horrent; "....but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart"(57). Shelley employs the monster to mete out Victors punishment. Frustrated by a lack of compassion, the monster seeks revenge upon his creator. By killing William, Clerval, and Elizabeth, the monster enslaves Victor to the turmoil of his own mind and emotions, thereby destroying any hope of tranquillity, and his subsequent ability to rationalise clearly and deeply. Victors ability to devise a plan whereby he can destroy his creation is overshadowed by his own predicament, merely pursuing the monster to wherever the monster wishes to lead him. Victors perpetual punishment is not so much physical as mental and emotional. By contrast, Clervals death has nothing to do with his ambitions. Perhaps, because his motives are honourable, that is, not ego driven, that he is allowed to die quickly. But like William, Victors brother, and Elizabeth, it is the affection bestowed on him by Victor that makes him a victim; his death is but another part of what keeps Victor, like Prometheus, "chained in an eternal hell"(211). In an attempt to placate the monster, Victor agrees to make a female companion, a Pandora. But when half completed, he claims, like Pandora, "she might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate" or "a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth"(165). In the presence of the monster, he destroys his work. But it is the lack of glorification were she to become what he predicts which really stops him proceeding. If his egoism had allowed him to believe humanity would marvel at his achievements, he would have kept going. So, with his Promethean traits in tact, Victors self-interest determines his actions once more. Further retribution from the monster is a fait accompli . Victors egoism even denies him the opportunity of understanding the implications of the monsters 4. promise to be with him...
