frankenstein mla essay

Frankenstein: Essay Samples

Welcome to Frankenstein Essay Samples page prepared by our editorial team! Here you’ll find a number of great ideas for your Frankenstein essay! Absolutely free essays & research papers on Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Examples of all topics and paper genres.

📝 Frankenstein: Essay Samples List

Frankenstein , by Mary Shelley , is famous all over the world. School and college students are often asked to write about the novel. On this page, you can find a collection of free sample essays and research papers that focus on Frankenstein . Literary analysis , compare & contrast essays, papers devoted to Frankenstein ’s characters & themes, and much more. You are welcome to use these texts for inspiration while you work on your own Frankenstein essay.

• Feminism in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Genre: Critical Analysis Essay Words: 2280 Focused on: Frankenstein ’s Themes Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Elizabeth Lavenza , Justine Moritz
• Frankenstein’s Historical Context: Review of “In Frankenstein’s Shadow” by Chris Baldrick Genre: Critical Writing Words: 1114 Focused on: Historical Context of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: the Monster
• Science & Nature in Frankenstein & Blade Runner Genre: Essay Words: Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein , Compare & Contrast Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Romanticism in Frankenstein: the Use of Poetry in the Novel’s Narrative Genre: Essay Words: 1655 Focused on: Literary analysis of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, Henry Clerval
• The Dangers of Science in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Genre: Essay Words: 1098 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a Tragedy Genre: Essay Words: 540 Focused on: Literary analysis of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein
• Frankenstein: a Deconstructive Reading Genre: Essay Words: 2445 Focused on: Literary analysis of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Ethics as a Theme in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Genre: Essay Words: 901 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’: Chapter 18 Analysis Genre: Essay Words: 567 Focused on: Literary analysis of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Elisabeth Lavenza
• The Role of Women in Frankenstein Genre: Essay Words: 883 Focused on: Frankenstein Characters Characters mentioned: Caroline Beaufort, Elizabeth Lavenza, Justine Moritz
• On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer vs. Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus: Compare & Contrast Genre: Essay Words: 739 Focused on: Compare & Contrast Characters mentioned: the Monster
• Macbeth & Frankenstein: Compare & Contrast Genre: Essay Words: 2327 Focused on: Compare & Contrast Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Dr. Frankenstein & His Monster: Compare & Contrast Genre: Research Paper Words: 1365 Focused on: Compare & Contrast, Frankenstein Characters Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Education vs. Family in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Genre: Essay Words: 1652 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein
• Victor Frankenstein vs. the Creature: Compare & Contrast Genre: Research Paper Words: 1104 Focused on: Compare & Contrast, Frankenstein Characters Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Frankenstein: Monster’s Appearance & Visual Interpretations Genre: Essay Words: 812 Focused on: Frankenstein Characters Characters mentioned: the Monster
• Doctor Frankenstein: Hero, Villain, or Something in Between? Genre: Essay Words: 897 Focused on: Frankenstein Characters Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: 1994 Movie Analysis Genre: Essay Words: 1084 Focused on: Compare & Contrast Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Elizabeth Lavenza
• Frankenstein vs. Great Expectations: Compare & Contrast Genre: Essay Words: 2540 Focused on: Compare & Contrast, Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Robert Walton
• Innocence of Frankenstein’s Monster Genre: Term Paper Words: 2777 Focused on: Frankenstein Characters Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Robert Walton
• Knowledge as the Main Theme in Frankenstein Genre: Term Paper Words: 2934 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Robert Walton, Henry Clerval, Elisabeth Lavenza, Willian Frankenstein
• Responsibility as a Theme in Frankenstein Genre: Essay Words: 619 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein
• Homosexuality in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Genre: Research Paper Words: 2340 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster, Henry Clerval
• Frankenstein & the Context of Enlightenment Genre: Historical Context of Frankenstein Words: 1458 Focused on: Compare & Contrast Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Frankenstein: the Theme of Birth Genre: Essay Words: 1743 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Frankenstein: Critical Reflections by Ginn & Hetherington Genre: Essay Words: 677 Focused on: Compare & Contrast Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein, the Monster
• Loneliness & Isolation in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Genre: Essay Words: 609 Focused on: Themes of Frankenstein Characters mentioned: Victor Frankenstein
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Mary Shelley | Frankenstein: Essay Help

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Book Citations / Learn how to cite “Frankenstein, or, the modern Prometheus” by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Learn how to cite “Frankenstein, or, the modern Prometheus” by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Learn how to create in-text citations and a full citation/reference/note for Frankenstein, or, the modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley using the examples below. Frankenstein, or, the modern Prometheus  is cited in 14 different citation styles, including MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard, APA, ACS, and many others.

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Frankenstein: Texts and Contexts

• Library Resources
• Background Literature
• Suggested Reading on the Romantic Age
• Parents: William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft
• Husband: Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Friend: Lord Byron
• The Literary Response to the Year without a Summer
• Food Scarcity and Bread Riots
• Suggested Reading on Food Scarcity and Bread Riots
• Online Reference Resources
• Suggested Reading on Arctic Exploration
• Suggested Reading on Automata and Mechanical Devices
• Suggested Reading on Life
• Suggested Reading on Franklin and Galvani
• 'Frankenstein' on Film
• Suggested Reading on the Idea of Monstrosity
• The Mad Scientist in Literature
• Suggested Reading on 18th Century Medicine
• Bodysnatching
• Tyburn: Execution and Dissection
• Suggested Reading on Radical Politics
• Suggested Reading on Women in the 18th Century
• Pregnancy and Childbirth
• Suggested Reading on Pregnancy & Childbirth
• Child-rearing
• Suggested Reading on Child-rearing in the 18th Century
• E-books on Post/Transhumanism

Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus: Texts

• 'Frankenstein' (1818 edition) This Planet Ebook edition may be downloaded in ePUB, PDF, or MOBI formats.
• 'Frankenstein': The Pennsylvania Electronic Edition A hypertext version of the 1818 edition. Contains an extensive online collection of supplementary materials and criticism.
• Frankenbook A collective reading and collaborative annotation experience of the original 1818 text of Frankenstein.
• Shelley-Godwin Archive: 'Frankenstein' Manuscripts Draft and fair copy manuscripts from Oxford's Bodleian Library.

Resources on Frankenstein

• 'Frankenstein': Critical Articles A useful selection of criticism from scholarly studies on the novel. From the Pennsylvania Electronic Edition website.
• 'Frankenstein' at 200 – Why Hasn't Mary Shelley Been Given the Respect She Deserves? Fiona Sampson, author of 'In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein', looks at the intellectual and social background of the novel.
• 'Frankenstein' Reflects the Hopes and Fears of Every Scientific Era Author Philip Ball writes that Frankenstein is more complicated than a story of science gone awry; that each era makes Frankenstein in its own image.
• Anonymous Review of Frankenstein-British Library
• British Library: Discovering Literature: Romantics and Victorians A rich collection of primary sources, articles, themes, images, and works by British Romantic and Victorian authors.
• Charles E. Robinson: Introduction to the 'Frankenstein' Notebooks Robinson discusses the history of the manuscripts.
• Eighteenth Century Collections Online (U Michigan) Searchable database of 18th century texts in HTML.
• The Frankenstein Meme This digital project from the California State University at Fullerton offers "a public, crowd-sourced, searchable database of literary works (novels, short stories, plays, and graphic novels) influenced by Mary Shelley’s novel over the last two hundred years."
• Golems: Mysticism, History, Biology, and More This Kenyon University website examines the Yiddish legend of the Golem, an anthropomorphic figure made of clay or wood, and endowed with life by its creator.
• An Introduction to 'Frankenstein' By Stephanie Forward of the Open University (UK).
• It's Alive! Frankenstein At 200 (Podcast) In this episode of "On Point", 'Frankenstein' is discussed by historian Jill Lepore; physics professor Sidney Perkowitz; and Ed Finn, editor of "'Frankenstein': Annotated for Scientists, Engineers and Creators of All Kinds."
• NYPL: 'Frankenstein', The Afterlife of Shelley's Circle Primary sources, images, and contextual essays on a wide range of topics surrounding 'Frankenstein'.
• The Political Geography of Horror in Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' Fred V. Randel contends that the Bavarian setting of 'Frankenstein' is key to understanding its political dimensions.
• Review of 'Frankenstein' by Percy Bysshe Shelley Published in The Athenaeum Journal of Literature, Science and the Fine Arts, 10 November 1832: fourteen years after the initial publication of the novel.
• The Strange and Twisted Life of 'Frankenstein' Historian Jill Lepore examines the neglected birth and child-rearing aspects of the novel.
• Was ‘Frankenstein’ Really About Childbirth? Ruth Franklin asks if Mary Shelley's experience of pregnancy lies at the heart of 'Frankenstein'.
• Why Frankenstein is Still Relevant, Almost 200 Years after It Was Published This 2017 article by Josh was the first in a series of articles published on 'Frankenstein' in Slate. Provides links to the other articles.
• “Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein” Anne K. Mellor's feminist analysis of the female and the natural in 'Frankenstein'.
• << Previous: Library Resources
• Next: Background Literature >>
• Last Updated: Feb 22, 2024 8:47 AM
• URL: https://library.wit.edu/guides/frankenstein

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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Essay Example

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Introduction

While Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein probably stands as the ultimate example of the horror, or monster, novel, it seems the author is determined to use her creation in a way transcending this effect. Shelley chooses to address fundamental issues of man’s relation to himself and to God, and she is careful throughout her novel to emphasize this intention through classical allusions reflecting these concerns. In her usage of classic poetry, Mary Shelley makes a specific effort in Frankenstein, or: The Modern Prometheus to maintain the reader’s focus, not on a grotesque monster, but on the inner turmoil of her two protagonists.

Time and again, Shelley has her chief characters turn to great verse, rather than insert classical work into the narrative herself. This reinforces her determination to address the crucial issues of existence, instead of merely setting out an extended chase after a monster. For example, tortured by dreams of his creation, Frankenstein’s mind seizes on Coleridge, recalling lines from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner that capture his despair and terror: “…He knows a frightful fiend/ Doth close upon him tread” (Shelley 58). Only poetry of this grandiose style can express the grief of the man, which is a fear beyond anything ordinary men may encounter. Then, if Frankenstein requires this level of depth himself, so too does his creation. This is a monster with an equally strong awareness of the existential dilemma of them both, as he confronts his maker:

“’You purpose to kill me. How dare you sport thus with life?’” (110).

Then, the monster, while relating his journeys, refers to the works of literature that excited his tortured soul, and Milton’s Paradise Lost seems to have most deeply resonated with his being. More to the point, Shelley is able here to discuss Milton in a way few humans can, because the creature so affected by the poetry is virtually a character within the saga. He is not merely another man associating himself with Adam and the Biblical fall; he is Adam, in that he is a thing made apart from natural forces: “Like Adam, I was apparently united by no link to any other being in existence” (Shelley 148). This powerful association, then, translates into extreme pain for the creature, because there can be no understanding of this connection without an equal understanding of how perversely the creature reflects it. It is only logical that he “rewrites” the Milton to suit his own case, and perceives Satan to be his creator (148).

Frankenstein, popular representations notwithstanding, is a story about man’s Promethean audacity in emulating God, and the nightmares that come from it. To that end, the author infuses profound literature to emphasize the intent. Mary Shelley makes a specific effort in Frankenstein, or: The Modern Prometheus to keep the reader’s focus, not on a man-made monster, but on the inner turmoils of her two protagonists.

Works Cited

Shelley, Mary Wollstonescraft. Frankenstein, or: The Modern Prometheus . New York: Plain Label Books, 2010. Print.

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Frankenstein : Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds

David Guston is Professor and Founding Director of the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, where he also serves as Codirector of the Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes..

Ed Finn is Founding Director of the Center for Science and the Imagination and Associate Professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School of Arts, Media, and Engineering at Arizona State University.

Jason Scott Robert is Lincoln Chair in Ethics, Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences, and Director of the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics at Arizona State University.

The original 1818 text of Mary Shelley's classic novel, with annotations and essays highlighting its scientific, ethical, and cautionary aspects.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has endured in the popular imagination for two hundred years. Begun as a ghost story by an intellectually and socially precocious eighteen-year-old author during a cold and rainy summer on the shores of Lake Geneva, the dramatic tale of Victor Frankenstein and his stitched-together creature can be read as the ultimate parable of scientific hubris. Victor, “the modern Prometheus,” tried to do what he perhaps should have left to Nature: create life. Although the novel is most often discussed in literary-historical terms—as a seminal example of romanticism or as a groundbreaking early work of science fiction—Mary Shelley was keenly aware of contemporary scientific developments and incorporated them into her story. In our era of synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and climate engineering, this edition of Frankenstein will resonate forcefully for readers with a background or interest in science and engineering, and anyone intrigued by the fundamental questions of creativity and responsibility.

This edition of Frankenstein pairs the original 1818 version of the manuscript—meticulously line-edited and amended by Charles E. Robinson, one of the world's preeminent authorities on the text—with annotations and essays by leading scholars exploring the social and ethical aspects of scientific creativity raised by this remarkable story. The result is a unique and accessible edition of one of the most thought-provoking and influential novels ever written.

The open access edition of this book was made possible by generous funding from Knowledge Unlatched.

Essays by Elizabeth Bear, Cory Doctorow, Heather E. Douglas, Josephine Johnston, Kate MacCord, Jane Maienschein, Anne K. Mellor, Alfred Nordmann

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Frankenstein : Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds By: Mary Shelley Edited by: David H. Guston, Ed Finn, Jason Scott Robert https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.001.0001 ISBN (electronic): 9780262340267 Publisher: The MIT Press Published: 2017

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Table of Contents

• [ Front Matter ] Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0022 Open the PDF Link PDF for [ Front Matter ] in another window
• Editors' Preface By David H. Guston , David H. Guston Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Ed Finn , Ed Finn Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Jason Scott Robert Jason Scott Robert Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0001 Open the PDF Link PDF for Editors' Preface in another window
• Acknowledgments Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0002 Open the PDF Link PDF for Acknowledgments in another window
• Introduction By Charles E. Robinson Charles E. Robinson Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0003 Open the PDF Link PDF for Introduction in another window
• [ Opening ] Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0023 Open the PDF Link PDF for [ Opening ] in another window
• Volume I Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0017 Open the PDF Link PDF for Volume I in another window
• Volume II Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0018 Open the PDF Link PDF for Volume II in another window
• Volume III Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0019 Open the PDF Link PDF for Volume III in another window
• Introduction to Frankenstein (1831) Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0020 Open the PDF Link PDF for Introduction to Frankenstein (1831) in another window
• Chronology of Science and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0021 Open the PDF Link PDF for Chronology of Science and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in another window
• Traumatic Responsibility: Victor Frankenstein as Creator and Casualty By Josephine Johnston Josephine Johnston Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0006 Open the PDF Link PDF for Traumatic Responsibility: Victor Frankenstein as Creator and Casualty in another window
• I've Created a Monster! (And So Can You) By Cory Doctorow Cory Doctorow Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0007 Open the PDF Link PDF for I've Created a Monster! (And So Can You) in another window
• Changing Conceptions of Human Nature By Jane Maienschein , Jane Maienschein Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Kate MacCord Kate MacCord Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0008 Open the PDF Link PDF for Changing Conceptions of Human Nature in another window
• Undisturbed by Reality: Victor Frankenstein's Technoscientific Dream of Reason By Alfred Nordmann Alfred Nordmann Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0009 Open the PDF Link PDF for Undisturbed by Reality: Victor Frankenstein's Technoscientific Dream of Reason in another window
• Frankenstein Reframed; or, The Trouble with Prometheus By Elizabeth Bear Elizabeth Bear Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0010 Open the PDF Link PDF for Frankenstein Reframed; or, The Trouble with Prometheus in another window
• Frankenstein, Gender, and Mother Nature By Anne K. Mellor Anne K. Mellor Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0011 Open the PDF Link PDF for Frankenstein, Gender, and Mother Nature in another window
• The Bitter Aftertaste of Technical Sweetness By Heather E. Douglas Heather E. Douglas Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0012 Open the PDF Link PDF for The Bitter Aftertaste of Technical Sweetness in another window
• References Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0013 Open the PDF Link PDF for References in another window
• Further Reading Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0014 Open the PDF Link PDF for Further Reading in another window
• Discussion Questions Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0015 Open the PDF Link PDF for Discussion Questions in another window
• Contributors Doi: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10815.003.0016 Open the PDF Link PDF for Contributors in another window
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How to cite “Frankenstein, or, the modern Prometheus” by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Apa citation.

Formatted according to the APA Publication Manual 7 th edition. Simply copy it to the References page as is.

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Shelley, M. W. (1992). Frankenstein, or, the modern Prometheus . Everyman’s Library.

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Formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style 17 th edition. Simply copy it to the References page as is.

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Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. 1992. Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus . New York, NY: Everyman’s Library.

MLA citation

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Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus . Everyman’s Library, 1992.

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On the site

Frankenstein.

Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds

by Mary Shelley

Edited by David H. Guston , Ed Finn and Jason Scott Robert

Introduction by Charles E. Robinson

ISBN: 9780262533287

Pub date: May 5, 2017

• Publisher: The MIT Press

320 pp. , 7 x 9 in ,

ISBN: 9780262340274

Pub date: April 28, 2017

• 9780262533287
• Published: May 2017
• 9780262340274
• Published: April 2017
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• Description
• Open Access

The original 1818 text of Mary Shelley's classic novel, with annotations and essays highlighting its scientific, ethical, and cautionary aspects.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has endured in the popular imagination for two hundred years. Begun as a ghost story by an intellectually and socially precocious eighteen-year-old author during a cold and rainy summer on the shores of Lake Geneva, the dramatic tale of Victor Frankenstein and his stitched-together creature can be read as the ultimate parable of scientific hubris. Victor, “the modern Prometheus,” tried to do what he perhaps should have left to Nature: create life. Although the novel is most often discussed in literary-historical terms—as a seminal example of romanticism or as a groundbreaking early work of science fiction—Mary Shelley was keenly aware of contemporary scientific developments and incorporated them into her story. In our era of synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and climate engineering, this edition of Frankenstein will resonate forcefully for readers with a background or interest in science and engineering, and anyone intrigued by the fundamental questions of creativity and responsibility.

This edition of Frankenstein pairs the original 1818 version of the manuscript—meticulously line-edited and amended by Charles E. Robinson, one of the world's preeminent authorities on the text—with annotations and essays by leading scholars exploring the social and ethical aspects of scientific creativity raised by this remarkable story. The result is a unique and accessible edition of one of the most thought-provoking and influential novels ever written.

The open access edition of this book was made possible by generous funding from Knowledge Unlatched.

Essays by Elizabeth Bear, Cory Doctorow, Heather E. Douglas, Josephine Johnston, Kate MacCord, Jane Maienschein, Anne K. Mellor, Alfred Nordmann

David Guston is Professor and Founding Director of the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, where he also serves as Codirector of the Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes..

Ed Finn is Founding Director of the Center for Science and the Imagination and Associate Professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the School of Arts, Media, and Engineering at Arizona State University.

Jason Scott Robert is Lincoln Chair in Ethics, Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences, and Director of the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics at Arizona State University.

This new, remarkable annotated edition of Frankenstein with its accompanying essays brings the 'modern Prometheus' flawlessly into our century in a manner sure to inspire scientists and nonscientists in a conversation that Shelley herself might not have foreseen but surely would have encouraged. Arthur L. Caplan, Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor, founding head of the Division of Bioethics at the School of Medicine, New York University

This wonderful new edition is a happy addition to the critical literature examining the meaning of the tale for our twenty-first-century commitments to heroic science, engineering, and technology. Rachelle D. Hollander, Director, Center for Engineering Ethics and Society, National Academy of Engineering

The Promethean tale of Frankenstein is a rich source of questions about the price that scientists and the public pay for knowledge. This annotated edition rescues the classic allegory from popular culture's caricature and presents it with a framework for exploring the questions raised. Among the many questions, perhaps the most important is, when scientists either from amoral arrogance or negligent lack of foresight present a discovery society is not prepared to deal with—nuclear weapons, engineered gene lines, climate modification—what is the scientists' responsibility going forward? Is it merely to watch in horror as the knowledge is unleashed on society? Rush D. Holt, Chief Executive Officer, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Executive Publisher, Science Family of Journals

[The editors's] expertise speaks to Frankenstein 's enduring message about existential stakes — and the potentially alarming societal consequences likely to devolve from the unfettered march of science and technology. Concerns about unintended consequences were urgent at the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the Nuclear Age, and they are, if anything, more urgent now. Los Angeles Review of Books

The critical essays accompanying the text are eclectic, cross-disciplinary, and incisive....authoritative, yet accessible, and firmly situates both Shelley and her novel in relation to our contemporary tech-oriented age. Lawfare

This newly annotated edition of the classic wrests the text from English majors and hands it to STEMers, but also brings the concerns of literature—moral weight, literary device, creativity—to readers at risk of underestimating their importance. Atlas Obscura

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Frankenstein

By mary shelley, frankenstein sources and classicnote author.

• Jessica Montalvo, author of ClassicNote. Completed on February 25, 2000, copyright held by GradeSaver.
• Updated and revised by Aaron Suduiko June 12, 2015. Copyright held by GradeSaver.
• Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein . London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1831.
• Mary Shelley; J. Paul Hunter, Ed.. Frankenstein, Second Norton Critical Edition . New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.
• "Frankenstein." Literature.org . June 4, 2015. < http://literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/ >.
• William Smith, Ed.. "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology: Prometheus.." Perseus Digital Library . 1873. June 4, 2015. < http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D47%3Aentry%3Dprometheus-bio-1 >.
• "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein." IMDb . June 4, 2015. < http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109836/ >.
• Peter Menzies. "Counterfactual Theories of Causation." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . February 10, 2014. June 4, 2015. < http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/causation-counterfactual/ >.

Frankenstein Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Frankenstein is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What decisions and discoveries go into Frankenstein’s creation? What does he learn first, and which parts of the process take longer?

There is so much in your questions. This is only a short answer space. Victor Frankenstein studies biology and metaphysics first. Victor dreams of creating a new species: to renew life.

Explain about the gigantic figure in Frankenstein?

Are you referring to the creature? What specifically do you need to know?

Consider the monsters motivations for tracking down Frankenstein. Why does the master switch out his creator according to the text?

I'm sorry, your question requires additional information. Please provide a chapter number.

Study Guide for Frankenstein

Frankenstein study guide contains a biography of Mary Shelley, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Frankenstein
• Frankenstein Summary
• Frankenstein Video
• Character List

Essays for Frankenstein

Frankenstein essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Frankenstein
• Egotism, Personal Glory, and the Pursuit for Immortality
• Frankenstein and the Essence Of the Romantic Quest
• Like Father Like Son: Imitation and Creation
• Frankenstein's Discovery

Lesson Plan for Frankenstein

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Frankenstein
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Frankenstein Bibliography

E-Text of Frankenstein

Frankenstein e-text contains the full text of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

• Letters 1-4
• Chapters 1-4
• Chapters 5-8
• Chapters 9-12
• Chapters 13-16

Wikipedia Entries for Frankenstein

• Introduction
• Author's background
• Literary influences
• Composition