We don't know what it is about nineteen-year-olds and boredom-induced writing contests, but Shelley began working on Frankenstein as part of a bet that started when she, her husband, and three of their friends (most notably Lord Byron) hung out one summer in Geneva, Switzerland. She was one of the only two to actually finish her writing project (John William Polidori wrote The Vampyre). Yep, Frankenstein was the product of a ghost story contest.

P.S. At seventeen, Mary Shelley ran off with her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, while he was still married to someone else, had his love child, and then married him after his first wife killed herself. Girl, someone should have known you were trouble when you walked in.

Frankenstein

After tinkering around in the lab, Dr. F discovers how to create somewhat human life…and in about a nanosecond, he regrets his decision. Too bad it's not exactly something you can take back. This text merges the absolute best of Gothic literature while delving into greater character development, psychological exploration, and a little pseudo-science. Not too shabby.

Chew on This

Frankenstein's got its own little epigraph action going on. Check it out here and then take a peek at its 17th-century source text, Paradise Lost, to see just how much Shelley is pushing this man-playing-God thing.

As long as we're exploring allusions, we might as well dig into the title. Well, the subtitle actually: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Ready for another trip through literary memory lane? What do you think Prometheus the fire bearer has to do with good ol' Frankenstein and his monster?