Trapped

"I had often, when at home, thought it hard to remain during my youth cooped up in one place, and had longed to enter the world, and take my station among other human beings." (Frankenstein p. 25)

Ingolstadt

Victor was a typical teenager at one time.  Even though his mother destined him to marry Elizabeth, Victor desires to discover the world beyond his home.  After the death of his mother, Victor hits the road to study in Ingolstadt to reach his dream of scientific success.  The passage above is ironic because Victor travels to Ingolstadt to discover the world and meet new people with different perspectives, but instead, he finds himself trapped in a lab for two years slaving over one project.  At the university, Victor totally closes himself off from the world and basically causes himself to go insane.  He accomplishes the opposite of what he originally planned.

The excerpt above also serves as foreshadowing for the creation of Frankenstein.  Since Victor mentions being "cooped up in one place," the reader is led to believe being trapped somehow leads to the character's repeatedly mentioned downfall.  The creation of Frankenstein traps Victor both physically and mentally - as soon as he creates the creature, he can no longer trust himself.  Victor realizes that the human brain is capable of things that should be out of our control.