Alas! Why does man boast of sensibilities superior to those apparent in the brute; it only renders them more necessary beings.
Chapter 10 · Victor Frankenstein
Context
Midway through his climb up Montanvert, Victor pauses to observe the desolate, avalanche-scarred landscape and reflects on the burden of human emotional sensitivity.
Analysis
The word 'necessary' here means 'needy' or 'dependent,' and Victor uses it to argue that human sensitivity is a weakness—we would be freer if we were as simple as animals. Yet this is the same man who created life to transcend natural limits, and who now climbs a mountain specifically because his sensibilities require nature's grandeur to feel better. The self-contradiction is glaring: Victor simultaneously despises human emotional needs and indulges his own, positioning himself as a victim of the very consciousness he once celebrated. His lament becomes ironic critique—he has made a creature with human sensibilities but denied it the 'advantages' (companionship, acceptance) that might meet those needs.
Essay Tip
Argue that this quote encapsulates Victor's hypocrisy—he complains that feeling makes humans 'necessary beings' while obsessively seeking emotional comfort in nature, and he gave his Creature the same sensibilities but none of the conditions required to bear them.