Victor Frankenstein has a pretty ideal life. He's wealthy, has a great family, and is poised to marry his childhood sweetheart (which is his adopted sister). But first, he intends to go off to school and become a doctor.
At school, he ends up creating a creature and bringing it to life. While he is putting the creature together, he is obsessed with the scientific side of it all. But when he is finished, he suddenly realizes how ugly the being is, and runs away from it. The creature gets up and leaves the lab.
The creature then spends some time in the wilderness, but ends up living in a secret little room attached to a house after being rejected by humanity. He stays hidden because of his physical deformities. He learns to read and communicate by listening to the people in the house, and he educates himself in all kinds of classical literature and philosophy. In the meantime, he helps out the poor family in the house by secretly doing odd chores for them from time to time.
Eventually, the creature approaches the old man of the house, who is blind. He thinks that maybe he can make a friend who won't judge him based on appearance. The conversation is going well until the other members of the household return and run off the supposed monster.
Well, eventually the creature becomes bitter and angry at his creator. He goes back and confronts Frankenstein. Frankenstein regrets making him and will have none of him. However, the creature won't leave him alone until Frankenstein agrees to make a bride for him. The creature wants companionship.
Frankenstein begins to make the bride, but destroys her before she is finished. The creature takes his revenge on Frankenstein by killing the aforementioned childhood sweetheart, now Frankestein's wife. Frankenstein chases his creature into the Arctic, determined to destroy him, but the creature is much more hardy than his creator. Frankenstein is overcome by the cold and nearly dead when a ship rescues him.
Frankenstein tells his story to the captain, then dies. The monster shows up to mourn him and tells the captain he'll kill himself, but he floats off on ice sheet. His fate isn't clear.
This is super summarized and tons of details are left out. It's definitely worth reading and is almost completely different than what most people think of when they talk about Frankenstein.
Thanks for the summary - def not what I would have thought the story about.
I think most people think it's about a super zombie who gets chased by villagers.
When you figure the time this novel was written, and by a 19 year old girl its an amazing piece of work. Granted its been twisted and transformed into what most think of today but when I heard people butchering the story I tell them to go read it. They come back really impressed. I wish this story was on more high school reading lists.
Hey, I am reading Frankenstein for school as well :). It is a great book and would recommend reading it because you will miss a lot of thematic elements that you just won't get from a summary.
When you figure the time this novel was written, and by a 19 year old girl its an amazing piece of work. Granted its been twisted and transformed into what most think of today but when I heard people butchering the story I tell them to go read it. They come back really impressed. I wish this story was on more high school reading lists.
Definitely. I truthfully did not even know the story went like that. It was highly interesting, and seemed to have a lot of strong themes in it.
It'd be better than half the stuff they make us read.
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If you're reading it for a European History class (I had to), remember a lot of it is symbolic for what was happening (or had happened) in Europe at the time.
Card looks like the old Boris Karloff Frankenstein.
But yea, overall it's a good book to read, I'd suggest reading Dracula as well and then watch Twilight and that movie turns from a travesty to a comedy.
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Not to be "that guy", but is this a "how do I cheat on my paper?" thread?
The wiki covers the story just fine, in detail, and it's hard to believe the Wiki wouldn't have covered the topic well, given that it covers all the plot offered in this thread and more.
Shelley's Frankenstein was a really amazing book for its time.
I think it's funny that despite the fact that women weren't respected as writers at the time... the novels written by the top women in those days are far more readable and relatable and modern to me, than most of the novels written by men. There just seems to be a more modern sensibility to characterization. Dickens (not a fan), for example, reads to me as quaint and childish.
How many times have Emma and Frankenstein been made into movies now? I really can't think of a novel (in ENGLISH, mind you) written by a dude from the early 1800s that I consider remotely "good" to a modern reader.
Dickens was pop literature then and it's pop literature now. The books are great young adult reading, and I enjoyed them when I was 11-14ish in age - also the age range they are more relatable.
EDIT
The Moonstone is a good book that speaks on cultural clashes brought about class, gender, and nationality, and it's definitely one of the more relatable novels I have read. Frankenstein is really great, but I gave up on Jane Austin. Maybe I'll check out Emma though.
An interesting bit of trivia that a lot of people don't know is that Frankenstein came about because of the eruption of the very large volcano Mt. Tambora. It led to a "volcanic winter" and 1816 became known as "the year without summer". While on a summer vacation in Switzerland, Mary Shelly, John William Polidori and their friends were forced to stay indoors due to bad weather and too much rain. As a result they came up with a competition to see who could tell the scariest ghost story. Shelly's story eventually became Frankenstein. You can read about it here.
Last year I read a collection of popular stories, and of each the real original version. Very interesting. I always thought Frankensteins Monster was an idiot, but in truth he was intelligent, athletic and whatnot.
The monster not only isn't stupid, but he narrates a good portion of the story.
It's his being intelligent that makes things much more frightening. It isn't that the monster is going around terrorizing people, it's that he is going around specifically terrorizing Frankenstein and his family, and there is nowhere he can hide from him and no way to make amends without performing the same mistake a second time.
An interesting bit of trivia that a lot of people don't know is that Frankenstein came about because of the eruption of the very large volcano Mt. Tambora. It led to a "volcanic winter" and 1816 became known as "the year without summer". While on a summer vacation in Switzerland, Mary Shelly, John William Polidori and their friends were forced to stay indoors due to bad weather and too much rain. As a result they came up with a competition to see who could tell the scariest ghost story. Shelly's story eventually became Frankenstein. You can read about it here.
And the reason they were on that vacation in the first place was because Lord Byron, the friend who invited them out, was a notorious ****; he had just slept with the daughters of a few powerful families and had to skip town for a while.
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At school, he ends up creating a creature and bringing it to life. While he is putting the creature together, he is obsessed with the scientific side of it all. But when he is finished, he suddenly realizes how ugly the being is, and runs away from it. The creature gets up and leaves the lab.
The creature then spends some time in the wilderness, but ends up living in a secret little room attached to a house after being rejected by humanity. He stays hidden because of his physical deformities. He learns to read and communicate by listening to the people in the house, and he educates himself in all kinds of classical literature and philosophy. In the meantime, he helps out the poor family in the house by secretly doing odd chores for them from time to time.
Eventually, the creature approaches the old man of the house, who is blind. He thinks that maybe he can make a friend who won't judge him based on appearance. The conversation is going well until the other members of the household return and run off the supposed monster.
Well, eventually the creature becomes bitter and angry at his creator. He goes back and confronts Frankenstein. Frankenstein regrets making him and will have none of him. However, the creature won't leave him alone until Frankenstein agrees to make a bride for him. The creature wants companionship.
Frankenstein begins to make the bride, but destroys her before she is finished. The creature takes his revenge on Frankenstein by killing the aforementioned childhood sweetheart, now Frankestein's wife. Frankenstein chases his creature into the Arctic, determined to destroy him, but the creature is much more hardy than his creator. Frankenstein is overcome by the cold and nearly dead when a ship rescues him.
Frankenstein tells his story to the captain, then dies. The monster shows up to mourn him and tells the captain he'll kill himself, but he floats off on ice sheet. His fate isn't clear.
This is super summarized and tons of details are left out. It's definitely worth reading and is almost completely different than what most people think of when they talk about Frankenstein.
I think most people think it's about a super zombie who gets chased by villagers.
Visit: Cabalwannabe's Art page right here on MTGS!
Cabalwannabe's Cards!
Control Lover Generation 1 if you see this in someones sig copy it and take the generation number plus 1 to show your generation!
Cabalwannabe's Stories
So'for of the Vedalken
Vansen, Dreamer of Dreams
Clone of Joan
Aeriedle's Mission
It'd be better than half the stuff they make us read.
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Card looks like the old Boris Karloff Frankenstein.
But yea, overall it's a good book to read, I'd suggest reading Dracula as well and then watch Twilight and that movie turns from a travesty to a comedy.
Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.
Individualities may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.
Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success.
Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.
The wiki covers the story just fine, in detail, and it's hard to believe the Wiki wouldn't have covered the topic well, given that it covers all the plot offered in this thread and more.
Shelley's Frankenstein was a really amazing book for its time.
I think it's funny that despite the fact that women weren't respected as writers at the time... the novels written by the top women in those days are far more readable and relatable and modern to me, than most of the novels written by men. There just seems to be a more modern sensibility to characterization. Dickens (not a fan), for example, reads to me as quaint and childish.
How many times have Emma and Frankenstein been made into movies now? I really can't think of a novel (in ENGLISH, mind you) written by a dude from the early 1800s that I consider remotely "good" to a modern reader.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_years_in_literature#1800s
EDIT
The Moonstone is a good book that speaks on cultural clashes brought about class, gender, and nationality, and it's definitely one of the more relatable novels I have read. Frankenstein is really great, but I gave up on Jane Austin. Maybe I'll check out Emma though.
It's his being intelligent that makes things much more frightening. It isn't that the monster is going around terrorizing people, it's that he is going around specifically terrorizing Frankenstein and his family, and there is nowhere he can hide from him and no way to make amends without performing the same mistake a second time.
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