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 86
... thought of the heroic and suffering Elizabeth , whom I tenderly loved , and whose existence was bound up in mind . I thought also of my father and surviving brother : should I by my base desertion leave them exposed and unprotected to ...
... thought of the heroic and suffering Elizabeth , whom I tenderly loved , and whose existence was bound up in mind . I thought also of my father and surviving brother : should I by my base desertion leave them exposed and unprotected to ...
Page 146
... thoughts within me . I wept bitterly ; and clasping my hands in agony , I exclaimed , " Oh ! stars and clouds and winds , ye are all about ... thought only had to me the reality of life . CHAPTER XVIII Day after day , week after week , 146.
... thoughts within me . I wept bitterly ; and clasping my hands in agony , I exclaimed , " Oh ! stars and clouds and winds , ye are all about ... thought only had to me the reality of life . CHAPTER XVIII Day after day , week after week , 146.
Page 220
... thoughts were once filled with sublime and transcendent visions of the beauty and the majesty of goodness . But it ... thought the only criminal , when all human kind sinned against me ? Why do you not hate Felix , who drove his friend ...
... thoughts were once filled with sublime and transcendent visions of the beauty and the majesty of goodness . But it ... thought the only criminal , when all human kind sinned against me ? Why do you not hate Felix , who drove his friend ...
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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