Frankenstein

Mary Shelley, first published 1818

A tragic scientist creates a monster in his laboratory.

Length: 28 chapters
Reading time: About 5 hr 14 min
Words: 74,840

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About the book

Mary Shelley (then Godwin) and Percy Bysshe Shelley were visiting their friend Lord Byron in Geneva one rainy summer. With the weather against them, they decided to spend their time writing ghost stories for each other. Frankenstein is Mary Shelley’s submission to their contest, later published anonymously in 1818.

Victor Frankenstein, a strange but brilliant scientist, discovers a method of imparting life to inanimate matter. The Monster is thus born: a hideous, 8-foot-tall creature of muscle, speed, and intellect. Frankenstein’s rejection of his appalling creation sends it into a spiral of despair, and Frankenstein’s life is never the same.

Considered by many to be the first science fiction novel, Frankenstein is a powerful narrative that explores complex themes of belonging, morality, and the consequences of the power over life and death. This edition is based on Shelley’s revised 1831 edition.

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GCSE set texts Gothic and ghostly Early science fiction

This edition

Text from Standard Ebooks, who proofread and typeset it and dedicate their edition to the public domain. Mary Shelley died more than 70 years ago, so the work is out of copyright in the UK. Includes the original introduction, preface, dedication, epigraph.