Frankenstein

Whilst the quality of this first episode is not brilliant with
some hissing, I still found myself gripped to these stories.
(Note, you can be assured that the subsequent chapters were of
much improved quality.) Chapter 1 begins with Baron Victor
Frankenstein wandering in the white icy wastes of the North Pole
in search of the monster, which he has created. A ship that has
been forced to wait for the thaws picks him up. It is then that
Baron Frankenstein begins to tell the story of his life and his
interest in science which led to his creation. Presenting George
Edwards as Frankenstein. 


Starring: George Edwards


 Broadcast Date: 1938


--- Book Notes ---


Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 novel written
by English author Mary Shelley (1797–1851) that tells the story
of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient
creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started
writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition was
published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was
20. Her name first appeared in the second edition published in
Paris in 1821.





n a series of letters, Robert Walton, the captain of a ship bound
for the North Pole, recounts to his sister back in England the
progress of his dangerous mission. Successful early on, the
mission is soon interrupted by seas full of impassable ice.
Trapped, Walton encounters Victor Frankenstein, who has been
traveling by dog-drawn sledge across the ice and is weakened by
the cold. Walton takes him aboard ship, helps nurse him back to
health, and hears the fantastic tale of the monster that
Frankenstein created.


Victor first describes his early life in Geneva. At the end of a
blissful childhood spent in the company of Elizabeth Lavenza (his
cousin in the 1818 edition, his adopted sister in the 1831
edition) and friend Henry Clerval, Victor enters the university
of Ingolstadt to study natural philosophy and chemistry. There,
he is consumed by the desire to discover the secret of life and,
after several years of research, becomes convinced that he has
found it.


Armed with the knowledge he has long been seeking, Victor spends
months feverishly fashioning a creature out of old body parts.
One climactic night, in the secrecy of his apartment, he brings
his creation to life. When he looks at the monstrosity that he
has created, however, the sight horrifies him. After a fitful
night of sleep, interrupted by the specter of the monster looming
over him, he runs into the streets, eventually wandering in
remorse. Victor runs into Henry, who has come to study at the
university, and he takes his friend back to his apartment. Though
the monster is gone, Victor falls into a feverish illness.


Sickened by his horrific deed, Victor prepares to return to
Geneva, to his family, and to health. Just before departing
Ingolstadt, however, he receives a letter from his father
informing him that his youngest brother, William, has been
murdered. Grief-stricken, Victor hurries home. While passing
through the woods where William was strangled, he catches sight
of the monster and becomes convinced that the monster is his
brother’s murderer. Arriving in Geneva, Victor finds that Justine
Moritz, a kind, gentle girl who had been adopted by the
Frankenstein household, has been accused. She is tried,
condemned, and executed, despite her assertions of innocence.
Victor grows despondent, guilty with the knowledge that the
monster he has created bears responsibility for the death of two
innocent loved ones.


........ and we have an gothic legend .........