a husband, and lovely children
Until this very late point in the novel we have only been able to assume
that Margaret Saville, because of the difference in her surname, has a
husband. With this confirmed, we discover as well that she has
children. One reason Mary Shelley
may be supplying this information now
would be to justify the emotional intensity of this outpouring in which
Walton in solitude and dire straits reaches out to his only family
connections. But by the same token, that connectedness
contrasts pointedly with the situation in the Frankenstein household,
where when the novel ends only Ernest, who would seem to have
little to recommend him beyond being a dull and regular fellow, will
survive its events.
