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Feb 5, - Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley began writing “Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus” when she was eighteen years old, two years.
Table of contents

Something similar could be said about the ugliness and horror of the events in Frankenstein , another story within a frame. The outside frame of the narrative comes to us from a presumably reliable source: Captain Robert Walton, who is writing to his sister, Margaret. Having given up hope of succeeding as a poet, Walton is traveling to the North Pole to conduct scientific research. As we learn, this unfortunate traveler has been pursuing the giant whom Walton and his crewmates saw the day before. This hapless voyager is Dr.

From Nightmare to Novel

Victor Frankenstein, who takes over the role of narrator as he tells his harrowing tale to the captain. He describes his youth, his upbringing, his family, his early interest in science, and the way in which that interest lured him down a dangerous path of inquiry. Fascinated by the work of Paracelsus and Albertus Magnus, encouraged by his professors, he immersed himself in chemistry and anatomy.

He had begun to wonder if the dead could be reanimated, if new life could be created from what remains after the soul has left the body.

Frankenstein - The British Library

Resurrection by science? Not so much. I will not lead you on, unguarded and ardent as I then was, to your destruction and infallible misery. The thrill of victory and discovery is transient.

Frankenstein

Almost as soon as he succeeds in bringing his creation to life, Frankenstein comes face to face with a being whose hideousness seems to suggest the presence of an equally unappealing nature. This seemingly superficial but sadly accurate observation of how humans make judgments will become all the more important as the book progresses and as the monster—whose ugliness, size, and obvious abnormality are ultimately what make him a pariah—takes over the narrative and tells his own sad tale. Frankenstein flees the monster and spends a restless night wandering the streets, where, by lucky accident, he runs into his friend Henry Clerval, who has just at that moment arrived from Switzerland.

The coincidence-averse may have reason to wonder at many such points in the book. My hand was already on the lock of the door before I recollected myself. I then paused; and a cold shivering came over me. I threw the door forcibly open, as children are accustomed to do when they expect a spectre to stand in waiting for them on the other side; but nothing appeared.

I stepped fearfully in. The apartment was empty; and my bedroom was also freed from its hideous guest. What Victor first experiences as relief and joy is in fact a recurrence of exhaustion, fear, and horror; the monster has escaped. Victor falls ill and is nursed back to health by the loyal Clerval. What seems like domestic gossip is in fact a clever setup for what is to follow.


  • It’s Alive! Frankenstein at 200!
  • A Century of Sail and Steam on the Niagara River?
  • ‘Frankenstein’ Manuscript Shows the Evolution of Mary Shelley’s Monster.
  • Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" is published!
  • 7 Lieder, Op. 104, No. 4: Der Zeisig: Wir sind ja, Kind im Maie.
  • The Aurator?

Little William has been murdered. It has often been remarked: the strangeness of Mary Shelley calling the dead child William, which was the name of her own beloved son, born in January But it has just as frequently been observed that it is common for writers, especially young ones, to spur themselves on with some version of their fantasies of the worst that could happen.


  • After two hundred years, are we ready for the truth about Mary Shelley’s novel?.
  • Site Index?
  • The River Motor Boat Boys on the Mississippi On the Trail to the Gulf.
  • The Scientific Origins of Frankenstein.
  • Accessibility links!
  • The Strange and Twisted Life of “Frankenstein”.
  • 'Frankenstein' Reflects the Hopes and Fears of Every Scientific Era;

Like Victor, who knows that his monster is guilty of the crime but is certain that no one will believe him if he tells the truth, the reader can only watch as Justine is convicted of, and executed for, killing the child. Now his only wish is that Victor will create another artificial being, a mate for the monster, so that he will have a companion and not be doomed to go through the world alone. In the process of telling his unhappy story, the monster shows himself capable of a complexity of moral and philosophical reflection that the other characters—spurred by near-diabolic ambition or overwhelmed by tragedy—cannot or will not allow themselves.

These wonderful narrations inspired me with strange feelings. Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous, and magnificent, yet so vicious and base? He appeared at one time a mere scion of the evil principle, and at another as all that can be conceived of noble and godlike. To be a great and virtuous man appeared the highest honor that can befall a sensitive being; to be base and vicious, as many on record have been, appeared the lowest degradation, a condition more abject than that of the blind mole or harmless worm.

Why Frankenstein is the story that defines our fears

For a long time I could not conceive how one man could go forth to murder his fellow, or even why there were laws and governments; but when I heard details of vice and bloodshed, my wonder ceased, and I turned away with disgust and loathing. How brilliant of Mary Shelley to have put these thoughts and these speculations into the brain and the mouth of a monster, and how savvy of her—how wise, as they say, beyond her years—to realize that the questions that he asks have never been, will never be, answered.

Nor will we tire of asking these questions about the limits of science and the essence of a human being. Her novel functions as an intellectual challenge, inviting us to ponder the profound issues raised by the monster and by the very fact of his existence. Which of us is immune to the fear that, like Victor Frankenstein, we may discover that our own work, our proudest creations, our offspring may turn against us—and that, with all the best intentions, we may wreak mayhem and havoc on those we love most, and least wish to hurt?

In the movies, the monster can be a brute pure and simple, yet he is still an object of compassion and remains a favorite on stage and screen. For the first time it will be possible to view art and artifacts including comic books, film posters, publicity stills, and movie memorabilia that explain how Frankenstein caught the popular imagination in the course of two hundred years.


  1. Extremely Funny Memes Collection! Vol.69.
  2. SparkNotes: Frankenstein.
  3. Dave Morris's interactive adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic tale of terror, tragedy and revenge..

    4. The modern myth of Frankenstein is based on a long cultural tradition, also recounted in the exhibition with a vivid display of books, manuscripts, posters, prints, and paintings. The exhibition and catalogue are also made possible with lead funding from Katharine J. Photography by Janny Chiu, Henry Fuseli — , The Nightmare, , oil on canvas. Bert Smokler and Mr. Lawrence A.

    Educational resource

    Blake, Landon K. Thorne, ; PML Photography by Richard Tailby. Ray Fund, ; PML Abinger c. The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford.

    Lyceum Theatre London, England , This evening, Monday, July 28th, , will be produced for the first time an entirely new romance of a peculiar interest, entitled Presumption!