support them. Still, that this characteristic retreat within reasserts itself
    even where he should feel most diverted by his novel surroundings indicates a dangerous
    state of mental health.

    • 1186

  • the Irish Improbably, Victor has floated some hundreds of miles. Moreover, as we discover in
    the next chapter he is not the only one who has traversed the open seas southwest
    of the Orkneys to land on the northeast coast of Ireland. Although it has been suggested
    that including Ireland in the expansive geographical range of the novel may be Mary
    Shelley's means of honoring her mother, who served as a governess there, the strangeness
    of this repositioning of setting has never been adequately accounted for.

    From Victor's reference to "a line of high land" (III:3:26), we may suppose that Mary
    Shelley has in mind geological features like the Giant's Causeway, a line of huge
    islets, or the cliffs of Fair Head.

    • 1185

  • interest for my guest Where the first paragraph may lead Mary Shelley's readers to question the uses (and
    abuses) of writing, the second quickly reminds us of its effects in reinforcing human
    sympathy and community. Walton's concern for Victor is, of course, a measure of his
    responsiveness as well and therefore of consequence for our estimation of his character.

    • 1184

  • instantly darted into my mind Every detail of this scene seems meant to impress on those observing it that Victor's
    purchase on reality is tentative at best. The closed circle of logic in which his
    mind revolves leads him to conclusions that, on the face of it, would seem ludicrous:
    in this case, the supposition that Mr. Kirwin would be opening the door to Victor's
    Creature.

    • 1183

  • inquiries concerning an event

    The diction Victor uses suggests that it is less having to inform mutual friends of
    Clerval's death than his sense of culpability for it, with the attendant need to exonerate
    himself, that drives him to avoid his English acquaintance, and perhaps some in France
    as well. However we construe his hesitancy, Victor's total rerouting of his itinerary
    here is of a piece with his progressive withdrawal from human society and normative
    social obligations.

    • 1182

  • injustice In his petulance Walton equates justice to his crew with injustice to himself. That
    larger, disinterested justice is, however, the stronger ethical position, as Walton
    himself understood when his crew presented its case to him earlier (III:Walton:16).
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