Frankenstein - Analysis of Volume 3 Chapter 1

Plot Summary

Victor can’t bring himself to start creating a female, partly from “repugnance to the task” and partly due to a lack of biological knowledge. The fastest way to gather this knowledge would be to visit England but he does not want to start. His father sets himself towards eliminating the remainder of Victor’s sadness, and asks him if he has found someone other than Elizabeth to marry as the entire family has looked towards their wedding. Victor assures him that he loves Elizabeth but can’t marry her before completing his “unearthly task”. He tells his father that a visit to England would restore him to total happiness and he will marry Elizabeth upon returning home. Alphonse agrees to the trip and secretly asks Clerval to accompany Victor. This slightly disrupts Victor’s plans but he is ultimately glad of his friend’s presence. Victor fondly recollects how he and Clerval passed through many beautiful locations that both he and Clerval marvelled at. Now Victor addresses Walton, saying he would have enjoyed Clerval’s account of the travels. He questions religion and the possibility of an afterlife, revealing that Henry’s spirit still visits him and provides him with comfort, suggesting that Henry is now dead. They finally arrive in England in late September “on a clear morning”. He can clearly see famous landmarks, such as the steeple of St Paul’s Cathedral, The Tower of London, and the “white cliffs of Britain” and these things represent themes such as…