Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: 13 Facts About One Of the Most Influential Books in Literature
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“I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life…”
The novel Frankenstein by author Mary Shelley is one of the most important—and most impactful—books in history. It tells the story of a young scientist who takes on a bizarre scientific experiment to bring life to a new man, only to deal with horrible consquences.
Originally titled Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, Shelley’s novel is full of so much—including grief, longing, and the struggle with isolation, as well as exploring science without regard for morality or the ramifications (and responsibility) of unexpected success.
The novel Frankenstein has survived more than 200 years of adaptations and intellectual discussions. The book continues to endure because it represents so much to so many. As we celebrate the novel’s original publication, we look back at a number of facts about the author and her novel…
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13 Facts About Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
The public assumed at first that the book was written by a man.
Frankenstein was started as Mary Shelley’s entry in a ghost story contest.
Mary Shelley was guided by her parents—plus many cultural and scientific influences.
Frankenstein came to Shelley in a “waking dream” during a sleepless night.
Experts consider Frankenstein the first book that’s actually “science fiction.”
Frankenstein has been borrowed, adapted, and riffed on lots (and lots) of times.
The version of the monster in the original novel is different from what we often see in adaptations.
The common version of the monster stumbling around and growling came from a test audience.
#01
The novel was published—anonymously—on New Year’s Day.
The novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus was published January 1, 1818. We now know that it was written by Mary Shelley, but the first edition of the book was published anonymously. Her name first appeared on the book’s second edition, published in 1821.
#02
The author wrote the book when she was a teenager.
It’s crazy to think that one of the most important books in all of western literature was written when the author was still a teen. Born on August 30, 1797 in London, England, author Mary Shelley was only 18 years old when she began writing her horror novel—and 20 years old when the first edition of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus came out.
#03
The public assumed at first that the book was written by a man.
The anonymous publication of Frankenstein was dedicated to William Godwin, Mary’s father, and poet Percy Shelley wrote the preface. As a result, many simply assumed that Percy Shelley wrote the book—a mistake that continued even after Frankenstein was reprinted with Mary’s name on it. (In fact, there are some who still argue that Percy wrote the book. Some people are dumb.)
#04
Frankenstein was started as Mary Shelley’s entry in a ghost story contest.
The origins of Frankenstein began two years earlier, when Mary Shelley and a group of friends gathered at a mansion near Lake Geneva in Switzerland—a gathering that also included Lord Byron; his personal physician, John Polidori; and Percy Shelley. Bad weather had forced them to spend their holiday indoors.
Stuck indoors, Percy Shelley suggested the group hold a contest to see who could write the best ghost story. When Mary Shelley began work on her story, she was only 18.
(Side note: The same contest also led to Polidori’s The Vampyre, viewed by many critics as the origin of the romantic vampire story. In fact, there are elements of 1931’s Bela Lugosi movie Dracula—in particular, the title bloodsucker as a charming aristocrat—that owes more to The Vampyre than to Bram Stoker’s novel.)
#05
Mary Shelley was guided by her parents—plus many cultural and scientific influences.
Shelley’s work was heavily influenced by that of her parents. Her father, William Godwin, a famous author of the time, was a journalist, political philosopher, and novelist. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), was a writer and advocate of women’s rights.
Her mother died from complications in her daughter’s birth, so Mary Shelley didn’t know her mother directly. However, she apparently read Mary Wollstonecraft’s writings over and over.
Meanwhile, her father’s novels also must have influenced her novel Frankenstein. He had novels that were set in similar conditions as Frankenstein, plus some major themes appear in both his work and in her novel.
In fact, Mary Shelley was influenced by a lot of stuff that was known in her day—including works of art, science, and philosophy that we barely hear about anymore. Don’t think I’m dismissing her—on the contrary, Mary Shelley was pulling new and clever ideas from her own observations. If you get a chance, check out It’s Alive! A Visual History of Frankenstein for a display of what influenced her work.
#06
Frankenstein came to Shelley in a “waking dream” during a sleepless night.
Starting out to enter the contest with her friends, Shelley couldn’t come up with a good idea for a ghost story. But then she had a vision, which she described in her introduction to the 1831 edition of 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. … He sleeps; but he is awakened; he opens his eyes; behold, the horrid thing stands at his bedside, opening his curtains, and looking on him with yellow, watery, but speculative eyes.”
She began working on her story the next day.
#07
All the creature wants is a female version he can love.
When looking at his reflection in the water, Frankenstein’s Monster feels doomed to be alone. He asks Victor to make him a wife: “You must create a female for me, with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being.”
The monster make a promise that if his request is granted, he and his mate will disappear into the wilderness. Victor, afraid for his own family, reluctantly begins work on the creature’s mate.
However, at some point he starts to become worried that the Monster and his mate might have children, and even raise a new species which could destroy mankind. He decides to destroy the unfinished bride. (The monster sees it happen—so things get even worse.)
While all this is only a fraction of the novel, the 1935 movie Bride of Frankenstein expands a bit on this part of the story. We actually see the woman be created. However, when she rejects the Monster, that story ends badly for some of these people, too.
#08
Experts consider Frankenstein the first book that’s actually “science fiction.”
Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is a classic of western literature, a rousing story of terror, a Gothic romance, a tragedy—and it is also considered the first work of science fiction. Though the novel Frankenstein is touched by elements from other literary categories, many experts claim that Shelley’s book was the first true science-fiction story.
For example, science fiction author Brian Aldiss pointed out that, unlike previous tales with fantastical elements that resemble science fiction, Dr. Frankenstein “makes a deliberate decision” and “turns to modern experiments in the laboratory.”
The novel has made a huge impact on literature and on popular culture, influencing a host of stories told through every kind of media. The ideas of the book also have impacted actual scientists in their work.
#09
Frankenstein has been borrowed, adapted, and riffed on lots (and lots) of times.
Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel is a tale regularly being retold—with more than 200 years of adaptations as the scientist and/or his monster have appeared in lots of books, films, television, cartoons, comics, audio dramas, stage productions, theme park attractions and more. Notable examples include the Universal Monsters films, Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein comic books (both horror comics and funny comics), Mel Brooks’ movie Young Frankenstein, TV sitcom The Munsters (plus the many reboots and retreads), the Hotel Transylvania movies, the musical film Rocky Horror Picture Show, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, and lots more places.
However, the impact of the Frankenstein novel has been even wider than most realize. The themes of the novel have also influenced famous novels ranging from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
#10
The version of the monster in the original novel is different from what we often see in adaptations.
In Shelley’s novel, the creature is articulate, conflicted, and actually looks quite different than we’ve been trained to assume. In the centuries since it was published, the legend of Frankenstein has been recounted, remixed, retread, and rebooted into so many formats. In adaptations, we often see a version of the monster who is more clumsy, more confused, more grumbly.
Related: Frankenstein’s Monster: 13 versions—from flipped-out to frightening
#11
The common version of the monster stumbling around and growling came from a test audience.
The classic Frankenstein film series from Universal featured several horror films loosely inspired by Mary Shelley’s novel. The creature was played at various times by Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi and Glenn Strange.
The original approach to the character included choices to make the creature more nervous and timid. However, he was becoming more articulate—until the test audience for one of the films had a problem with it. As such, the monster’s famous shuffling and inarticulate manner is actually the result of a production decision.
In the original version of the movie Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man—which followed the events of The Ghost of Frankenstein—the creature was blind and talked with Bela Lugosi’s thick accent. But since the test audience didn’t like that, all the recorded dialogue was cut, including the parts where he explained that he was stumbling around because he was blind.
#12
Frankenstein Castle…is a real place.
So, we talked earlier about the cultural and scientific beliefs that likely influenced Mary Shelley in writing her novel. But do you wonder what gave her the inspiration for Dr. Frankenstein, the scientist who created the monster? Turns out there was an actual “Frankenstein” castle in the Odenwald mountain range, overlooking the city of Darmstadt in Germany.
More importantly, she may have also been influenced by stories about a man named Johann Conrad Dippel, who was born in Frankenstein Castle in 1677, and later worked there as a professional alchemist. There are also rumors that he performed medical experiments on dead bodies he dug up—including one experiment attempting to bring bodies back to life.
Whether any of the rumors are actually true, it’s probable that Mary Shelley heard these stories, too, when she visited the area. As such, it likely her novel was based (a bit) on a real person.
#13
The novel Frankenstein will continue to fuel debates about science—and humanity—in the years to come.
As science continues to push the boundaries of human health and progress, the questions raised by Frankenstein will continue to pull at us. Over the coming years, we’re going to see more of artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, health transplants, virtual reality, synthetic biology and so much more.
“Frankenstein is not only the first creation story to use scientific experimentation as its method, but it also presents a framework for narratively examining the morality and ethics of the experiment and experimenter,” notes Audrey Shafer, MD. “As the frontiers are pushed further and further, the unintended consequences of how science and technology are used could affect who we are as humans, the viability of our planet and how society evolves.”—Why Frankenstein Matters: Frontiers in science, technology and medicine (Stanford Medicine Magazine)
As such, Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein will always be one of most important novels—if not the most important novel—in the history of literature.
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