Mannheim

Mannheim is a German city on the Rhine that appears in Victor Frankenstein's narrative as a brief stopping point during his journey with Henry Clerval from Strasbourg to Rotterdam. The visit occurs in the latter part of the novel, after Victor has reluctantly agreed to create a female companion for the monster and has set out for England to gather the necessary scientific knowledge. The stop at Mannheim is one of several along the Rhine that Victor records in his account, and it represents a fleeting moment of comparative calm in a journey otherwise overshadowed by his grim purpose and the weight of his promise.

The Rhine Journey and the Stop at Mannheim

Victor and Clerval had agreed to descend the Rhine in a boat from Strasbourg to Rotterdam, from where they would take shipping for London. During this voyage they passed many willowy islands and saw several beautiful towns. They stayed a day at Mannheim, and on the fifth day from their departure from Strasbourg, they arrived at Mainz. The course of the Rhine below Mainz becomes much more picturesque, with the river descending rapidly and winding between hills that are not high but steep and of beautiful forms. Victor notes that this part of the Rhine presents a singularly variegated landscape, with rugged hills, ruined castles overlooking tremendous precipices, and the dark Rhine rushing beneath, while on the sudden turn of a promontory, flourishing vineyards with green sloping banks and a meandering river and populous towns occupy the scene.

Contrast Between Victor and Clerval

The journey, including the stop at Mannheim, highlights the stark contrast between Victor and his friend. Clerval 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. He pointed out to Victor the shifting colours of the landscape and the appearances of the sky, exclaiming, "This is what it is to live; how I enjoy existence!" Victor, by contrast, was occupied by gloomy thoughts and neither saw the descent of the evening star nor the golden sunrise reflected in the Rhine. He describes himself as a miserable wretch, haunted by a curse that shut up every avenue to enjoyment. Yet even Victor, depressed in mind and his spirits continually agitated by gloomy feelings, was pleased during this part of the voyage. He lay at the bottom of the boat, and as he gazed on the cloudless blue sky, he seemed to drink in a tranquillity to which he had long been a stranger.

Narrative Significance

The stop at Mannheim, though brief and without any dramatic incident, serves a structural purpose in Victor's narrative. It is one of the few moments of relative peace before the horrors that follow—the creation and destruction of the female creature, the murder of Clerval, and the eventual destruction of Victor's family. The journey down the Rhine, with its beautiful scenery and the companionship of Clerval, provides a temporary respite from Victor's torment, but it also underscores the irreparable divide between his inner state and the world around him. The stop at Mannheim is thus a marker of a journey that is both geographical and psychological, a passage through beauty that Victor can only partially appreciate, shadowed as he is by the knowledge of what he must do and what he has already done.