Book details
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
1818 · Oxford University Press
About the book
Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss student obsessed with natural philosophy, assembles a living creature from scavenged body parts and animates it using a spark of electricity. Repulsed by his creation’s hideous appearance, Victor abandons the being, leaving it to navigate the world alone. The creature acquires language and human emotion through secret observation, yet society repeatedly rejects it with violence. In retaliation, it murders Victor's younger brother and frames a family servant. The narrative follows their confrontation in the mountains and a subsequent chase toward the Arctic, examining the scientific ethics of artificial life and the psychological toll of social isolation.
Readers of classic science fiction and gothic horror value this original 1818 text for its raw, unedited prose. It appeals to those interested in the history of medicine and the moral boundaries of biotechnology. A reader walks away with a concrete understanding of how parental neglect and prejudice can turn an innocent mind toward malice. They gain a perspective on the dangers of unchecked ambition and the philosophical distinction between a creator’s responsibility and a creature’s right to exist.
Details
- Published
- 1818
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- ISBN
- 9780192543714
- Language
- EN