in giving the life and spirit
There is no little irony in this phrase, since Victor has already in a
material sense, given "life and spirit" to his Creature and even to his
Creature as "enemy." Given his manifest failure on the level of the actual,
his desire to succeed on the level of the merely textual may be
understandable, but it is no less morally problematic. Having the last
word must be a poor substitute for acting with foresight and
responsibility in the first place.
