In Frankenstein, Shelley openly reveals romance and erotic tension, both heterosexual and homosexual, through symbolism relating to sight, although this later look demonstrates the strong relationship between death and sexual tensions in both human and nonhuman. The first episode of sexual tension in this story is between two men. Robert Walton, Victor's “loving brother,” says he “longs for the company of a man who can sympathize with me, whose eyes respond to mine” and “I need him more to sustain my spirit. I love you very dearly." (Shelley 33). Of course, instead of expressing desires for women, Shelley uses the language of erotic desire for a man. Furthermore, despite being completely surrounded by men on the ship, Walton's desire for Victor's company develops into something deeper than his other seafaring friendships; he longs for a man "possessing a cultured and capable mind, whose tastes are similar to [his] own, to approve or modify [his] plans" and “sympathize with [him]; whose eyes would respond to [his]…” (31). The eyes, as a metaphorical window into the mind and heart, imply the origin of desire visual response from a man, it seems, invoke the return of sexual foreplay and flirtation: a look. Interestingly, Walton would “sacrifice my fortune, my experience, my every hope, to further my enterprise. . A man's life or death was but a small price..." (37). By delicately but repeatedly mentioning sacrifices and death in erotic language, Walton unintentionally connects death with his lust. Similarly, Henry Clerval renounces his ambition to collaborate with the ailing Victor, and “during all that time Henry was my only nurse” (P64) suggesting that, a devoted man… middle of paper… Because of the adoration of his nature, Victor creates a mirror image of himself capable of refusing to submit to the patriarchal forces that push him to become “the husband and father of the family” (40). Victor's desire for the monster and the monster's desire for Victor not only measure the depth of homosexuality in Frankenstein, but also suggest that sexual tensions and the monstrous evil of death are inseparably linked. The monster decides to hunt down his creator and demand a being who "does not deny himself to [him]" (128), a being who responds to his deadly lustful gaze. Frankenstein is a romantic project fraught with overwhelming sexual tension and the terror of death, looking through the vigorous gaze, death is found. The inherent sexual tensions in Frankenstein ultimately lead us to be “carried away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance.”(189)