In the CliffsComplete guides, the novel's complete text and a glossary appear side-by-side with coordinating numbered lines to help you understand unusual words and phrasing. You'll also find all the commentary and resources of a standard CliffsNotes for Literature. CliffsComplete Frankenstein  is certainly Mary Shelley’s greatest literary achievement and one of the most complex literary works of all time. Unlike most Romantic writers, Mary Shelley seems interested in the dark, self-destructive side of human reality and the human soul. Discover how Dr. Frankenstein’s creation impacts everyone he meets — and save yourself valuable studying time — all at once. Enhance your reading of Frankenstein with these additional features: A summary and insightful commentary for each chapter - Bibliography and historical background on the author, Mary Shelley - A look at the historical context and structure of the novel - Discussions on the novel’s symbols and themes - A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters - Review questions, a quiz, discussion topics (essay questions), activity ideas - A ResourceCenter full of books, articles, films, and Internet sites Streamline your literature study with all-in-one help from CliffsComplete guides! All-In-One Resource! from the creators of CliffsNotes ? Plus Exclusive character map ? Handy review exercises ? Additional resources Visit the Student Resource Center at cliffsnotes.com Hundreds of downloadable titles - Sign-up for your free CliffsNote-A-Day ? e-mail newsletter - Glossary of common literary terms - Tips on studying and reading literature - Essay writing secrets - Fun and quirky quote quizzesMore than 300 titles available! See inside for the entire CliffsNotes family of products. Shelley's Frankenstein By Stephen C. Behrendt Wiley Publishing Copyright © 2001 Stephen C. Behrendt All right reserved. ISBN: 9780764587269 VOLUME I LETTER 1 To Mrs. Saville, England St. Petersburgh, Dec. 11th, 17-- You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. I arrived here yesterday; and my first task is to assure my dear sister of my welfare, and increasing confidence in the success of my undertaking. I am already far north of London; and as I walk in the streets of Petersburgh, I feel a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks, which braces my nerves, and fills me with delight. Do you understand this feeling? This breeze, which has travelled from the regions towards which I am advancing, gives me a foretaste of those icy climes. Inspirited by this wind of promise, my day dreams become more fervent and vivid. I try in vain to be persuaded that the pole is the seat of frost and desolation; it ever presents itself to my imagination as the region of beauty and delight. There, Margaret, the sun is for ever visible, its broad disk just skirting the horizon, and diffusing a perpetual splendour. There--for with your leave, my sister, I will put some trust in preceding navigators--there snow and frost are banished; and, sailing over a calm sea, we may be wafted to a land surpassing in wonders and in beauty every region hitherto discovered on the habitable globe. Its productions and features may be without example, as the phenomena of the heavenly bodies undoubtedly are in those undiscovered solitudes. What may not be expected in a country of eternal light? I may there discover the wondrous power which attracts the needle; and may regulate a thousand celestial observations, that require only this voyage to render their seeming eccentricities consistent for ever. I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man. These are my enticements, and they are sufficient to conquer all fear of danger or death, and to induce me to commence this laborious voyage with the joy a child feels when he embarks in a little boat, with his holiday mates, on an expedition of discovery up his native river. But, supposing all these conjectures to be false, you cannot contest the inestimable benefit which I shall confer on all mankind to the last generation, by discovering a passage near the pole to those countries, to reach which at present so many months are requisite; or by ascertaining the secret of the magnet, which, if at all possible, can only be effected by an undertaking such as mine. These reflections have dispelled the agitation with which I began my letter, and I feel my heart glow with an enthusiasm which elevates me to heaven; for nothing contributes so much to tranquillize the mind as a steady purpose--a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. This expedition has been the favourite dream of my early years. I have read with ardour the accounts of the various voyages which have been made in the prospect of arriving at the