(1) The image of the mad scientist—the unstable genius driven toward dubious goals by an intoxicating ambition—is a familiar one, often thought of in this age of cloning and genetic engineering. (2) Many people would be surprised to learn that the most influential embodiment of this archetype was created by a nineteenth-century teenager. (3) When Mary Shelley published her first novel, Frankenstein, in 1818, she was barely nineteen years old, yet her mesmerizing tale of a young scientist who creates a terrifying monster quickly became a best seller, and its story has been adapted many times for stage and screen. (4) In fact, it was the popularity of an early theatrical adaptation of Frankenstein, called Presumption and staged in London in 1823, that encouraged Shelley's publisher to issue a second printing of her book. (5) Unfortunately, most people today know the Frankenstein story only through later adaptatio

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