beautiful in nature . . . sublime . . . of man
At this point it is clear that it is Clerval, "the image of [Victor's]
former self" (3.2.1) who retains this
responsiveness to his natural surroundings. This is exemplified in the
previous chapter with his enthusiastic reaction to the Rhine valley (3.1.7). His citing of both the beautiful
and the sublime in this sentence may point the reader less to Victor --
who sees himself no longer able to respond fully to either -- than to a
sense of inclusiveness, at once aesthetic and intellectual, that Mary
Shelley seems to be associating with a fully realized human being.
