FRANKENSTEIN- Key Facts for Fuenllana Readers Club

Draft of Frankenstein ("It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld my man completed ...")

Cover of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, late 19th century.

Cover of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, late 19th century. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus was first published in 1818. In this cover illustration from a late 19th century popular edition, Victor Frankenstein confronting the monster he has created.

 (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Full Title · Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus

Author · Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Type Of Work · Novel

Genre · Gothic science fiction

Language · English

Time And Place Written · Switzerland, 1816, and London, 1816–1817

Date Of First Publication · January 1, 1818

Publisher · Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones

Narrator · The primary narrator is Robert Walton, who, in his letters, quotes Victor Frankenstein’s first-person narrative at length; Victor, in turn, quotes the monster’s first-person narrative; in addition, the lesser characters Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein narrate parts of the story through their letters to Victor.

Climax · The murder of Elizabeth Lavenza on the night of her wedding to Victor Frankenstein in Chapter 23

Protagonist · Victor Frankenstein

Antagonist · Frankenstein’s monster

Setting (Time) · Eighteenth century

Setting (Place) · Geneva; the Swiss Alps; Ingolstadt; England and Scotland; the northern ice

Point Of View · The point of view shifts with the narration, from Robert Walton to Victor Frankenstein to Frankenstein’s monster, then back to Walton, with a few digressions in the form of letters from Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein.

Falling Action · After the murder of Elizabeth Lavenza, when Victor Frankenstein chases the monster to the northern ice, is rescued by Robert Walton, narrates his story, and dies

Tense · Past

Foreshadowing · Ubiquitous—throughout his narrative, Victor uses words such as “fate” and “omen” to hint at the tragedy that has befallen him; additionally, he occasionally pauses in his recounting to collect himself in the face of frightening memories.

Tone · Gothic, Romantic, emotional, tragic, fatalistic

Themes · Dangerous knowledge; sublime nature; texts; secrecy; monstrosity

Resume: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel written by English author Mary Shelley (1797–1851) that tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a hideous, sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition of the novel was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20.[2] Her name first appeared on the second edition, published in 1823.

Shelley travelled through Europe in 1814, journeying along the river Rhine in Germany with a stop in Gernsheim, which is 17 kilometres (11 mi) away from Frankenstein Castle, where, two centuries before, an alchemist was engaged in experiments.[3][4][5] Later, she travelled in the region of Geneva (Switzerland)—where much of the story takes place—and the topic of galvanism and occult ideas were themes of conversation among her companions, particularly her lover and future husband, Percy Shelley. Mary, Percy and Lord Byron decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror story. After thinking for days, Shelley dreamt about a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made; her dream later evolved into the novel's story.

Frankenstein is infused with elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement. At the same time, it is an early example of science fiction. Brian Aldiss has argued that it should be considered the first true science fiction story because, in contrast to previous stories with fantastical elements resembling those of later science fiction, the central character "makes a deliberate decision" and "turns to modern experiments in the laboratory" to achieve fantastic results.[6] It has had a considerable influence in literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories, films and plays.

Since the novel's publication, the name "Frankenstein" has often been used to refer to the monster itself. This usage is sometimes considered erroneous, but usage commentators regard it as well-established and acceptable. 

In the novel, the monster is identified by words such as "creature", "monster", "demon", "wretch", "abortion", "fiend" and "it". Speaking to Victor Frankenstein, the monster says "I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel" (which ties to Lucifer in Paradise Lost, which the monster reads, and which relates to the disobedience of Prometheus in the book's subtitle).

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