I almost think the author's story is more interesting then the horror story she wrote. I didn't realize Mary Shelley was the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft who died 11 days after giving birth. With her marriage to poet Percy Shelley, she had pressure from 3 sides to produce a wonderful work. Not only was Mary only 18 when she wrote Frankenstein (June 1816), but it was also after giving birth to her own child who died after 2 weeks (March, 1815). Another interesting fact was that her husband and her, along with 2 friends spent the summer together at Lake Geneva and challenged each other to write the most frightening story ... from which Mary won with Frankenstein.
It is interesting how the creature was giving and caring ... providing wood for the family in the cottage and saving the little girl after she drowned ... even providing food for Victor while being chased by him. Whereas Victor Frankenstein was portrayed as seeking ambition and fame in his creation and selfish in his desires. Who was the real monster here? Perhaps another example of how humans won't accept anything different from themselves and therefore consider it evil. Victor was wrong in creating the creature, but also in not caring for it (abandoning it) after its creation.
It is interesting how the creature was giving and caring ... providing wood for the family in the cottage and saving the little girl after she drowned ... even providing food for Victor while being chased by him. Whereas Victor Frankenstein was portrayed as seeking ambition and fame in his creation and selfish in his desires. Who was the real monster here? Perhaps another example of how humans won't accept anything different from themselves and therefore consider it evil. Victor was wrong in creating the creature, but also in not caring for it (abandoning it) after its creation.
Great book! I had assumptions about the book that ended up being wrong and I fell in love with the style of writing.
A classic that deserves to be a classic. Excellent explanatory notes from the author, her husband, and other notables that added to my understanding of the novel. So glad I finally read this - I missed it while in high school. (Minor underlining in the text.)
I read this for a class a few years back. I gotta admit it was super slow to get into it in the beginning. The first few chapters dragged on for me. But once it got good, it became a faster read. The change in perspective can through you off at first but once you get used to it it's pretty interesting. Overall I feel that if you have patience and time this is worth a read.
