Mary Shelley

A deep reflection on the importance of nurture and the risks of going beyond human limits, this story written by Mary Shelley at the beginning of the 19th century was one of the first books to be called ‘science-fiction’.
 Following his love for science and impressed by some lightning that burns down a whole tree, Dr Frankenstein manages to give life to an inanimate body.
 The living creature, though, inspires only terror and first his ‘father’ and then all the other human beings he meets isolate him from society. His solitude and sadness will result in a desire for revenge with a tragic end.
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Audioscripts - Key to Summing-up Activities.
 
 Una profonda riflessione sui rischi derivanti dall’oltrepassare i limiti umani, ispirò l’autrice, all’inizio del XIX secolo, a scrivere uno dei primi libri definiti fu uno dei primi libri definiti “di fantascienza”.
 Il dottor Frankenstein, spinto dalla passione per la scienza e affascinato da un fulmine che incenerisce un albero, riesce a dare vita a un corpo inanimato. La creatura, tuttavia, suscita solo terrore. Il non sentirsi accettato, non solo dagli esseri umani, ma anche dal suo creatore, trasforma un essere interiormente buono in un crudele e spietato assassino con conseguenze tragiche per molti.

Chapter 1 – A new life is born

Chapter 2 – A mysterious murder

Extension: Frankenstein: the birth of a new genre

Chapter 3 – The monster’s tale

Chapter 4 – An unusual request

Extension: Frankenstein mania

Chapter 5 – Together till the end

Summing-up activities

Glossary

E X T E N S I O N FRANKENSTEIN: THE BIRTH OF A NEW GENRE1 Luigi Galvani, Bologna Different places, facts and people led Mary Shelley to write one of the most important works of English literature and one of the greatest novels ever written. When very young, Mary learned about the Italian scientists Giovanni Aldini and Luigi Galvani and their strange experiments on animal parts and electricity from her father. Then, while travelling around Europe, Mary and her husband stopped in Germany, at Frankenstein s castle, and there found out about some experiments to create the elixir2 of life by Johann Konrad Dippel two hundred years before. Some time later, Mary and her husband went to Cologny, near Geneva, and stayed in Villa Diodati with the famous writer Lord Byron and his doctor, Polidori. One day, while it was raining and the young writers were talking about ghost stories, Byron suggested a competition: who could write the scariest story? Mary had no ideas at the beginning, but one night she had a bad dream where she saw a student in front of his creature. She had her inspiration3 and wrote her masterpiece4 when she was only 19 years old. That challenge5 produced two great works of the Gothic horror genre and two new literary characters were born: Frankenstein and The Vampyre (by Polidori), who, 70 years later, inspired Bram Stoker to write his Dracula. 1. genre: a particular type of literature, art, film, or music. 2. elixir: a liquid with a magical power. 3. inspiration: person or thing that is the reason why somebody creates something. 4. masterpiece: greatest work. 5. challenge: situation that tests a person s ability. 34 

Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus was published anonymously6 in London in three parts and in a limited series of just 500 copies, in 1818. People thought it was a work by Percy Shelley since he wrote its introduction, but its second edition five years later carried Mary s name. The text became so important over the years that an original copy was sold for $1.17 million at an auction7 in 2021, breaking the record as the most expensive printed work by a woman. The complete title of the book is Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus. Mary chose to describe her protagonist as a modern Prometheus because, just like the Greek god who stole fire from the Gods to give it to humans and was punished for it, Frankenstein decided to defy8 God, create life from death and was punished for it. Frankenstein is a Gothic novel, with many elements typical of that genre. Dark places and scenes are very common: the cemetery, for example, is one of the places where Victor and the monster meet.   One of the two main characters is a monster; in the same way, in the literature of the time there are many stories of vampires, ghosts, and devils9.   An aristocratic10 male character (Victor) is scared by his past actions; he didn t commit11 any crime, but his life itself is a crime.   The weather is often bad; the creature himself is born thanks to the electricity of a storm.   Death (and dead bodies) is often present.   The characters have strong emotions and feelings. For these reasons, we can consider Frankenstein as one of the last important examples of Romantic gothic literature, but also the first text that marks the beginning of a new genre: science-fiction. These two elements live together in the novel and are represented by the monster and the scientist, supernatural and science. 6. anonymously: without the name of the author. 7. auction: a sale in which things are sold to the person who offers the most money. 8. to defy: to refuse to show respect for somebody more important than you. 9. devil: bad spirit. 10. aristocratic: part of the social class of people who are very important and rich. 11. to commit: to do something illegal. 35 Frankenstein s monster, Geneva 

Questo romanzo di Mary Shelley è uno dei primi esempi di fantascienza e racchiude una profonda riflessione sui limiti umani e la scienza.

Frankenstein

Level A2 • Elementary + - Collana RAINBOWS

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