Orakel Classics
Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus
Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, prepared as a public-domain Orakel edition with 28 chapter-aware companion links.
Chapters
Choose where to begin
Letter 1
Letter 1 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. I arrived here yesterday, and my first task is to assure my dear sister of my welfare and increasing confidence in the success of my
Open2Letter 2
Letter 2 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. How slowly the time passes here, encompassed as I am by frost and snow! Yet a second step is taken towards my enterprise. I have hired a vessel and am occupied in collecting my sailors; those whom I have already engaged appear to be men on whom I can depend and are certainly possessed of dauntless
Open3Letter 3
Letter 3 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. I write a few lines in haste to say that I am safe—and well advanced on my voyage. This letter will reach England by a merchantman now on its homeward voyage from Archangel; more fortunate than I, who may not see my native land, perhaps, for many years. I am, however, in good spirits: my men are bold and apparently firm of purpose, nor do the floating sheets of ice that continually pass us, indicating the dangers of
Open4Letter 4
Letter 4 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. So strange an accident has happened to us that I cannot forbear recording it, although it is very probable that you will see me before these papers can come into your
Open5Chapter 1
Chapter 1 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. I am by birth a Genevese, and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic. My ancestors had been for many years counsellors and syndics, and my father had filled several public situations with honour and reputation. He was respected by all who knew him for his integrity and indefatigable attention to public business. He passed his younger days perpetually occupied by the affairs of his country; a
Open6Chapter 2
Chapter 2 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. We were brought up together; there was not quite a year difference in our ages. I need not say that we were strangers to any species of disunion or dispute. Harmony was the soul of our companionship, and the diversity and contrast that subsisted in our characters drew us nearer together. Elizabeth was of a calmer and more concentrated disposition; but, with all my ardour, I was capable of a more intense application
Open7Chapter 3
Chapter 3 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. When I had attained the age of seventeen my parents resolved that I should become a student at the university of Ingolstadt. I had hitherto attended the schools of Geneva, but my father thought it necessary for the completion of my education that I should be made acquainted with other customs than those of my native country. My departure was therefore fixed at an early date, but before the day resolved upon could
Open8Chapter 4
Chapter 4 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. From this day natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry, in the most comprehensive sense of the term, became nearly my sole occupation. I read with ardour those works, so full of genius and discrimination, which modern inquirers have written on these subjects. I attended the lectures and cultivated the acquaintance of the men of science of the university, and I found even in M. Krempe a great deal of sound
Open9Chapter 5
Chapter 5 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. It was on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the
Open10Chapter 6
Chapter 6 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. Clerval then put the following letter into my hands. It was from my own
Open11Chapter 7
Chapter 7 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. “You have probably waited impatiently for a letter to fix the date of your return to us; and I was at first tempted to write only a few lines, merely mentioning the day on which I should expect you. But that would be a cruel kindness, and I dare not do it. What would be your surprise, my son, when you expected a happy and glad welcome, to behold, on the contrary, tears and wretchedness? And how, Victor, can I relate
Open12Chapter 8
Chapter 8 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. We passed a few sad hours until eleven o’clock, when the trial was to commence. My father and the rest of the family being obliged to attend as witnesses, I accompanied them to the court. During the whole of this wretched mockery of justice I suffered living torture. It was to be decided whether the result of my curiosity and lawless devices would cause the death of two of my fellow beings: one a smiling babe full
Open13Chapter 9
Chapter 9 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. Nothing is more painful to the human mind than, after the feelings have been worked up by a quick succession of events, the dead calmness of inaction and certainty which follows and deprives the soul both of hope and fear. Justine died, she rested, and I was alive. The blood flowed freely in my veins, but a weight of despair and remorse pressed on my heart which nothing could remove. Sleep fled from my eyes; I
Open14Chapter 10
Chapter 10 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. I spent the following day roaming through the valley. I stood beside the sources of the Arveiron, which take their rise in a glacier, that with slow pace is advancing down from the summit of the hills to barricade the valley. The abrupt sides of vast mountains were before me; the icy wall of the glacier overhung me; a few shattered pines were scattered around; and the solemn silence of this glorious presence-chamber
Open15Chapter 11
Chapter 11 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. “It is with considerable difficulty that I remember the original era of my being; all the events of that period appear confused and indistinct. A strange multiplicity of sensations seized me, and I saw, felt, heard, and smelt at the same time; and it was, indeed, a long time before I learned to distinguish between the operations of my various senses. By degrees, I remember, a stronger light pressed upon my nerves,
Open16Chapter 12
Chapter 12 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. “I lay on my straw, but I could not sleep. I thought of the occurrences of the day. What chiefly struck me was the gentle manners of these people, and I longed to join them, but dared not. I remembered too well the treatment I had suffered the night before from the barbarous villagers, and resolved, whatever course of conduct I might hereafter think it right to pursue, that for the present I would remain quietly in
Open17Chapter 13
Chapter 13 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. “I now hasten to the more moving part of my story. I shall relate events that impressed me with feelings which, from what I had been, have made me what I
Open18Chapter 14
Chapter 14 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. “Some time elapsed before I learned the history of my friends. It was one which could not fail to impress itself deeply on my mind, unfolding as it did a number of circumstances, each interesting and wonderful to one so utterly inexperienced as I
Open19Chapter 15
Chapter 15 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. “Such was the history of my beloved cottagers. It impressed me deeply. I learned, from the views of social life which it developed, to admire their virtues and to deprecate the vices of
Open20Chapter 16
Chapter 16 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. “Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. I could with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants and have glutted myself with their shrieks and
Open21Chapter 17
Chapter 17 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. The being finished speaking and fixed his looks upon me in the expectation of a reply. But I was bewildered, perplexed, and unable to arrange my ideas sufficiently to understand the full extent of his proposition. He
Open22Chapter 18
Chapter 18 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. Day after day, week after week, passed away on my return to Geneva; and I could not collect the courage to recommence my work. I feared the vengeance of the disappointed fiend, yet I was unable to overcome my repugnance to the task which was enjoined me. I found that I could not compose a female without again devoting several months to profound study and laborious disquisition. I had heard of some discoveries having
Open23Chapter 19
Chapter 19 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. London was our present point of rest; we determined to remain several months in this wonderful and celebrated city. Clerval desired the intercourse of the men of genius and talent who flourished at this time, but this was with me a secondary object; I was principally occupied with the means of obtaining the information necessary for the completion of my promise and quickly availed myself of the letters of
Open24Chapter 20
Chapter 20 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. I sat one evening in my laboratory; the sun had set, and the moon was just rising from the sea; I had not sufficient light for my employment, and I remained idle, in a pause of consideration of whether I should leave my labour for the night or hasten its conclusion by an unremitting attention to it. As I sat, a train of reflection occurred to me which led me to consider the effects of what I was now doing. Three
Open25Chapter 21
Chapter 21 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. I was soon introduced into the presence of the magistrate, an old benevolent man with calm and mild manners. He looked upon me, however, with some degree of severity, and then, turning towards my conductors, he asked who appeared as witnesses on this
Open26Chapter 22
Chapter 22 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. The voyage came to an end. We landed, and proceeded to Paris. I soon found that I had overtaxed my strength and that I must repose before I could continue my journey. My father’s care and attentions were indefatigable, but he did not know the origin of my sufferings and sought erroneous methods to remedy the incurable ill. He wished me to seek amusement in society. I abhorred the face of man. Oh, not abhorred! They
Open27Chapter 23
Chapter 23 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. It was eight o’clock when we landed; we walked for a short time on the shore, enjoying the transitory light, and then retired to the inn and contemplated the lovely scene of waters, woods, and mountains, obscured in darkness, yet still displaying their black
Open28Chapter 24
Chapter 24 from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus. My present situation was one in which all voluntary thought was swallowed up and lost. I was hurried away by fury; revenge alone endowed me with strength and composure; it moulded my feelings and allowed me to be calculating and calm at periods when otherwise delirium or death would have been my
Open