Frankenstein
Or, the Modern Prometheus
by Mary Shelley
Assigned by 2 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1818
- Form
- Novel
- Language
- English
- Length
- Medium · 280 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendFrankenstein: The 1818 TextPenguin Classics, 2018The first edition text, which most courses now prefer to the revised 1831 version, with Charlotte Gordon's introduction.
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Told in letters from an Arctic explorer who rescues him from the ice, Victor Frankenstein recounts how as a student at Ingolstadt he discovered the secret of life and assembled a creature from dead matter, then fled in horror from what he had made. The abandoned creature teaches itself to speak and read, is driven off by everyone it approaches, and turns on its maker, killing his brother, his friend and his bride. Victor pursues it to the pole and dies; the creature mourns him and disappears into the dark. Written when Mary Shelley was eighteen.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Frankenstein are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
