Darkness

"The cup of life was poisoned for ever; and although the sun shone upon me, as upon the happy and gay of heart, I saw around me nothing but a dense and frightful darkness, penetrated by no light but the glimmer of two eyes that glared upon me."  (Frankenstein p. 134)

After discovering the death of his friend Henry Clerval and  being convicted for the murder, Victor welcomes prison and even death.  Henry was his best friend; the creature took this friend away due to Victor's lack of completing the creature's companion.

To describe the intensity of his grief, Shelly uses an antithesis of images.  A bright description of the weather is soon clouded by the dark thoughts of Victor.  The same sentence structure is used in both sentences to emphasize the difference between appearance and reality.  This is the point where Victor realizes that he no longer has control of his life; since Victor did not complete the female creature, the creature now has the will to ruin every aspect of his life.  Killing Henry and sending Victor to jail was just the first of his actions to ruin the scientist's life.  Not only does Victor fear the future, he also is haunted by the images of the murders the creature had commited - William, Justine, Henry, and eventually his own wife.