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Creature's plea for a mate (II:9:2, II:9:8) to the condemnation of Justine Moritz
(I:7:1). What may be most interesting about Walton's invocation of the term is his
implicit understanding of the notion of disinterested equity, a notion wholly absent
from the closed circle of antagonism in which Victor and his Creature exist. For Mary
Shelley to introduce such a concept this late in the novel might suggest an effort
on her part to establish an ethical code by which readers can take the measure of
the novel's characters and events.
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an armed adventure from neighboring France. This is clearly a reference to the French
invasion of Switzerland in the spring of 1798, when, it must be said, the Jura wholly
failed in this protective office. Still, why such a strong political sentiment should
be intruded by Victor Frankenstein at this point is not readily explicable. Perhaps
what the reader is intended to recognize is that Victor's distancing himself within
a political context allows him to forget the last time all these features of the landscape
were brought together by him in a single perspective, the night he first encountered
his Creature outside Geneva (I:6:17).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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1187
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.
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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
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.