"Do you think, Victor," said he, "that I do not suffer also? No one could love a child more than I loved your brother"—tears came into his eyes as he spoke—"but is it not a duty to the survivors that we should refrain from augmenting their unhappiness by an appearance of immoderate grief?"
Chapter 9 · Alphonse Frankenstein
Context
Alphonse Frankenstein tries to console Victor, urging him to moderate his grief for the sake of the surviving family members.
Analysis
Alphonse's appeal to "duty to the survivors" reflects an Enlightenment-era stoic ethic—grief must be managed, rationed, made socially useful—but his rhetorical question assumes Victor's sorrow has the same source as his own. The dramatic irony is painful: Alphonse believes Victor grieves for William, when in fact Victor is paralyzed by secret guilt, making his father's reasonable advice utterly useless.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that Shelley dramatizes the isolation secrecy creates—Victor cannot be comforted because no one knows what he actually suffers from, showing how his refusal to confess doesn't just endanger others but cuts him off from all human connection.