Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was the daughter of two notable English philosophers and writers: Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin. Unfortunately, Mary Shelley never knew her mother, as Wollstonecraft passed away shortly after giving birth. As an adolescent, Mary fell in love with the celebrated English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and later married him when his first wife died.

Shelley began composing Frankenstein in 1816, when she and Percy Shelley were the guests of another notable English poet: George Gordon, Lord Byron. Mary Shelley describes the circumstances of the book’s creation as a proposition by Lord Byron that they should “each write a ghost story.” After several days of fruitless brainstorming, she was inspired by a discussion between Byron and Percy Shelley about the work of Charles Darwin and the origins of life. Among other topics, they discussed the reanimation of corpses. That evening while lying in bed, Mary Shelley describes a vision in which she

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. His success would terrify the artist; he would rush away from his odious handywork, horror-stricken.

This premise became the story of Victor Frankenstein and his creature, which is considered by many to be the first horror novel.

Frankenstein was first published anonymously in 1818. Mary Shelley published a revised edition in 1831, and her name was affixed to the title page at that time. Scholarly debate as to which edition is “best” continues to this day. This module includes only the original version of the novel, but you may investigate the differences between the 1818 and 1831 editions by visiting the Pennsylvania Electronic Edition of Frankenstein edited by Stuart Curran.

 As you read Frankenstein, pay close attention to the ways in which Shelley blends concepts from 19th century philosophy and science into her “ghost story.” Consider the morality of each character in the text—most notably Victor and the creature. Reflect also on the intertextuality of the book, and specifically how Shelley uses Paradise Lost as a key device in both the plot and characterization of the story.