Alas! To me the idea of an immediate union with my Elizabeth was one of horror and dismay. I was bound by a solemn promise which I had not yet fulfilled and dared not break, or if I did, what manifold miseries might not impend over me and my devoted family!
Chapter 18 · Victor Frankenstein
Context
Victor's internal response to his father's proposal of immediate marriage, revealing the true horror he feels at the thought of marrying Elizabeth before fulfilling his promise to the creature.
Analysis
The exclamation 'Alas!' opens with theatrical self-pity, yet the real revelation is in the word 'devoted'—ostensibly meaning 'loving,' it carries an undertone of 'doomed,' as if his family are sacrificial victims. The rhetorical question spirals into melodrama ('what manifold miseries might not impend'), but its structure dodges the actual issue: Victor fears the creature's revenge, yet he caused this danger himself by breaking the first promise. His grammar makes him sound helpless.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Victor frames his choices as tragic inevitability—the inflated diction ('manifold miseries') and passive self-positioning hide the fact that he could simply tell his father the truth instead of deceiving everyone.