Frankenstein, or; The Modern Prometheus

Frankenstein, or; The Modern Prometheus was published anonymously in 1818 with a brief preface by Percy Shelley. The 1823 edition introduced the author’s name as Mary Shelley. In 1831, the novel was ‘revised, corrected, and illustrated with a new introduction by the author.’ The title name was taken from a castle overlooking Darmstadt, which the Shelleys may have encountered on their 1814 Rhine journey. Ingolstadt is the Bavarian city where the Illuminati, an Enlightenment secret society, was founded in 1776. The subtitle indicates a possible analogy with Prometheus. In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, and was condemned to torment as a result. Both Byron and Percy…