England, The Journey

Why did Shelley spend such a long time explaining Henry's and Frankenstein's trip to England. Really there is like three pages devoted to the mountains of Switzerland and the Rhine. I guess it is intended to be a foreshadowing of Henry's death. As why would he spend so much time talking about how great Henry was if he continues to live. But at the time when one is first reading it, it seems pointless and like a filler in the novel just to make it longer. Albeit on a side note the descriptions are good and one can tell that Shelley obviously did travel around Europe a lot.