A Moralistic Sense (Foil)

“[Clerval] came. Alas, how great was the contrast between us! He was alive to every new scene, joyful when he saw the beauties of the setting sun, and more happy when he beheld it rise and recommence a new day…In truth, I was occupied by gloomy thoughts and neither saw the descent of the evening star nor the golden sunrise reflected in the Rhine.”

-p 147

This passage aptly portrays the foil that Clerval serves to Frankenstein in each of his interactions with him. During their trip to Scotland, Henry constantly rejoices in nature’s beauty and revels in being alive. Victor, on the other hand, is a dismal wreck, unable to see beauty due to his morbid obligation to his creation. This is not, however, the only instance in which Henry serves as a foil to Victor. Frankenstein earlier commented on Henry’s fascination with morality rather than science. He seems to speak of Henry’s preference with bemusement at the apparent foolishness of choosing morality over science. Yet it is this lack of morality which led to Victor’s horrific predicament. Indeed, Henry’s presence emphasizes even more Victor’s sinfulness and flawed nature which created such a miserable situation. Shelley uses Henry to prove to the reader how flawed and foolish Victor's endeavors were without morality.

The Game's Afoot! (Personification)

“Sometimes, on the very brink of certainty, I failed; yet still I clung to the hope which the next day or the next hour might realize. One secret which I alone possessed was the hope to which I had dedicated myself; and the moon gazed on my midnight labours, while, with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding-places.”

-p 53

For a scientist, Frankenstein is exceptionally adept at eloquent speech. In this passage, Shelley includes two separate cases of personification which work together to create a rather primal portrayal of a hunt. The moon appears as an indifferent onlooker, watching Frankenstein as he desperately and hopelessly attempts to defy nature in his creation. I find it interesting that Frankenstein describes his endeavor not as a pursuit, but as a hunt. If it were merely a pursuit, then Frankenstein would simply seek to attain the secrets of nature and capture it for his own use. Instead, his endeavor is a hunt: he does not seek simply to capture the secrets of nature; he seeks to kill nature itself. Although he does not realize it at the time—and to be honest, I doubt he realizes it even as he speaks—the true meaning of these words gives a sense of foreshadowing to the ungodliness of his scientific pursuit. Frankenstein does not simply seek to understand nature; he seeks to completely and utterly destroy it.