Summary: Chapter 18
After his fateful meeting with the monster on the glacier,
Victor puts off the creation of a new, female creature. He begins
to have doubts about the wisdom of agreeing to the monster’s request.
He realizes that the project will require him to travel to England
to gather information. His father notices that his spirits are troubled
much of the time—Victor, still racked by guilt over the deaths of
William and Justine, is now newly horrified by the task in which
he is about to engage—and asks him if his impending marriage to
Elizabeth is the source of his melancholy. Victor assures him that
the prospect of marriage to Elizabeth is the only happiness in his
life. Eager to raise Victor’s spirits, Alphonse suggests that they
celebrate the marriage immediately. Victor refuses, unwilling to
marry Elizabeth until he has completed his obligation to the monster.
He asks Alphonse if he can first travel to England, and Alphonse
consents.
Victor and Alphonse arrange a two-year tour, on which
Henry Clerval, eager to begin his studies after several years of
unpleasant work for his father in Geneva, will accompany Victor.
After traveling for a while, they reach London.
Summary: Chapter 19
Victor and Henry journey through England and Scotland,
but Victor grows impatient to begin his work and free himself of
his bond to the monster. Victor has an acquaintance in a Scottish
town, with whom he urges Henry to stay while he goes alone on a
tour of Scotland. Henry consents reluctantly, and Victor departs
for a remote, desolate island in the Orkneys to complete his project.
Quickly setting up a laboratory in a small shack, Victor
devotes many hours to working on his new creature. He often has
trouble continuing his work, however, knowing how unsatisfying,
even grotesque, the product of his labor will be.
Summary: Chapter 20
While working one night, Victor begins to think about
what might happen after he finishes his creation. He imagines that
his new creature might not want to seclude herself, as the monster
had promised, or that the two creatures might have children, creating
“a race of devils . . . on the earth.” In the midst of these reflections
and growing concern, Victor looks up to see the monster grinning
at him through the window. Overcome by the monster’s hideousness
and the possibility of a second creature like him, he destroys his
work in progress. The monster becomes enraged at Victor for breaking
his promise, and at the prospect of his own continued solitude.
He curses and vows revenge, then departs, swearing that he will
be with Victor on his wedding night.
The following night, Victor receives a letter from Henry,
who, tired of Scotland, suggests that they continue their travels.
Before he leaves his shack, Victor cleans and packs his chemical
instruments and collects the remains of his second creature. Late
that evening, he rows out onto the ocean and throws the remains
into the water, allowing himself to rest in the boat for a while.
When he wakes, he finds that the winds will not permit him to return
to shore. Panicking, in fear for his life, he contemplates the possibility
of dying at sea, blown far out into the Atlantic. Soon the winds
change, however, and he reaches shore near a town. When he lands,
a group of townspeople greet him rudely, telling him that he is
under suspicion for a murder discovered the previous night.
