A precursor to gothic literature and science fiction genres, Frankenstein is a novel fuming with imagination as it depicts a well known horror story. Shelly’s gothic fiction is written in epistolary form as a means of correspondence between the failed writer Robert Walton and his sister, while he is away on a dangerous expedition in search of fame. Some major themes explored in the gothic classic are the fallibility of ambition and knowledge, revenge, prejudice, isolation, and the imperfections of society.

The novel begins with the introduction of Captain Robert Walton, who is on a ship bound for the North Pole in search of scientific progress and knowledge. During h...

The finished draft of a short novel by Mary Shelley. Its adult theme, concerning a father’s incestuous love for his daughter and its consequences, meant that the manuscript was suppressed by Shelley’s own father, and not published until 1959, more than a hundred years after her death.

Summary by Cori Samuel

Frankenstein oder Der moderne Prometheus ... erzählt die Geschichte des jungen Schweizers Viktor Frankenstein, der an der damals berühmten Universität Ingolstadt einen künstlichen Menschen erschafft, und später von seiner Kreatur verfolgt wird, welche aus Rache nach und nach seine Familienmitglieder ermorden möchte. Viktor Frankenstein erzählt dem Leiter einer Forschungsexpedition, zugleich Eigner des Schiffes, das ihn in der Arktis rettet, seine Geschichte während das Monster in der Nähe lautert ... Die Handlung wird durch eine Mischung aus Briefroman und klassischer Ich-Erzählsituation vermittelt. Die Figur des Viktor Frankenstein ähnelt damit sowohl dem 'literarischen' Faust als auc...

The Last Man is an early post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Mary Shelley, which was first published in 1826. The book tells of a future world that has been ravaged by a plague. The plague gradually kills off all people. Lionel Verney, central character, son of a nobleman who gambled himself into poverty, finds himself immune after being attacked by an infected “negro,” and copes with a civilization that is gradually dying out around him.

A mentally unstable genius, Victor Frankenstein, inspired by the dreams of ancient alchemists and empowered by modern science, creates a humanoid but fails to nurture and educate it after it comes to life. It wanders alone into a hostile world, where fear of its size and ugliness subjects it to violence and ostracism, which in time it learns to blame upon its maker. As compensation for its suffering, it demands that he create a companion with whom to share its outcast life. Moved by the creature's account of its sufferings, the scientist agrees, but a long period of procrastination awakens doubts that ultimately cause him to break his promise. In retaliation, the creature begins a campaig...