Excellent friend
We will learn the reason for this rhetorical heightening through the
vocative case as we move into the next chapter. This is the last serene
moment that Victor will experience in his entire existence, but the
address to Clerval in the past tense immediately shadows its expression
of joy. In retrospect, the reader may consider Victor's happiness during
this year as purchased by a willful blindness to the potential
consequences of his actions.
