7 Facts You Might Not Know About Frankenstein

1. The most frequent error made by readers about the novel is calling the monster “Frankenstein”. The creature does not have a real name; Frankenstein is only the family name of his creator.
2. At first, the author of the book was unknown because Mary Shelley published it under a pseudonym. The book was published three times in the 19th century. Because the original copy had a preface from Percy Shelley (Mary’s husband) who was a philosopher and a poet, most people thought that he was the author.
3. If you are someone who only watched a movie adaptation of Frankenstein, you will discover that the famous character of Igor, Frankenstein’s assistant, is not existent in the original novel. Victor creates his monster completely alone; his achievement is a secret.
4. The original story was written by Mary Shelley, and derived from a simple friendly contest. When she went to Switzerland to visit some friends, one of them proposed to the group that they should write a supernatural story to crown someone as the best writer. You can imagine that Ms. Shelley won the “contest” for her tale of Frankenstein.
5. Frankenstein can be considered as being the first science-fiction novel. Indeed, a pretty accurate description of science-fiction would be to transform normal beings in extraordinary circumstances with the help of science. This genre of storytelling fits the story written by Shelley.
6. This story is based on real events. This famous line always frightens horror movie enthusiasts, but you should be frightened also. In fact, an Italian scientist called Giovanni Aldini made experiments on an unanimated body with electric probes. The cadaver’s jaw slightly moved and one of his eye opened. He also seemed to breath a little, but the experiment failed when the battery died. What could have resulted from this experiment? We will never know.
7. The name of the novel is also the name of a castle in Germany that the Shelley couple visited. An alchemist who lived there previously tried to create a potion that could make people live for more than 100 years. He also did multiple experiments of cadavers. What a coincidence…

Costa Marino