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.

    • 1181

  • a part of the inheritance of Elizabeth This addition to the 1831 text recalls the changed circumstances by which Elizabeth
    enters into the Frankenstein household, as the natural daughter of a revolutionary
    Milanese aristocrat who had been imprisoned by the Austrian government and had had
    his property confiscated (see I:1:9) for being too ardent in the cause of his country's
    liberty. Although Alphonse Frankenstein's dealings here might be construed as an honorable,
    duty-bound attempt by a citizen of a neutral nation to right a wrong and restore to
    Elizabeth what had been rightly hers, it is hard to imagine Mary Shelley, who abhorred
    the Austrian occupation of Italy and represented Elizabeth's true father as "nursed
    in the antique glory of Italy," not thinking this detail commensurate with the essentially
    conservative, state-oriented political views Alphonse exhibits elsewhere (see, for
    instance, I:1:1 or I:6:44 and note).

    • 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).

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 1204

  • Light, feeling, and sense, will pass away In contemplating his end, the Creature logically reverts to the memory of his first
    sensations as he became conscious of the world around him (II:3:1 and note).

    • 1203

  • until my own life, or that of my adversary, were extinguished Mary Shelley here offers another accentuation of the adversarial masculinist code
    that has dominated Victor's perspective on his Creature and blinded him to the dangers
    to which he has exposed his loved ones. The melodramatic posturing, it should be emphasized,
    does have a purpose if we remind ourselves that this first-person narrative is delivered
    to a listener, Robert Walton, who at the end of the next chapter will reenter the
    novel. Since Victor is well aware that Walton is preserving this record as an exemplary
    warning to later human generations, he has every reason to try to influence the portrait
    thus handed down to the future.
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