Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but wayward scientist, builds a human from dead flesh. Horrified at what he has done, he abandons his creation. The hideous creature learns language and becomes civilized but society rejects him. Spurned, he seeks vengeance on his creator. So begins a cycle of destruction, with Frankenstein and his ‘monster’ pursuing each other to the extremes of nature until all vestiges of their humanity are lost.

In 1831, Mary Shelley succumbed to conservative pressures and toned down elements of the work in a second version of the text, which is reproduced here.