March selection: Mary Shelly's Frankenstein!

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

About this month's selection:  There are several versions of Frankenstein available but the differences are generally minor with a few word or sentence changes or alterations on chapter breaks.  By happenstance I grabbed an interesting version that has all of the changes and additions that her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, made written in italics.  It also has, as an addendum, her original version entirely from her own hand.  Readers are not required to get this edition as any version will do. [ For interested parties the ISBN of mine is 978-0-307-47442-1].   I selected this book, not only because I (barely) started a few years ago and never finished it (a different copy), but also because this is a nice easy dip into the world of  classic Gothic fiction.  Gothic fiction happens to be one of my favorite genres but I think some of the more definitive Gothic texts may be too dry for first timers.  Some examples are The Castle of Otranto, Carmilla, and The Mysteries of Udolpho. Carmilla is such a great story that I may have to add it in for October, but I may just work in something that I have never read before.

About the book: Most people know or have heard that the book Frankenstein and the Hollywood representation of Frankenstein are absolutely nothing alike; not just in appearance but in place, manner, story, and character.  Essentially every aspect of the film diverged completely from the book.  Now you have the opportunity to discover a different scientist and monster than you ever would have guessed.  Can you envision a thoughtful and embarrassed Dr. Frankenstein; or a monster that can speak and reason?

Mary Shelley

The origin of the novel is an interesting story by itself.  In May of 1816, Mary Godwin along with Percy Shelly (her future husband), John Polidori, and the poet Lord Byron were staying at a villa rented by Byron at Lake Geneva in Switzerland.  One evening, they were reading German ghost stories and it was proposed as a challenge that each compose a short horror story of their own design. Lord Byron created a "fragment" of a vampire story and Polidori built upon that to create The Vampyre.  Of each story, Mary Godwin's was to be the largest and most memorable.  The idea for her story was conceived one day "in a waking dream."

        "I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavour to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world."

Percy Shelley did not create a story but he was very influential on the formation of Frankenstein helping to edit, encouraging Mary to develop it into a full length novel, and ultimately, adding 5000 words of his own.  Two years and many revisions later, Frankenstein became the novel as we know it today.  Although it was regarded unfavorably by critics, it achieved a popular success with general readers.  This month, let's explore what attracted their favor!

Things to consider while reading:


Frankenstein actually has a subtitle called Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus.  How does this story tie in with the myth of Prometheus?

What elements of the book classify it as Gothic literature?  Which does it lack?

If you have seen it, do you think the film is more Gothic than the book?

How can the scientist and the creature both be classified as "monsters"?  Which of them is the least reasonable?

Some have tied this book to themes of abortion, do you find similarities?