What is Henry Clerval's symbolic significance and what does he foreshadow? What do these chapters say about the theme of this novel?
Throughout chapters 18-20 Henry Clerval foreshadows impending doom for Victor. Henry's attitude towards life and science being so peppy and excited about the world mirrors that of Victor's when he was a young man starting college. This shows the reader that because Clerval is so similar to Victor that Clerval's life must make a bad turn some time soon. This is because when Victor was young and excited about science it was soon ruined when his experiment caused him to go mad. This example demonstrates an ongoing theme that life can only be so good for so long.
This theme is also emphasized by Clerval's purely romanticized personality. With romantic poetry of Shelly's time there is always a dramatic theme where things go from good to bad or vise versa quite quickly. Since Clerval has such a romantic attitude, it suggests that his life will also mirror that of romantic poetry, giving the reader an idea of the problems soon to come.
All of this foreshadowing combined is later confirmed when Victor realizes the monster has killed Clerval. (Spoiler alert!!!)
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