my want of a guide
In her revisions Mary Shelley strengthens the similarities between Victor
Frankenstein and Robert Walton. In this case, although Victor is
about to undergo a systematic education, the 1831 text leaves him
virtually as lacking in discipline as Walton represented himself to be in
writing to his sister (Letter 2.1 and
note). In the context provided by
the terms of Walton's letter, where he remarks how much he needs a
friend to help regulate his mind, Victor's lack of a close associate
in these early weeks spent almost in
solitude is ominous.
