Westmorland

Westmorland, a historic county in the Lake District of northern England, appears in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as the setting for a brief interlude of comparative peace during Victor Frankenstein's otherwise tormented journey. Victor and his friend Henry Clerval spent two months traveling through Cumberland and Westmorland after leaving Derby, and the landscape there stirred in Victor a fleeting sense of familiarity and comfort. The little patches of snow still lingering on the northern sides of the mountains, the lakes, and the dashing of the rocky streams were all sights that reminded him of his native Switzerland. For a short time, Victor could almost fancy himself among the Swiss mountains, and the region's beauty allowed him a temporary respite from the consuming dread that had pursued him since the monster's creation.

A Landscape of Contrast and Temporary Solace

The Westmorland scenery, though reminiscent of Switzerland, was on a lower scale; the green hills lacked the crown of distant white Alps that always attended the piny mountains of Victor's native country. Yet the resemblance was strong enough to evoke a sense of home, and Victor found himself able to enjoy the natural world once more. In this setting, he and Clerval made some acquaintances who almost contrived to cheat Victor into happiness. Clerval's delight was proportionally greater than Victor's; his mind expanded in the company of men of talent, and he discovered in his own nature greater capacities and resources than he had imagined himself to possess while associating with his inferiors. Clerval declared that he could pass his life among these mountains and would scarcely regret Switzerland and the Rhine.

The Shadow of the Monster's Demand

Despite the temporary peace, Victor's enjoyment was perpetually shadowed by the memory of his promise to the monster. He had neglected his vow to create a female companion for some time, and he feared the effects of the daemon's disappointment. The idea that the monster might remain in Switzerland and wreak vengeance on his relatives pursued Victor and tormented him at every moment from which he might otherwise have snatched repose and peace. He waited for letters from Geneva with feverish impatience; if they were delayed, he was miserable and overcome by a thousand fears. When they arrived and he saw the superscription of Elizabeth or his father, he hardly dared to read and ascertain his fate. Sometimes he thought that the fiend followed him and might expedite his remissness by murdering his companion. When these thoughts possessed him, Victor would not quit Henry for a moment but followed him as his shadow, to protect him from the fancied rage of his destroyer.

The End of the Interlude

The period of their appointment with their Scotch friend in Perth approached, and Victor and Clerval left Westmorland and Cumberland to travel on. For his own part, Victor was not sorry to leave. The brief solace the landscape had provided could not erase the weight of his obligation, and the journey northward toward the Orkney Islands, where he intended to complete his loathsome work, loomed before him. The Westmorland episode thus stands as a poignant contrast between the natural beauty that might have healed Victor and the inescapable horror of his self-imposed mission.