Table of Contents
Dedication 13
Introduction 19
Percy Unbound 19
Frankenstein Unbound 20
Acknowledgments 23
Chapter 1 27
The Problem with Prefaces 27
Initial Observations 27
The Problem with the Prefaces 30
1818 Preface 30
Erasmus Darwin 31
German Physiologists 32
1831 Preface-Mary The Deceiver or the Co-Conspirator? 47
Chapter 2 57
Shelley, the Alchemist 57
The Young Alchemist 59
Frankenstein and Shelley the Alchemist 61
A Shocking Experience 67
Adam Walker 69
James Lind 72
Postscript 76
Alastor: or, the Spirit of Solitude 76
Chapter 3 79
Percy Shelley, Frankenstein, and Atheism 79
An Atheist and Anglican Priest 80
An Atheist Queen (MAB) 84
Pre-Frankenstein Atheistic and Alchemistic Fiction 85
Prometheus and Stealing God's Fire: Shelley's Atheism Takes Shape 86
A Digression: Shelley's Words, Mary's Hand 87
The Hidden Atheism in Frankenstein 89
Shelley Encounters The Devil 93
The Second Coming of the Tan-Yr-Allt Devil 95
Chapter 4 99
Shelley: The Anonymous Illuminatist 99
Misdirection and Disguises 99
Anonymity: Shelley's Signature 102
Letters to Armageddon Heroes 105
The Epipsychidion 107
Additional Examples of a Hidden Author 111
False Addresses and Handwriting Styles 114
The Bavarian Illuminati 115
Ingolstadt, the Illuminati, and Frankenstein 115
Shelley and Secret Societies before Frankenstein 116
Barruel, Weishaupt, and Shelley the Illuminati Agenda in Frankenstein 120
Chapter 5 127
The Sensitive Shelley and Platonic Love in Frankenstein 127
Shelley, the Sensitive Plant 128
The Sensitive Plant in Frankenstein 129
Hermaphrodites, Monsters, and Shelley 135
Plato's Symposium, Shelley, and Frankenstein 137
Alastor and Frankenstein 139
Shelley, on Love 141
Conclusion 145
A Restatement of the Facts 145
Does It Matter? 149
Recommended Resources 153
Appendix A 157
Preface to the 1818 Edition of Frankenstein 157
Preface to the 1831 Edition of Frankenstein 159
Appendix B 165
Ghasta, or the Avenging Demon 165
Index 175
