Spring 2026: Frankenstein

Course Description

Why does Victor Frankenstein run away from The Creature he has made? How is language a theme in Frankenstein? What defines “the monstrous"? How does The Creature (as well as other monsters that we will look at) threaten, transgress, or represent “othered” bodies and communities? 

Written in Geneva on a very rainy summer in 1816 (caused by weather patterns from the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia), Frankenstein is one of the best-known works of literature written in the English language.  The young Mary Shelly wrote it as a response to a dare: to come up with “a ghost story.” From this prompt, Shelly thought of a tale that fits with the classic Gothic horror novel, while also inventing the first science fiction novel of all time (the horror is caused by the product of science). 

Frankenstein was also written in the midst of the first industrial revolution: at a time when there were debates about the boundaries of knowledge and risks of innovation. By encapsulating the current scientific and moral questions of her day, she managed to create a text that still belongs to us—that still offers us a modern myth and a symbol for the same kind of moral questions. What is the cost of invention? What responsibilities do creators have to what they have created? What makes “a monster”?

Cohort Learning Objectives

• Read the entire novel of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein with close attention to the language, plot, and ethical questions within the text. 

• Learn and practice dialogue skills, navigating through the text collaboratively to express opinions, ask questions, develop interpretations, and give confident answers.

• Gain a strong understanding of what makes Frankenstein so enduringly fascinating, such as: its themes of sympathy, revenge, madness, and ambition; popular interpretations around the risks and dangers of science and technological advancements; and notions of monsters and monstrosity. 

• Engage in a comparative reading and analysis by looking at monster paraphernalia in the 20th and 21st centuries. 

• Deepen your reading practice and gain confidence in translating your solo study into a group setting, avoiding the assistance of external sources (except the footnotes and permitted external sources listed in our Program Policies).

Reading Assignments & Session Plan

Over the course of four sessions, we’ll peel back the layers of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, spreading out the reading over the first three weeks. We’ll conclude the cohort with a discussion on several pieces of “monster paraphernalia” and representations of “monsters” across time.

• First Session: Read Frankenstein:

  • Author’s Introduction to the Standard Novels Edition (1831) by Mary Shelly

  • The Preface by Percy Shelly

  • Vol. 1, Letters 1-4

  • Vol. 1, Chapters 1-8 (pages 1-90)

• Second Session: Read Frankenstein, Vol. 2, Chapters 1-8 (pages 91-151

• Third Session: Read Frankenstein, Vol. 3, Chapters 1-7 (pages 156-225)

• Fourth/Final Session: Spend time observing and analyzing 5-7 selections of artwork and objects representing monsters throughout history for analysis. More information will be shared closer to the start date.

For more details on what will happen each day within this reading flow, please reference the Day-to-Day Session Flow in our Program Structure page.