Strasbourg

Strasbourg, a city on the eastern border of France, serves as the designated rendezvous point where Henry Clerval joins Victor Frankenstein for the journey to England. The arrangement had been made by Alphonse Frankenstein and Elizabeth Lavenza without Victor's prior knowledge, a paternal precaution to ensure that Victor would not travel alone. Victor, who had hoped for solitude to pursue his secret task of creating a female companion for the monster, initially saw Clerval's company as an impediment, yet he also recognized that his friend might stand between him and the intrusion of his foe. When Victor arrived in Strasbourg, he waited two days for Clerval, passing the time in listless indolence, his mind filled with dreary imaginations about the bourne of his travels and the work that was to occupy him.

The Contrast Between the Two Travelers

Clerval's arrival in Strasbourg immediately highlighted the profound contrast between the two friends. Clerval was alive to every new scene, joyful at the beauties of the setting sun and happier still at its rise, pointing out to Victor the shifting colours of the landscape and the appearances of the sky. "This is what it is to live," he cried, "how I enjoy existence! But you, my dear Frankenstein, wherefore are you desponding and sorrowful!" Victor, by contrast, was occupied by gloomy thoughts, neither seeing 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.

The Departure Down the Rhine

From Strasbourg, the two friends agreed to descend the Rhine in a boat, travelling through Mannheim and Mainz toward Rotterdam, where they would take shipping for London. The journey took place at the time of the vintage, and even Victor, depressed in mind and his spirits continually agitated by gloomy feelings, found himself pleased as he lay at the bottom of the boat gazing on the cloudless blue sky, drinking in a tranquillity to which he had long been a stranger. Clerval's delight was far greater; he felt as if transported to fairy-land, enjoying a happiness seldom tasted by man. He compared the banks of the Rhine favorably to the majestic mountains of Switzerland, finding a charm in the river's divine scenery that he had never before seen equalled.

Narrative Significance

Strasbourg marks the beginning of the only extended period of companionship Victor experiences after his creation of the monster. The city functions as a threshold between Victor's isolated, guilt-ridden existence in Geneva and the foreign landscapes where he will attempt to fulfill his promise. The reunion with Clerval temporarily restores Victor to something resembling his former self, yet the shadow of his secret mission—the creation of a female monster—remains ever present, poisoning what might otherwise have been a journey of pure pleasure. The contrast between the two friends at Strasbourg underscores the central tragedy of Victor's character: his pursuit of forbidden knowledge has rendered him incapable of sharing in the simple joys that still animate his friend.