Frankestein

Mary Shelley

Sep 2022 · Loudly · Narrated by Christopher Saylor

About this audiobook

Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus, or simply Frankenstein, is a literary work of the English writer Mary Shelley. Published on January 1, 1818 and framed in the tradition of the Gothic novel, the text deals with issues such as scientific morality, the creation and destruction of life, and the audacity of humanity in its relationship with God. Hence, the subtitle of the work: the protagonist tries to compete in power with God, as a kind of modern Prometheus who snatches the sacred fire of life from the divinity. Although Frankenstein is infused with elements of the gothic novel and the romantic movement, science fiction writer and editor Brian Aldiss has argued that it should be considered the first true science fiction story.

About the author

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin and her mother was the philosopher and feminist activist Mary Wollstonecraft. Shelley's mother died less than a month after giving birth to her. She was raised by her father, who provided her with a rich if informal education, encouraging her to adhere to his own anarchist political theories. When she was four, her father married a neighbour, Mary Jane Clairmont, with whom Shelley came to have a troubled relationship. In 1814, Shelley began a romance with one of her father's political followers, Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was already married. Together with her stepsister, Claire Clairmont, she and Percy left for France and travelled through Europe. Upon their return to England, Shelley was pregnant with Percy's child. Over the next two years, she and Percy faced ostracism, constant debt and the death of their prematurely born daughter. They married in late 1816, after the suicide of Percy Shelley's first wife, Harriet.