intimate friend of my father
This is the second close male friendship in as many lines (see the note to "friend" above). Since
friendships reflect character in this novel, the intimacy Alphonse
Frankenstein feels for Beaufort (1.1.2)
and the elder Clerval (1.2.3), both of
whom share a sternness of resolve and a narrow preoccupation with business
success, may suggest a comparable rigidity, or at least a stiffness and
lack of flexibility, in Victor's father. Victor will himself shortly note
these traits in respect to how his father oversees his development (1.1.7).
