num_pages: 280
description: Frankenstein is the most famous novel by Mary Shelley: a dark Faustian parable of science misused that was an immediate success on its publication in 1818. Purporting to be the record of an explorer, it tells of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but wayward student of science, who builds a human from dead flesh. Horrified at what he has done, he abandons his creation. The creature, an outcast for his horrific appearance, learns language and and becomes civilized. In time, he attempts to join society but is rejected because he is assumed to have murderous intentions. Spurned, he seeks vengeance on his creator. So begins a cycle of destruction, with Frankenstein and his 'monster' pursuing each other to the extremes of nature until all vestiges of their humanity are lost in monomaniacal hatred.In 1831, Mary Shelley succumbed to conservative pressures and toned down the more radical elements of the work. The novel is here presented in its original, unexpurgated form.
language: English
title: Frankenstein
titlecomplete: Frankenstein (Collector's Library)
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: 1519385
places: Ingolstadt, Switzerland, Arctic Circle, Germany, Geneva
publisher: Collectors Library