In Frankenstein, please provide a character sketch of Henry Clerval.

We are first introduced to Henry Clerval in Chapter Two,
who is said to be the one friend that Victor Frankenstein made in his childhood. Note
how he is introduced:

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Henry Cleveral was the son of a merchant of
Geneva. He was a boy of singular talent and fancy. He loved enterprise, hardship, and
even danger, for its own sake. He was deeply read in books of chivalry and romance. He
composed heroic songs, and began to write many a tale of enchantment and knightly
adventure. He tried to make us act plays, and to enter into masquerades, in which the
characters were drawn from the heroes of Roncesvalles, of the Round Table of King
Arthur, and the chivalrous train who shed their blood to redeem the holy sepulchre from
the hands of the
infidels.

However, let us not
dismiss him as a mere romantic. As the novel progresses, we see again and again that his
main function lies in the way that he is juxtaposed to his friend's character. Henry is
a man of moderation who is able to balance his emotional and rational involvements. In
sharp contrast to Victor, Clerval's aspiration is "to become one among those whose names
are recorded in story as the gallant and adventurous benefactors of our species." Note,
too, how when Victor flees from his creation, it is Clerval who cares for Victor and
protects him, which is of course precisely what Victor was unable to do for his own
creation. Clerval is finally killed by the creature as part of his revenge for the way
in which his mate was killed by Victor.