the amiableness of domestic affection
Although no reader of Frankenstein, if asked to list its chief
concerns, would be likely to narrow the range to the value of domesticity
and virtue, we can discern in this emphasis a veiled attempt to steer
potential critics away from an attack on the novel's political or religious
implications. At the same time, the domestic affections are certainly of
import for the novel, yet like many other themes encountered in its
progressive development, their value becomes increasingly ambiguous.
