dare you sport thus with life
The moral power of this verb stands out against Victor's ineffectual
name-calling, reminding us that in some sense "curiosity" (a word with
considerable resonance in the first volume: e.g. Letter 1.2, Letter 4.4, Letter 4.8, 1.1.9, 1.2.6, 1.7.1) is sport, as are all open-ended
intellectual endeavors associated with the imagination. The pejorative
sense of the word as used here against Victor is, appropriately, the
sense invoked by Victor himself in silently indicting the Creature during
the trial of Justine (1.7.5).
