The Cambridge Companion to Frankenstein

Description

The Cambridge Companion to Frankenstein consists of sixteen original essays on Mary Shelley's novel by leading scholars, providing an invaluable introduction to Frankenstein and its various critical contexts. Theoretically informed but accessibly written, this volume relates Frankenstein to various social, literary, scientific and historical contexts, and outlines how critical theories such as ecocriticism, posthumanism, and queer theory generate new and important discussion in illuminating ways. The volume also explores the cultural afterlife of the novel including its adaptations in various media such as drama, film, television, graphic novels, and literature aimed at children and young adults. Written by an international team of leading experts, the essays provide new insights into the novel and the various critical approaches which can be applied to it. The volume is an essential guide to students and academics who are interested in Frankenstein and who wish to know more about its complex literary history.

Andrew Smith is Reader in Nineteenth-Century English Literature at the University of Sheffield. His 18 books include the forthcoming Gothic Death 1740-1914: A Literary History, The Ghost Story 1840-1920: A Cultural History (2010), Gothic Literature (2007, revised edition 2013), Victorian Demons (2004) and Gothic Radicalism (2000). He edits, with Benjamin Fisher, the award-winning series Gothic Literary Studies and Gothic Authors: Critical Revisions. He also edits, with William Hughes, The Edinburgh Companions to the Gothic series. He is a past President of the International Gothic Association.

'... an economic and elegantly constructed introduction to this text ... a considerable achievement. ... it serves as a useful survey of current research on this most rich and most studied of texts. ... it will prove a useful addition to any university collection on the humanities.' Keith M. C. O'Sullivan, Reference Reviews 'Amid the whirl of bicentennial celebrations of the genesis and first publication of Frankenstein, any tempered reappraisal of the myths surrounding Mary Shelley's novel is welcome, and Andrew Smith's Companion performs this function admirably.' Scott Brewster, Notes and Queries