Frankenstein"I 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." A summer evening's ghost stories, lonely insomnia in a moonlit Alpine's room, and a runaway imagination--fired by philosophical discussions with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley about science, galvanism, and the origins of life--conspired to produce for Marry Shelley this haunting night specter. By morning, it had become the germ of her Romantic masterpiece, "Frankenstein." Written in 1816 when she was only nineteen, Mary Shelley's novel of "The Modern Prometheus" chillingly dramatized the dangerous potential of life begotten upon a laboratory table. A frightening creation myth for our own time, "Frankenstein" remains one of the greatest horror stories ever written and is an undisputed classic of its kind. |
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Page 31
... passion for adventurous exploit , had she not unfolded to him the real loveliness of beneficence , and made the doing good the end and aim of his soaring ambition . I feel exquisite pleasure in dwelling on the recollections of childhood ...
... passion for adventurous exploit , had she not unfolded to him the real loveliness of beneficence , and made the doing good the end and aim of his soaring ambition . I feel exquisite pleasure in dwelling on the recollections of childhood ...
Page 56
... passion . " Dearest Clerval , " exclaimed I , " how kind , how very good you are to me . This whole winter , instead of being spent in study , as you promised yourself , has been consumed in my sick room . How shall I ever repay you ? I ...
... passion . " Dearest Clerval , " exclaimed I , " how kind , how very good you are to me . This whole winter , instead of being spent in study , as you promised yourself , has been consumed in my sick room . How shall I ever repay you ? I ...
Page 144
... passions will be renewed , and you will then have a companion to aid you in the task of destruction . This may not be : cease to argue the point , for I cannot consent . " " How inconstant are your feelings ! but a moment ago you were ...
... passions will be renewed , and you will then have a companion to aid you in the task of destruction . This may not be : cease to argue the point , for I cannot consent . " " How inconstant are your feelings ! but a moment ago you were ...
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Common terms and phrases
affection Agatha agony Albertus Magnus anguish appeared arrived beautiful became beheld beloved bestow Clerval companion consolation cottage countenance cousin creature crime dæmon dared dark dear death delight desire despair destroyed discovered dream earth Elizabeth endeavoured endured entered expressed eyes father fear feelings Felix felt Frankenstein Geneva gentle grief hands happiness heard heart heavens hope horror human idea imagination Ingolstadt innocent John Polidori journey Justine kind Krempe labours lake lived looked Lord Byron manner marriage Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft mind miserable misfortune monster Mont Blanc morning mountains murderer natural philosophy nature never night Pandæmonium Paracelsus Paradise Lost passed passion peace perceived Percy Shelley pleasure poor possessed reflect remained resolved revenge Safie scene sensations smiles sometimes soon sorrow soul spirit strange suffered Switzerland tale tears thought university of Ingolstadt Victor voice wind wish wonder wood words wretched