on his deathbed, victor admits he had an obligation to make sure his creature had a happy life. what is ironic about the excuse he offers for no doing so.

I find irony in the fact that when Victor admits he's had the wrong priorities, he still can't see that his first priority should have been his creation. To say that his main concern in the experiment should have been its effect on his fellow man and the tragedies that resulted.

He says that he needed to offer duty to the creatures of his own kind. If he had had that thought in the beginning, perhaps he would not have tried so hard to be godlike. He also blames the evil in the monster as a reason not to be compassionate towards him. Yet, the creation of a sentient being could be considered evil as well.