About the author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly was born in 1797 in London to the British philosopher William Godwin and the British author and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. She met the young poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in May 1814, and two months later left England with him. She married Shelley when his first wife died in December 1816. The couple, along with Lord Byron and his wife, Mary's stepsister Claire, spent time in Geneva on the banks of Lake Leman. This became the setting for much of Frankenstein, which Mary began to write while there. The idea of Frankenstein was inspired by a contest between Mary Shelly, her husband, and Lord Byron. In 1818 her first and most important work, the novel Frankenstein, was published, it was an immediate and popular success. Some of her other works include The Last Man (1826) and Lodore (1835).She also edited a book of Percy Shelley's poems in 1839. She lived in
the shadow of Shelley's genius for a long time. Shelly died in 1822. Mary Shelley lived until 1851, having enjoyed some literary success. But none of her other works received as much acclaim as Frankenstein. 

List of characters

Elizabeth lavenza

    She is an adopted child of Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein. She is "presented" to Victor as his to take care of. From the beginning she was very close to Victor and was his playmate. She is the future wife of Victor but is murdered by the monster on her wedding night as part of his revenge.

        She is also an adopted child of Caroline. She is accused of murdering William and is tried and executed for it even though she is innocent. She pleads not guilty to the charges but the court passes its judgment based on a locket that belonged to William that the moster planted on her. 

Alphonse Frankenstein

He is the father of Victor Frankenstein. Not much is known about him. He urges Frankestein not to dabble in useless philosophies.

She is the kind and devoted wife of Alphonse Frankenstein. She plays a very important role in the adoption of Elizabeth and Justine She catches Scarlet fever while nursing Elizabeth and dies before Victor leaves for the university. Frankenstein is inspired by her death to find a way to bring the dead back to life.

He is the son of Alphonse and Caroline Frankenstein. He is the most important character in this novel. His curiosity about the secrets of life and death makes him produce the creature. His dream of finding a way to bring back the dead is shattered when he realizes what he has done by giving life to an inanimate thing made of human parts. Instead of taking responsibility for his experiment he rejects it thereby incurring the wrath of the monster. He tries to pursue and kill the creature but he fails due to his human weaknesses.     

He is the youngest brother of Frankenstein and is the first victim of the monster.

Ernest Frankenstein

He is also an younger brother of Victor. And is the sole surviving member of the Frankenstein family. 

He is a very good and intimate childhood friend of Frankenstein but he is more like a brother to Victor than a friend . He is often the protector of Victor during hard times. He nurses Victor back to health and proves himself to be a cheerful companion. He too is murdered by the monster for his association with Victor. 

Robert Walton

        He is the captain of the ship that rescues Frankenstein. He is an explorer who wants to gain fame by finding a route through the Artic. He is much like Frankenstein, both of them are ambitious, and both want fame and glory. He records Victors horrifying tale and is one of  the narrators.  

M. Krempe

He is one of professors that Victor has at the university at Ingolstadt. He rejects Victor's interest in the supernatural saying that all of it is nothing but nonsense. But this only furthers Victor's curiosity. 

He too is a professor of Victor's. But unlike M. Krempe he becomes a mentor and a friend to Victor and urges him to study science and be a good scientist.

The "Monster"

        This "Monster" is the product of Victor's ambition. He is an enormous and hideous creature who is feared and rejected by everyone that he meets because of his appearance. He also acts as one of the narrators of the story as he tells his story to Victor and tries to convince him to create a female of his kind. As a result of his experience with humans he learns to despise all humans. This leads him to exact revenge on his creator who rejects him too.  

The DeLacys

        The DeLacy family consists of the old man, Felix, Agatha, and Safie. The creature learns how to speak and read  from observing Felix teach Safie. When the creature tries to befriend them they get scared and chase him away.  They leave their cottage in fear when the monster reveals himself to them.

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Alternate ending to the story