Henry Clerval

The son of a Genevese merchant and a boy of singular talent and fancy, Henry loved enterprise, hardship, and danger, was deeply read in chivalric romance, and composed heroic songs and tales of enchantment and knightly adventure. He tried to stage plays and masquerades based on the heroes of Roncesvalles, King Arthur's Round Table, and the crusaders, and—his ambitions later shaped toward moral virtue and heroic action by Elizabeth's influence—dreamed of becoming a gallant, adventurous benefactor of mankind.

The son of a Genevese merchant, a boy of singular talent and fancy who loved chivalric romance and staged plays of knightly adventure, his ambitions shaped toward heroic, benevolent action by Elizabeth's influence. He tried in vain to persuade his father to let him accompany Victor to Ingolstadt, felt keenly his exclusion from a liberal education, and spent Victor's last evening before departure with him, parting with a handclasp the next morning.

The son of a Genevese merchant, a boy of singular talent and fancy who loved chivalric romance and staged plays of knightly adventure, his ambitions shaped toward heroic, benevolent action by Elizabeth's influence; he tried in vain to persuade his father to let him accompany Victor to Ingolstadt, felt keenly his exclusion from a liberal education, and parted from Victor with a handclasp before his departure. He eventually persuaded his father to let him undertake his own voyage of discovery to Ingolstadt, arriving via the Swiss diligence and joyfully reuniting with Victor at an inn; when Victor then fell into a nervous fever after wildness and a fit, Clerval became his sole nurse for months, concealing the illness's severity from Victor's family, and afterward urged Victor to write home to ease their worry.

The son of a Genevese merchant, a boy of singular talent and fancy who loved chivalric romance, his ambitions shaped toward heroic, benevolent action by Elizabeth's influence; he persuaded his father to let him journey to Ingolstadt, reunited joyfully with Victor, and became his sole nurse through a nervous fever, concealing its severity from Victor's family and writing them constant letters, for which Elizabeth thanked him. Once Victor recovered, Clerval put Elizabeth's letter into his hands, removed all his scientific apparatus and changed his rooms to spare him reminders of natural philosophy, and deflected the subject with professors without ever prying into Victor's secret; he then pursued oriental languages (Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit) at the university as a path toward an enterprising Eastern career, drew Victor into the same studies, and proposed and led a restorative pedestrian tour around Ingolstadt, entertaining Victor with imaginative tales and poetry to nurse him back to health.

A Genevese merchant's son of singular talent who journeyed to Ingolstadt, nursed Victor through a nervous fever while concealing its severity from his family, removed his scientific apparatus to spare him reminders of natural philosophy, and led him on a restorative pedestrian tour, also pursuing oriental languages alongside him. When Victor received news of William's murder, Clerval watched him read it, was surprised by his despair, read the letter himself, offered heartfelt but futile sympathy calling the disaster irreparable, and tried to console him further as they went to order horses for Geneva.

A Genevese merchant's son of singular talent who journeyed to Ingolstadt, nursed Victor through a nervous fever while concealing its severity from his family, removed his scientific apparatus to spare him reminders of natural philosophy, and led him on a restorative pedestrian tour, also pursuing oriental languages alongside him; when Victor received news of William's murder, Clerval offered heartfelt but futile sympathy calling the disaster irreparable. Arranged by Alphonse and Elizabeth to accompany Victor, he joined him at Strasburgh and, a being formed in the 'very poetry of nature' with a wild, enthusiastic imagination and a soul full of ardent affections, delighted joyfully in the scenery down the Rhine to Rotterdam (declaring 'This is what it is to live'), keeping a journal of his impressions and calling the voyage a happiness like Fairy-land, in contrast to Victor's despondency, before the two proceeded by sea toward England.

A Genevese merchant's son of singular talent who nursed Victor through fever at Ingolstadt, journeyed with him down the Rhine to Rotterdam and by sea to England, then spent months in London desiring the company of men of genius and pursuing his long-held plan to visit India to aid European colonization and trade. He and Victor toured Windsor, Oxford, Matlock, and the Cumberland/Westmorland lakes, finding travel a mix of pleasure and strain, then visited Edinburgh (preferring Oxford) en route to accept a friend's invitation to Perth, Scotland; though he tried to dissuade Victor from touring Scotland alone, he relented, urging Victor to write often before they parted.

A Genevese merchant's son of singular talent who nursed Victor through fever at Ingolstadt, journeyed with him down the Rhine to Rotterdam and by sea to England, then spent months in London pursuing his plan to aid European colonization and trade in India. He and Victor toured Windsor, Oxford, Matlock, and the Cumberland/Westmorland lakes and visited Edinburgh en route to Perth, Scotland, where he tried but failed to dissuade Victor from touring Scotland alone; from Perth he wrote entreating Victor to join him there, saying he was wasting time and needed to return to London to complete his Indian enterprise negotiations.

A Genevese merchant's son of singular talent who nursed Victor through fever at Ingolstadt, journeyed with him to England, toured Britain with him, and then went ahead to Scotland alone, writing from Perth to urge Victor to join him so he could return to London to complete his Indian trade negotiations. He was instead found dead on the shore, a handsome young man of about twenty-five, apparently strangled with the black mark of fingers on his neck — murdered by the Creature, a killing for which Victor was initially accused.