Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1899-10-27
THE ORIGIN OF THE HORRIBLE
STORY "FRANKENSTEIN."
Written by Mrs. Shelley in Competition with
Similar Work by Lord Byron--Often Referred
to Observation-Disclosures the Creator Of
the Monster, and Not the lnhuman Creature.
Chicago Post

monster even well informed people do
not always know, showing that they
never read the story.
Sometimes we hear illusions to
" Frankenstein's monster" as i'll one
of Charles Summers orations, where
he speaks of the "soulless monster of
Frankenstein, the wretched creation
of mortal science without God," and
the reference is to Frank
enstein only, as if he were the mon-
s .er. OF course Sumner, who was
very particular in his use of figures of
speech. was right. When Mrs. De.
land, in her fine novel Of Sidney"
makes Major Lee say that Christian
ity is Frankenstein," she suffers the
major to talk nonsense.
The story of this weird novel and
the circumstances under which it
came to be written are decidedly in
teresting and may he told in few
words. The facts are as follows:
In 1916, Mary Goodwin, afterward
Mrs. Shelley, eloped with Shelley, and
they took up their residence near Gen.
eva, in Switzerland. They had Lord
Byron for a neighbor, and the three
passed much time together. Their
frequently ran on the oc-
cult and the mysterious, and Byron
one day proposed that each should
write a ghost story. All agreed and
went to work, but it was not long be-
fore the two poets gave it up as a
hopeless task. They could write po-
etry, but they could not write stories.
Mary persevered and completed her
tale in the spring of 1877. When
Byron and Shelley heard it read, they
were surprised and delighted, and it is
said Byron Immediately destroyed the
manuscript Of his own attempt. 1t
was bound to be the novel of the GEN.
tury! The name of it was Franken-
stein; or, The Modern Prometheus."
1t was Immediately sent to London
for publication and met with q great
success.
Frankenstein is a Swiss youth, a
student at the University of Ingol-
stadt, deeply interested in the study
of chemistry and natural philosophy.
He resolves to penetrate the mysteries
OF life and death and wrest from ma.
ture the secret of creation. After pro.
longed study he succeeds and dis
covers how to impart movement and
to lifeless matter.
He then resolves to mold colossal
man, making him beautiful in form
and feature and Undue him with life.
He carries on his work in a studio far
from the habitations of man, labors
long and secretly, and at last the
work is completed. There in the
great room lies the form and sem.
blance Of a human being, perfect in
all his proportions. Frankenstein re-
lates the story:
at was on dreary night in No.
vember that I beheld the accomplish
ment OF my tolls. With an anxiety
that almost amounted to agony COL
lected the instruments of life around
me that I might infuse spark of be-
ing into the lifeless thing that lay at
my feet.
at was already o'clock in the
morning. The rain pattered dismally
against the window panes, and my
candle was nearly burned out, when,
by the glimmer of the half extin-
guished light, I saw the dull yellow
eye of the creature open. 1t breathed
hard. and a convulsive motion agitat-
ed its limbs"
Slowly the immense creature arose,
and the artist, frightened at his own
work, fled away. Then he returns to
find his creation possessed of life and
every attribute of humanity except a
soul. Nowhere can it find human
sympathy. 1t is out of harmony with
all things about it, and after searching
the world in pursuit of happiness, it
returns again to Frankenstein and de-
mands that he make q companion
with whom it can live in sympathy
and love.
Frankenstein declines, and thence
forth the monster pursues him with
hatred and revenge. 1t slays his
brothers and sister, his friend and his
bride. 1t follows him to Russia, to
Siberia and into the Arctic ocean, and
there creature and artist perish to-
gether. 1t is most uncanny story to
read O nights.
Sir Walter Scott reviewed the novel
in The Quarterly, but while admitting