Frankenstein And Spectacle Of Masculinity Analysis

Victor arrives aboard the ship in the fourth letter. Readers might notice that Walton does not sign this letter and none of the letters are ever signed again. This could initially lead readers to think that he is not as self-absorbed as he had been because his focus has turned to a friend; however it seems more like his obsession with himself and with self-gratification has not given way to empathy and emotions of a healthy caliber, but instead has become an obsession with Victor. In her essay “Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, and the Spectacle of Masculinity” by University of Rochester professor Bette London writes:

While the absence of signature leaves the reception of Walton’s “tale of horrors” uncertain, his testimonial seals Frankenstein’s narrative exchange. The bloodcurdling secret withheld from Elizabeth … finds its destination in Walton’s frame; the “tale of misery and terror” Frankenstein promises to confide to Elizabeth … passes instead to Walton’s pen in an act that stands as the thrilling consummation of confidential vows between men.” (263)

Because of Walton’s extreme tendencies, readers can hope that finding a friend would make him more normal.

Yet, the friend he meets is Victor Frankenstein. Shelley does leave some evidence that Victor might be a good match for Walton, such as the aforementioned example of the lack of signature in the remaining letters, but the evidence that points toward the idea that Walton has switched one unhealthy behavior for another is surmounting. These ideas are supported by London as well when she describes his lack of signature as the act of “relinquishing the reciprocity of letter writing for the journal’s narcissistic investments”

(263).
At first Walton does become sympathetic of Victor, who is near death because of the abuse he suffered in the unyielding elements, whereas before meeting Victor, Walton only ever wanted someone to have sympathy for him. Nonetheless he quickly declines into a disturbing state. When he and the crew of the ship pull Victor aboard and revive him with a little brandy and a warm blanket, Walton decides that Victor should stay in his own room and he should attend on Victor himself as much as possible. He says that he had “great trouble to keep off the men, who wished to ask him a thousand questions.” He also tells Margaret that he had to “persuade” Victor to stay in his room because he was too weak to be out on the deck (15). Isolating Victor is not exactly a friendly gesture and this is only the beginning of the weird ways Walton interacts with Victor.
It is clear that Walton doesn’t even know Victor’s name yet, but already loves him because “he must have been a noble creature in his better days, being even now in wreck so attractive and amiable” (15). The next letter is penned barely a week later, but Walton assures his sister that his affection grows daily (16) and what Walton considers affection is better called obsession. In the same letter he posits that “even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature … he may suffer misery, … yet when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit, that has a halo around him” (16). Victor is a “divine wanderer” (17) in Walton’s eyes and he even argues to Margaret that if she thinks his enthusiasm for Victor is laughable, then she must have lost all her innate charm. If readers find this behavior just plain laughable that would be an understatement. His words are more befitting of a lover who writes poetry that equates their partner to a deity of love than they are befitting of a man writing a letter to his sister about his captive acquaintance of only one week.