Frankenstein

Frankenstein is a science fiction horror novel written by Mary Shelly in 1818 when she was just 18 years of age. The novel is about a young scientist, Victor Frankenstein who creates a monster in an experiment.

Mary Shelley was the wife of famous English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. While spending a summer at Switzerland, the couples placed a friendly bet with neighbor Lord Byron and William Polidori-both literary scholars of the time. The idea for the novel was conceived by Mary as a result of this competition.

The novel begins with the account of Capt.Robert Walter, an adventurer who sails to North Pole and finds Victor Frankenstein in the icecaps. Frankenstein details his story about how he creates a creature of gigantic stature in a scientific experiment. Frankenstein’s monster, after being repelled by people due to his appearance, seeks revenge on the creator. The fiend kills his little brother-Ernest and demands Victor to create a partner for him to avoid further mischief which Victor declines. The creature kills his friend-Henry Clerval and his wife-Elizabeth. The story ends where Victor dies pursuing revenge on the fiend.

Victor decides to share his story with Robert after learning that the latter shares the same inquisitive mind as the former. The novel is written in the form of letters written by Robert to his sister Margaret and his journal accounts.

The novel is regarded as one of the classic novels in English literature. Though Frankenstein is the name of the scientist in the novel, it is widely used to refer to Frankenstein’s monster-whom Mary Shelley had left unnamed.