num_pages: 303
description: Introduction by Wendy Steiner •  Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s  The Great American ReadAt the age of eighteen, Mary Shelley, while staying in the Swiss Alps with her lover Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and others, conceived the tale of Dr. Victor Frankenstein and the monster he brings to life. The resulting book, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, is a dark parable warning against the risks of scientific and creative endeavor, the corrupting influence of technology and progress, and the dangers of knowledge without understanding. Frankenstein was an instant bestseller on publication in 1818 and has long been regarded as a masterpiece of suspense, a classic of nineteenth-century Romanticism and Gothic horror, and the prototype of the science fiction novel. Though it has spawned countless imitations and adaptations, it remains the most powerful story of its kind.
language: English
title: Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus
titlecomplete: Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus
characters: Alphonse Frankenstein, Ernest Frankenstein, Safie, Henry Clerval, Felix, Robert Walton, Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein, The Monster (Frankenstein), Justine Moritz, Elizabeth Lavenza, Agatha, William Frankenstein, De Lacey, Victor Frankenstein
genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Gothic, Horror, School, Literature, Read For School, Classics, Novels, Fantasy
ratings_count: 1520455
places: Ingolstadt, Switzerland, Arctic Circle, Germany, Geneva
publisher: Modern Library