Frankenstein: Who Is the Real Monster?

Season two of Stay Lit begins with a discussion of Frankenstein, the groundbreaking Gothic novel that continues to captivate readers more than two centuries after its publication. In this episode, Miles Ellison and Cambria Shaw explore how Frankenstein is far more than a simple horror story, examining themes of ambition, isolation, grief, and the dangerous pursuit of knowledge without responsibility. The hosts also discuss Mary Shelley’s tragic personal history and how her experiences with death and loss may have shaped the novel’s haunting themes of creation and abandonment. As Victor Frankenstein attempts to conquer death itself, the novel raises a timeless question: who is the real monster — the creature, or the man who created him? Join Stay Lit for the season two debut and a thoughtful exploration of one of literature’s most enduring and emotionally powerful works.