Frankenstein

Lisica, Flora (2023) Frankenstein. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 583-591.

Abstract

This chapter explores the notion of ‘the possible’ in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (1818; revised in 1831). ‘The possible’ is an emerging area within psychology and the social sciences concerned with the relationship between present realities and the potential for their transformation, and in the context of this encyclopedia, the chapter therefore makes new connections between literary study and these fields. One of the earliest literary examples of science fiction, Frankenstein has often been read as a cautionary tale about the dangers of scientific development; it has had a long history of being adapted for the stage and film, which have rendered Frankenstein and his creature cultural icons. Reading the novel in this context, and in the context of critical debates surrounding the novel, the chapter argues that Frankenstein helps us apprehend the significance of the imagination and storytelling for our understanding of how we relate to one another, and for what we wish to be possible in the future.

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