Chapter 22

Victor reaches Paris exhausted and shuns society while his father tries in vain to comfort him. Elizabeth’s tender, selfless letter arrives, asking if he truly loves her and urging his happiness above all, which revives the Creature’s threat to be with Victor on his wedding-night. Determined not to delay, Victor consents to marry and returns to Geneva, where Elizabeth alone soothes his tormented mind. Preparations bring a fragile calm, but ominous foreboding returns on their wedding day. The couple embark across Lake Geneva toward Evian, admiring the sublime scenery; as dusk falls and they land, Victor’s anxieties reawaken.