• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / How Did Frankenstein Get His Name?

How Did Frankenstein Get His Name?

March 4, 2020 by Karen Hill

In 1818, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, second wife of the romantic young poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, published her first piece of writing.

It is said that she had undertaken such authorship two years before when she, Shelley, and Byron had agreed that each was to undertake to write a tale dealing with the supernatural.

Mrs. Shelley was the only one to complete the task. Her tale bore the title, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus.

The story tells about a Swiss student, Victor Frankenstein, who found a way to create life artificially. After making the discovery he visited dissecting rooms and graveyards and constructed a body in human form and endowed it with life.

The soulless monster thus created had muscular strength and animal passions, but was shunned by all other living creatures. Made frantic by its unsatisfied desires and by Frankenstein’s unwillingness to create a mate for it, the monster revenged itself upon its creator.

After committing many atrocities, including the murder of Frankenstein’s friend, brother, and bride, it finally slew Frankenstein himself. The book became very popular, and the term Frankenstein came into the language as indicating any person whose work brings about his own ruin.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Shelley did not give a name to the monster, with the consequence that Frankenstein has often been misapplied to the monster itself, and, thus, to the agency that brings about the ruin of its creator.

Related Facts

  • Where Did the Story of Frankenstein Come From and Why Did Mary Shelley Stay Up To Write the Story?
  • What Does the word "Frankenstein" Mean?
  • How did "Billy the Kid" get his nickname and what was his real name?
  • How Did Clark Kent Get His Name and Where Did Superman's Real Name Come From?
  • How Did "Wrongway" Corrigan Get His Name?
  • How Did "Buffalo Bill" Get His Name?
  • Was the Red Baron from World War I really a Baron and how did he get his name?
  • Where did Henry Ford get the name for his biggest failure the Edsel?
  • How did Genghis Khan get his name and what does it mean in Chinese?
  • How did the Cowboy Movie Star Hoot Gibson Get His Name and Where was He Born?
  • How Did Bugs Bunny Get His Name and When Was the Cartoon Character Created By Warner Bros?
  • How Did Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Get His Name and Who Wrote the Christmas Song?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Where does the word “frank” come from and What does frank mean?
Next Post: Who is Friday named after and Where does the word “Friday” come from? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy