Picture of author.

Mary Shelley (1797–1851)

Author of Frankenstein

438+ Works 73,538 Members 1,204 Reviews 92 Favorited
There are 2 open discussions about this author. See now.

About the Author

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born in England on August 30, 1797. Her parents were two celebrated liberal thinkers, William Godwin, a social philosopher, and Mary Wollstonecraft, a women's rights advocate. Eleven days after Mary's birth, her mother died of puerperal fever. Four motherless years show more later, Godwin married Mary Jane Clairmont, bringing her and her two children into the same household with Mary and her half-sister, Fanny. Mary's idolization of her father, his detached and rational treatment of their bond, and her step-mother's preference for her own children created a tense and awkward home. Mary's education and free-thinking were encouraged, so it should not surprise us today that at the age of sixteen she ran off with the brilliant, nineteen-year old and unhappily married Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley became her ideal, but their life together was a difficult one. Traumas plagued them: Shelley's wife and Mary's half-sister both committed suicide; Mary and Shelley wed shortly after he was widowed but social disapproval forced them from England; three of their children died in infancy or childhood; and while Shelley was an aristocrat and a genius, he was also moody and had little money. Mary conceived of her magnum opus, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, when she was only nineteen when Lord Byron suggested they tell ghost stories at a house party. The resulting book took over two years to write and can be seen as the brilliant creation of a powerful but tormented mind. The story of Frankenstein has endured nearly two centuries and countless variations because of its timeless exploration of the tension between our quest for knowledge and our thirst for good. Shelley drowned when Mary was only 24, leaving her with an infant and debts. She died from a brain tumor on February 1, 1851 at the age of 54. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:

(ita) Please don't combine Shelley with Mary Shelley. Yes, some people will have entered books this way, but it more commonly refers to her husband the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, with whom "Shelley" should also not be combined.

Please don't combine Shelley with Mary Shelley. There is more than one author with that surname.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) was the author of "Frankenstein". Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) was the author of "A vindication of the rights of woman" and has a separate author page.

Image credit: Portrait by Richard Rothwell (c.1840)

Series

Works by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein (1818) 51,146 copies, 811 reviews
Frankenstein (Enriched Classics) (2004) 2,486 copies, 45 reviews
Frankenstein (Norton Critical Editions) (1818) 2,482 copies, 28 reviews
The Last Man (1826) 2,020 copies, 45 reviews
Dracula / Frankenstein (1973) 532 copies, 1 review
Mathilda (1819) 456 copies, 13 reviews
Gris Grimly's Frankenstein (2013) 278 copies, 11 reviews
Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein (A Marvel Illustrated Novel) (1983) — Author — 273 copies, 6 reviews
The New Annotated Frankenstein (2017) 259 copies, 4 reviews
Mary and Maria and Matilda (1992) 249 copies, 2 reviews
Classic Horror Stories (2003) 204 copies, 1 review
Valperga (1823) 173 copies, 1 review
Transformation and Other Stories (1831) 143 copies, 5 reviews
The Annotated Frankenstein (1818) 141 copies, 2 reviews
The Original Frankenstein (1818) 138 copies, 3 reviews
Frankenstein (Oxford Bookworms) (1989) 134 copies, 27 reviews
The Essential Frankenstein (1993) 130 copies, 2 reviews
Frankenstein (Usborne Young Reading) (2008) 105 copies, 1 review
The Mary Shelley Reader (1990) 104 copies, 1 review
The Mortal Immortal [short story] (1833) 51 copies, 3 reviews
Frankenstein (Ignatius Critical Edition) (2008) 46 copies, 2 reviews
Frankenstein by Georges Bess (2021) 45 copies, 2 reviews
Frankenstein (Penguin Classics audiobook) (1994) 38 copies, 2 reviews
Proserpine and Midas (2005) 37 copies, 1 review
Frankenstein [Macmillan Readers] (2005) 25 copies, 2 reviews
Frankenstein (Classics Illustrated Deluxe) (2009) 25 copies, 2 reviews
The Pilgrims (2008) 20 copies, 3 reviews
The Monster Collection (2017) — Author — 19 copies
Cuentos góticos (2006) 19 copies, 1 review
Frankenstein (Acting Edition) (1974) — Novel — 18 copies
Falkner (1996) 17 copies
Tales of a Monster Hunter (1977) 15 copies
Frankenstein (Calico Illustrated Classics) (2010) 14 copies, 1 review
Frankenstein [adapted - Saddleback Classics] (1999) — Original Author — 13 copies
Kärleksprövningen (2017) 11 copies, 1 review
Frankenstein (novela gráfica) (2020) — Author — 11 copies, 1 review
Graphic Novel Classics: Frankenstein (2014) 10 copies, 1 review
Fantasmagoriana {Byron, et al.} (1998) — Contributor — 10 copies
Word Cloud Box Set: Brown (2015) 9 copies
La noche de los monstruos (2012) 8 copies
The Dream (1831) 8 copies, 1 review
The Heir of Mondolfo (2004) 8 copies
[No title] 6 copies
Frankenstein resuturado (2018) 6 copies
De grote horror omnibus (1983) 6 copies
Tales and Stories (1891) 6 copies
Short Fiction 5 copies
The Last Man Volume II (2016) 5 copies
Victor Frankenstein (2001) 5 copies
FRANKENSTEIN Gradifco (2015) 4 copies
Frankenstein: Level 3, 1200 Wörter (2001) 4 copies, 2 reviews
Metamorfosi. Racconti gotici (2006) 4 copies, 1 review
FRANKENSTEIN -LB- NVO (2014) 4 copies
Harrap's Frankenstein (2016) 4 copies
On Ghosts (2013) 4 copies
Amar y revivir (2020) 4 copies
The Last Man Volume I (2010) 3 copies
The Last Man Volume III (2018) 3 copies
FRANKENSTEIN GALVANISED (2012) 3 copies, 1 review
MARY SHELLEY'S JOURNAL. (1947) 3 copies
Karanlik Yazilar (2020) 2 copies
Béatrice Cenci (2000) 2 copies
On Ghosts 2 copies
Prosèrpina (2019) 2 copies
Frankestien 2 copies
The Mortal Immortal | The Evil Eye (2008) 2 copies, 1 review
Roger Dodsworth (2023) 2 copies
Frankenstein Manuscript (2018) 2 copies
Mary Shelley in Bath (2025) 2 copies
Frankenstein 2 copies
Proserpine and Midas 2 copies, 1 review
The Parvenue 1 copy
First Flight 1 copy
(all) 1 copy
IL SOGNO (2019) 1 copy
Racconti scelti (2002) 1 copy
Frankenstein — Author — 1 copy
Classic Radio Sci-Fi (2014) 1 copy
El elegido (2022) 1 copy
Frankenstein (abridged) (2004) 1 copy, 1 review
Smrtni besmrtnik (2022) 1 copy
Poemas (2021) 1 copy
Frankenstein 2 CDs (2006) 1 copy
The False Rhyme (1830) 1 copy
The Mourner (1830) 1 copy
2008 1 copy
Frankenstein - Stage 4 (2017) 1 copy

Associated Works

Young Frankenstein [1974 film] (1974) — Original book — 907 copies, 12 reviews
The Book of Fantasy (1940) — Contributor — 745 copies, 15 reviews
Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection (2013) — Creator — 740 copies, 17 reviews
Three Gothic Novels: The Castle of Otranto / Vathek / Frankenstein (1968) — Contributor — 664 copies, 5 reviews
The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists (2000) — Contributor, some editions — 622 copies, 9 reviews
Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural (1985) — Contributor — 601 copies, 3 reviews
Penny Dreadfuls: Sensational Tales of Terror (2014) — Contributor — 590 copies, 1 review
Frankenstein (Great Illustrated Classics) (1818) — Original Author — 535 copies, 1 review
Complete Poems of Keats and Shelley (1978) — Introduction, some editions — 344 copies, 1 review
Frankenstein (Classic Starts Series) (2006) — Story — 316 copies, 3 reviews
The Phantom of the Opera and Other Gothic Tales (2018) — Contributor — 310 copies, 1 review
The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 4th Edition, Volume 2 (1979) — Contributor — 271 copies, 1 review
Chilling Horror Short Stories (2015) — Contributor — 233 copies, 1 review
Frankenstein: The Graphic Novel (2008) — Story — 230 copies, 17 reviews
Frankenstein (A Stepping Stone Book) (1982) — Story — 228 copies, 3 reviews
The Big Book of Classic Fantasy (2019) — Contributor — 224 copies, 3 reviews
Erotica: Women's Writing from Sappho to Margaret Atwood (1990) — Contributor — 183 copies
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein [1994 film] (1994) — Original novel — 183 copies
100 Eternal Masterpieces of Literature, Volume 1 (2017) — Contributor — 177 copies
Classic Works from Women Writers (Leather-bound Classics) (2018) — Contributor — 177 copies
The Road to Science Fiction #1: From Gilgamesh to Wells (1977) — Contributor — 166 copies, 1 review
Dystopia Utopia: Short Stories (2016) — Contributor — 161 copies, 1 review
Frankenstein [1931 film] (1931) — Original book — 159 copies, 5 reviews
Isaac Asimov Presents : The Best Science Fiction of the 19th Century (1981) — Contributor — 156 copies, 2 reviews
The Book of Love (1998) — Contributor — 150 copies
Frankenstein (Treasury of Illustrated Classics) (2004) — Story — 149 copies
Strange Stories of the Supernatural (1980) — Contributor — 148 copies, 2 reviews
Frankenstein: A BabyLit Anatomy Primer (2014) — Contributor — 146 copies, 1 review
The Frankenstein Omnibus (1994) — Contributor — 120 copies, 2 reviews
The Lifted Veil: Women's 19th Century Stories (2005) — Contributor — 116 copies
The Mammoth Book of Frankenstein (1994) — Contributor — 113 copies, 1 review
Seven Masterpieces of Gothic Horror (1963) — Contributor — 112 copies, 1 review
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (Graphic Revolve) (2007) — Original Author — 111 copies, 3 reviews
The Bride of Frankenstein [1935 film] (1935) — Original book — 106 copies, 3 reviews
The Norton Book of Friendship (1991) — Contributor — 104 copies
I, Frankenstein [2014 film] (2014) — Original novel — 104 copies, 1 review
Treasury Of Gothic & Supernatural (1981) — Contributor — 104 copies, 3 reviews
Frankenstein (Wishbone Classics) (1996) — Original Story — 99 copies, 1 review
The Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy (2000) — Contributor — 99 copies, 2 reviews
The Treasury of the Fantastic (2001) — Contributor — 89 copies, 3 reviews
100 Eternal Masterpieces of Literature, Volume 2 (2021) — Contributor — 82 copies
Swords & Steam Short Stories (Gothic Fantasy) (2016) — Contributor — 82 copies, 1 review
The Vampyre and Other Macabre Tales (2012) — Contributor — 77 copies
Promethean Horrors: Classic Stories of Mad Science (2019) — Contributor — 73 copies, 1 review
Frankenstein (Illustrated Classics Series) (1992) — Original Author — 66 copies, 1 review
In the Shadow of Frankenstein: Tales of the Modern Prometheus (2016) — Contributor — 58 copies, 1 review
The Portable Romantic Reader (1957) — Contributor — 56 copies
Masters of Horror (1968) — Contributor — 53 copies, 1 review
The Mammoth Book of Body Horror (2012) — Contributor — 52 copies, 1 review
The Dreaming Sex (2010) — Contributor — 52 copies, 4 reviews
Ladies of the Gothics: Tales of Romance and Terror by the Gentle Sex (1975) — Contributor — 48 copies, 1 review
Frankenstein: A Pop-Up Book (2010) — Author — 48 copies
The nightmare reader, volume one (1973) — Contributor — 48 copies, 2 reviews
Heavy Weather: Tempestuous Tales of Stranger Climes (2021) — Contributor — 45 copies, 1 review
Essential Monster of Frankenstein, Vol. 1 (2004) — Contributor — 43 copies, 2 reviews
Classic Science Fiction Stories (2022) — Contributor — 43 copies, 1 review
Beyond the Curtain of Dark (1966) — Contributor — 42 copies
The Oxford Book of English Love Stories (1996) — Contributor — 41 copies
Flesh for Frankenstein [1973 film] (1973) — Original story — 40 copies, 1 review
Universal Classic Monsters 30-Film Collection (2014) — Author — 38 copies
The Bride [1985 film] (1985) — Original novel — 38 copies, 1 review
Sense of Wonder: A Century of Science Fiction (2011) — Contributor — 37 copies, 1 review
Visions of Tomorrow: An Interstellar Collection (1976) — Contributor — 37 copies
The eerie book (1898) — Contributor — 36 copies, 2 reviews
The Monster-Maker and Other Science Fiction Classics (2012) — Contributor — 36 copies
The Curse of Frankenstein [1957 film] (1957) — Original novel — 36 copies, 1 review
Twelve Gothic Tales (Oxford Twelves) (1998) — Contributor — 35 copies, 4 reviews
Lapham's Quarterly - Lines of Work: Volume IV, Number 2, Spring 2011 (2011) — Contributor — 32 copies, 2 reviews
The Monster of Frankenstein (2015) — Contributor — 31 copies
Frankenstein: The True Story [1973 TV movie] (2006) — Original book — 31 copies
Doomed Romances: Strange Tales of Uncanny Love (2024) — Contributor — 29 copies
Classics Illustrated: Frankenstein (1818) — Story — 29 copies, 1 review
Chills and Thrills: Tales of Terror and Enchantment (2001) — Contributor — 26 copies
Cuentos de amor victorianos (2004) — Contributor — 26 copies
A Century of Thrillers from Poe to Arlen (First Series) (1934) — Contributor — 24 copies
The World's Greatest Books Volume 08 Fiction (2004) — Contributor — 24 copies
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed [1969 film] (1969) — Original story — 23 copies
Frankenstein: A Classic Pop-Up Tale (2009) — Author — 23 copies
The Book of the Dead (1986) — Contributor — 22 copies
Masters of British Literature, Volume B (2007) — Contributor — 22 copies
Great English Short Stories (1930) — Contributor — 21 copies, 1 review
The Heart of a Stranger: An Anthology of Exile Literature (2019) — Contributor — 21 copies
Frankenstein {abridged & adapted} (1978) — Original story — 20 copies
Horror by Lamplight (1993) — Contributor — 19 copies
The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Short Stories (2004) — Contributor — 19 copies
A Quaint and Curious Volume: Tales and Poems of the Gothic (2019) — Contributor — 19 copies, 1 review
Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy [2014 film] (2014) — Original novel — 19 copies
Frankenstein [2025 film] (2025) — Original novel — 17 copies
The Second Book of Unknown Tales of Horror (1826) — Contributor — 15 copies
Frankenstein [2004 TV miniseries] (2004) — Original novel — 15 copies
Science fiction through the ages 1 (1966) — Contributor, some editions — 14 copies
Witches' Brew: Horror and Supernatural Stories by Women (1984) — Contributor — 14 copies
Classic Horror Omnibus: Vol.1 (1979) — Author — 12 copies
Frankenstein Alive, Alive! #1 (2012) — Contributor — 12 copies
Classic Pop-Ups: Frankenstein (2023) — Story — 11 copies
Edwina Noone's Gothic Sampler (1966) — Contributor — 10 copies
Frankenstein [2015 film] (2015) — Novel by — 9 copies
Enter at Your Own Risk: The End Is the Beginning (2014) — Contributor — 8 copies, 3 reviews
Disney Frankenstein, starring Donald Duck (2019) — Contributor — 8 copies
The Frankenstein Monster [1973] #1 — Contributor — 7 copies
Enter at Your Own Risk: Dreamscapes into Darkness (2015) — Contributor — 7 copies, 3 reviews
Learning to Be Human Short Stories (Gothic Fantasy) (2024) — Contributor — 6 copies
Frankenstein Alive, Alive! #2 (2012) — Contributor — 6 copies
Suspense: A Treasury for Young Adults (1966) — Contributor — 6 copies
The Frankenstein Monster [1973] #4 — Contributor — 6 copies
Faseskift : science fiction noveller : et udvalg (1984) — Author, some editions — 5 copies, 1 review
Frankenstein Alive, Alive! #3 (2014) — Contributor — 5 copies
19. Jahrhundert 1. Romantik (1983) — Contributor — 5 copies
The Frankenstein Monster [1973] #3 — Contributor — 3 copies
The Frankenstein Monster [1973] #2 — Contributor — 3 copies
Witchcraft II: The Temptress [1989 Film] (1989) — Actor — 3 copies
Weird Tales Volume 20 Number 6, December 1932 (2016) — Contributor — 3 copies
The Queen’s Story Book (1902) — Contributor — 3 copies
Strange Signposts (Anthology 15-in-1) (1966) — Contributor — 3 copies
The Nightmare Reader (1973) — Contributor — 2 copies
Witchcraft [1988 Film] (1988) — Actor — 2 copies
Famous Monsters Speak (1963) — Original characters — 2 copies
Weird Tales Volume 20 Number 5, November 1932 — Contributor — 2 copies
Weird Tales Volume 20 Number 4, October 1932 — Contributor — 2 copies
Marvel Classics Comics No. 20 — Story — 1 copy
The Monster of Frankenstein [1981 TV movie] (1981) — Original novel — 1 copy
Fifty Short Stories [Red Door Consulting] (2013) — Contributor — 1 copy
The princess's story book — Contributor — 1 copy
The King's Story Book — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

19th century (1,041) 19th century literature (167) British (415) British literature (612) classic (2,110) classic literature (301) classics (2,425) ebook (301) English (296) English literature (578) fantasy (479) fiction (5,505) Frankenstein (476) gothic (1,455) horror (3,787) Kindle (273) literature (1,298) Mary Shelley (303) monster (236) monsters (384) novel (975) own (233) owned (198) read (742) Romanticism (401) science (210) science fiction (2,679) sf (201) to-read (2,096) unread (224)

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin
Other names
Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft (birth name)
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
Birthdate
1797-08-30
Date of death
1851-02-01
Gender
female
Education
at home
Occupations
novelist
poet
editor
short story writer
essayist
Awards and honors
SF Hall Of Fame (Posthumous Inductee, 2004)
Relationships
Shelley, Percy Bysshe (husband)
Godwin, William (father)
Wollstonecraft, Mary (mother)
Clairmont, Claire (stepsister)
Short biography
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born in London, the daughter of two major English intellectuals and writers, Mary Wollstonecraft and her husband William Godwin. She fell in love with Percy Bysshe Shelley, a married man and father, and scandalized society by eloping with him in 1814. Two years later, they were married and in 1818, she published her most famous work, her first novel: Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. She also wrote several other novels, including Valperga (1823) and The Last Man (1826), as well as numerous novellas, short stories, poems, plays, essays, and articles for periodicals of the day, travel books, and a biography of her husband. At the time of Shelley's death in 1822, she was regarded as a major novelist married to a minor poet, but she spent 30 years promoting his work to help him achieve lasting fame.
Cause of death
brain tumour
Nationality
UK
Birthplace
Somers Town, London, England, UK
Places of residence
London, England, UK
Villa Diodati, Lake Geneva, Switzerland
Harrow, Middlesex, England, UK
Florence, Italy
Pisa, Italy
Place of death
London, England, UK
Burial location
St. Peter's Churchyard, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England, UK
Map Location
England, UK
Disambiguation notice
Please don't combine Shelley with Mary Shelley. There is more than one author with that surname.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) was the author of "Frankenstein". Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) was the author of "A vindication of the rights of woman" and has a separate author page.

Members

Discussions

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in Gothic Literature (January 13)
Morning Bell Editions - Frankenstein in Fine Press Forum (November 2025)
Frankestein in Easton Press Collectors (October 2024)
Terrible cover: Frankenstein in Good Show Sir! — bad science fiction and fantasy covers (July 2024)
Folio Archives 345: The Last Man by Mary Shelley 2012 in Folio Society Devotees (October 2023)
Folio Archives 310: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 2004 in Folio Society Devotees (February 2023)
Frankenstein LE 2022 in Folio Society Devotees (December 2022)
OT: Question about the 1823 edition of Frankenstein in Folio Society Devotees (September 2022)
Frankenstein Bicentennial group read in 2018 Category Challenge (January 2018)
Frankenstein: 1818 version in hardcover? in Thing(amabrarian)s That Go Bump in the Night (January 2008)

Reviews

1,279 reviews
Contrary to popular belief, Frankenstein is not a book about a savage monster created by a crazed scientist who escapes to wreak havoc on unsuspecting nobodies. If anybody is the monster here, it's Victor Frankenstein himself, who has been given the power of a god to create a life, but doesn't consider the psychological flaws in the experiment. I see Frankenstein as more of a social novel than a horror novel in this respect. Shelley wants for the reader to sympathize with the Creature, not show more to condemn him like the cottagers do, who do so just because he's different. Frankenstein depicts the anti-Eden of new birth, a lonely soul without a companion, which is why the Creature rebels. The Creature is but a child without maturity or experience, summoned into a world which despises him, so how can we expect him to behave any differently? show less
We're all monsters here, some of us are just in denial.
Also, parenthood (whether biological or artificial) should require a permit.

Victor Frankenstein is a naïve twenty-something with a (very misguided) cause. Plagued by daydreams of greatness, he sets out to outright build himself the perfect human being. Armed with a disturbing lack of foresight, inadequate planning, and all-round narcissism, he ends up giving life to a hideous-looking creature. Faced with what he saw as utter failure, show more Frankenstein then very sensibly runs away. Because let's face it: owning up to one's mistakes is soooo three centuries ago.

The universe has, of course, very different ideas. Human cruelty gets exposed, accusations are bandied about, and a whole lot of (innocent) people die. Nobody learns a thing from all this.

Full disclosure: I'm a complete philistine when it comes to the classics. I don't praise trailblazing ideas. I rarely appreciate effort in the face of adversity. And I actually tend to break out in hives at the mere whiff of melodrama. Especially when it comes wrapped in lyrical prose.

I was initially hoping to get into the whole avenging ange-- erm monster aspect , on reading about Frankenstein's refusal to feel even a shred of empathy for his creature. I was so horrified that I even started raging at the Audible app. It reminded me of someone once suggesting I return my newly adopted kitten for not learning manners fast enough. If that thought had me fantasising about angry mobs waving rusty old pitchforks, you can imagine how Frankenstein made me feel.

I basically spent the rest of the book rooting for the creature to do as much damage as (in)humanly possible. And I have to admit that I was rather disappointed by what he (it?) achieved. Frankenstein got off way too easy. To be fair, his constant victimising coupled with my general dislike of the writing style may have just tired me out sooner than expected.

Score: 3/5 stars

This book may very well be a trailblazer from both a historical and cultural point of view, but that still doesn't make me like it.
show less
A lonely English sea captain sets sail for the North Pole from his base in Russia. As he grows closer to his destination, his crew rescues an emaciated form from the icy waters. Their mysterious guest slowly recovers his strength, then relates (to the captain, at least) an incredible story: he is chasing a monster - a demon - of his own creation, with a mixture of fear, vengeance, and determination.

I was surprised to find a frame story; though why, I'm not sure - quite a few novels from this show more time period are constructed thus. There is a hint of Dracula as well, with the epistolary style of this frame. But of course the meat of the work is in the 23 chapters between these letters, one in which Victor Frankenstein confronts quite a few existential questions around the idea of what it means to play god.

This is quite a compelling tale, not the least reason being that its written in such a manner as to suggest that Frankenstein is insane, and has been for most of his adult life. The fact that he falls into illness the very same night that he gives his horrible creation life, and continues to have these spells of illness any time he has a 'confrontation' with the creature, gives pay to that idea. The fact that he, alone, is aware of the creature's existence and is the only one who ever speaks with him is another reason for thinking thus. I spent most of the book trying to decide if this was some sort of phantom delusion or if his personality had somehow split into two conscious entities. Either way, the idea that he was blaming himself for his monster's crimes from the start, and pursuing him to the literal ends of the earth, makes the idea of him literally chasing himself into craziness all the more likely.

I'm no great critic of literature, so I suppose no matter how you interpret it, there are still lots of thought-provoking ideas and questions here. What does it mean to create another sentient being? Do you have a charge to care for it? Can you really close Pandora's box after opening it? What does it mean to be an outcast on the basis of qualities you can't control? Does a complete absence of love or support lead to a life of evil and vengeance? There's certainly lots to chew on.

I never read this book when I was a kid, and have grown up with the popular culture ideas of Frankenstein('s monster). I'm not sure I would have truly appreciated it without a bit of life experience behind me, so I'm glad I'm reading it for the first time as an adult.
show less
½
I’m almost ashamed to admit that I didn’t read this book until I got to second year of university. I know it’s a classic, but I didn’t actually get my hands on a copy until I was doing it for a class called ‘Sensibility and Romanticism’, and even then I didn’t actually appreciate this book for what it was. Younger me read it, but I don’t think she enjoyed it as much as I did this year.
Here’s the thing – I’m a firm believer in the maxim that you enjoy certain books more show more when you’re older. Some books require a certain outlook on life to be able to appreciate them, and I think this is one of them. There are a lot of heavy themes in it and even though a twenty year old is technically an adult, I don’t think that somebody who has just started to learn how to think critically can be tasked with understanding how amazing and thought-provoking this book is.
I’m sure that most of us have heard the story in some iteration or other – Victor Frankenstein, brilliant young scientist, embarks on an academic journey to discover the secrets of life and create life himself like God would. He succeeds and is immediately horrified by his creation. He shuns everything that he ever did, trying hard to stray away from the work that consumed him for so many years, but eventually the Creature (as he calls it) catches up to him.
The Creature, you see, has very much been evolving and learning on his own. The Creature has learned how to speak and how to read, and has read stories that have made it realize that it was abandoned by its creator. The Creature, still naïve, tried to find shelter with a family who it was doing kind deeds for in exchange for it leaving in their shed that they never used (without them knowing about it, of course). However, when he reveals himself to them, they chase him out of the area where they live and the Creature realizes that he can never be loved. Enraged, he goes on a quest to find his creator, Victor, and then gives him an ultimatum – either Victor makes him a companion, a female Creature that he can live with and not be so lonely, or he will kill everyone that Victor loves and then, finally, kill Victor.
Honestly, this novel is at its heart about two main things – man’s struggle with a god who has abandoned us, and god’s struggle with a creation that has gone too far. It also raises a lot of scientific and philosophical questions about life and creation. But mainly, the novel addresses the two sides of the same coin – a creation that never wanted to exist in the first place, and a creator that is starting to regret it.
In today’s day and age, with our impending environmental doom looming above us (we all know we’re causing the death of our own planet here, people!), this book feels even more prevalent. If we go by the Bible version of the story, God created Man to have him name all the animals and live with them and nature in perfect harmony in the Garden of Eden. We fucked that up (no need to go into the details of that…) and went against our original purpose of being able to live beside nature harmoniously. Now, we’ve fucked up the planet almost to the point of no return, and if we don’t stop soon it’s going to get worse, and it almost feels like God has lost all faith in us because of our actions. But it also feels like us raising a giant middle finger at God ourselves, because we feel like he abandoned us a long time ago and this is our retaliation to that.
It’s a back and forth between the Creature and Victor. The Creature gives Victor many chances, and yet Victor decides that he doesn’t want to help the Creature time and again, abandoning him and causing the death of everyone he loves – friends, wife, siblings, father. Victor is responsible for all of this simply because he doesn’t care enough for the Creature to actually help him; the Creature, knowing full well that his Creator has abandoned him, still tries to get his attention like a child vying for the paternal affection it always wanted (only a bit more murderously, I would say).
So, who’s in the right? The Creature who just wants to feel loved or the Creator who realizes the mistake he made and doesn’t want to repeat it?
Basically, I love this book for making me actually think about things. I give it 5/5 stars!
show less

Lists

Uni (1)
. (1)
Europe (1)
1820s (1)
bound (1)
Daria (1)
H (1)
Power (1)
DELETE (1)
el (2)
1810s (1)
AP Lit (1)
. (1)
100 (1)

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Bernie Wrightson Illustrator
Deborah Tempest Retold by
Ambrose Bierce Contributor
E. F. Benson Contributor
Washington Irving Contributor
Henry James Contributor
Edgar Allan Poe Contributor
Miracle Studios Illustrator
Joseph Conrad Contributor
Sheridan Le Fanu Contributor
William Mudford Contributor
Dick Donovan Contributor
Ralph Adams Cram Contributor
Elizabeth Gaskell Contributor
John Green Illustrator
Trevor Murphy Narrator
Louisa May Alcott Contributor
Herman Melville Contributor
Emily Brontë Contributor
Dan Stevens Narrator
Charles E. Robinson Introduction
Kate MacCord Contributor
Josephine Johnston Contributor
Heather E. Douglas Contributor
Jane Maienschein Contributor
Anne K. Mellor Contributor
Alfred Nordmann Contributor
Cory Doctorow Contributor
Elizabeth Bear Contributor
Ed Finn Editor
Barry Jones Illustrator
Johann August Apel Contributor
Lord Byron Contributor
Fiona Sampson Foreword
Friedrich Laun Contributor
Victor Tavares Illustrator
Frazer Irving Illustrator
Gary Reed Adapted by
Philip Gooden Critical apparatus
Paddy Lyons Introduction
Max Simon Nordau Contributor
Charles Darwin Contributor
Maud Jackson Adapted by
Robert Hill Activities by
Greg Wise Narrator
Henry H. Harper Introduction
風間 賢二 Editor, Translator, Afterword
Sabine Werner Adapted by
Richard Garnett Introduction
安野 玲 Translator
Norio Itō Translator
井上 一夫 Translator
池澤 夏樹 Translator
臼田 昭 Translator
杉浦 銀策 Translator
Masami Fukushima Translator
田中 誠 Translator
中西 秀男 Translator
片岡 しのぶ Translator
Barry Moser Illustrator
Guillermo del Toro Introduction
Paul Couturiau Translator
Philippe Munch Illustrator
bussaglipaolo Translator
widtmannheinz Übersetzer
Sophie Brinkman Translator
dhangestgermain Traduction
Jim Weiss Narrator
cuveliergeorges Traduction
José C. Vales Traductor
Chiara Zanolli Translator
Dennis Wheatley Introduction
Christian Grawe Translator
Simon Vance Narrator
Oliver Munday Cover designer
Malika Favre Cover designer
alemanysilvia Translator
Ursula Grawe Translator
Miranda Seymour Introduction
Lynd Ward Illustrator
Diane Johnson Introduction
Hannu Poutiainen Translator
Jamie Keenan Cover designer
Peter Mendelsund Cover designer
Francis Lacassin Chronologie, introd., notes, archives de l'oeuvre et légende
Harold Bloom Afterword
Jaime Bell Narrator
Michael Hagemann Cover designer
Paul Buckley Cover artist & designer
Árpád Göncz Translator
Maria Paola Saci Introduction
Karl Bruno Leder Übersetzer
Hermann Ebeling Afterword
Bruno Tasso Translator
Alain Morvan Traduction
Aristedes Ruiz Cover artist
Quim Monzó Translator
Maurice Hindle Introduction
Karen Karbiener Introduction
Harry Brockway Illustrator
David Pinching Afterword
Else Hoog Translator
Phoebe Judge Narrator
Gabrielle Bordwin Cover designer
Boris Kabur TÕlkija.
Paavo Lehtonen Translator
Cori Samuel Narrator
Silvio Antunha Translator
Wendy Steiner Introduction
Anna Pyk Translator
Heinz Witmann Übersetzer
Marc Porée Commentaires
Coralie Bickford-Smith Cover artist/designer
Jeffrey Deaver Introduction
Stephen King Introduction
Elizabeth Yaffe Cover designer
Irina Philippi Translator
Robert Matias Cover designer
Marge Piercy Introduction
John Havard Introduction
Brian Aldiss Introduction
Judith Tarr Introduction
Johann Peterka Illustrator
Pamela Bickley Introduction
Silvia Cecchini Translator
Eleanor Taylor Cover artist
Ralph Tegtmeier Translator
Robert Mathias Cover designer
Nathan Clair Cover artist
Sarah Hall Introduction
Stephen Fabian Cover artist
Frank Frazetta Cover artist
Janet Todd Editor
Harvey Parker Illustrator
Anthony Marks Introduction
John Grant Editor
Ron Tiner Illustrator
Christopher Bing Illustrator
Claire Tomalin Introduction
Marc Poree Commentaires
Michael Bishop Introduction
Elizabeth Story Cover designer
Thea Kliros Illustrator
Andrew Eiden Narrator
田島 照久 Cover artist
Emily Eiden Narrator
Tom Shelton Narrator
Tithi Luadthong Cover artist
Gianni De Conno Illustrator

Statistics

Works
438
Also by
147
Members
73,538
Popularity
#172
Rating
3.9
Reviews
1,204
ISBNs
2,693
Languages
43
Favorited
92

Charts & Graphs