Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

In 1816, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was staying on the shores of Lake Geneva with his young wife Mary, and his friends Lord Byron and John Polidori. It was the year without a summer, and, confined to the house by the terrible weather, they each agreed to write a ghost story. Over the next few weeks, the 19 year old Mary produced Frankenstein, one of the most consequential and influential books ever written. Fusing the Gothic and Romantic, it tells the story of the brilliant young scientist Victor Frankenstein, who discovers how to make a living creature out of old body parts. His creation is the Monster; endlessly recreated in film, TV and painting, the story has haunted the western imagination ever since. Is Frankenstein’’s creation a tragic figure or an inhuman force for evil? What responsibility do we have for what we create? Why are we terrified of new technologies? And whatever happened to Mary Shelley? Join Rupert and Charlie as they explore this most iconic of novels.