Villa Diodati, Lake Geneva

Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva is the mansion where Mary Shelley was inspired to write the story of Frankenstein while on vacation. She was in the mansion with Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Claire Clairmont, and John Polidori, Bryon's physician. During the rainy days they were there, they coped with the building tension of being stuck inside by reading, telling, and writing ghost stories. The inspiration for Frankenstein was born here, as well as Polidori's The Vampyre.

Source: Blakemore, Erin. “'Frankenstein' Was Born during a Ghastly Vacation 200 Years Ago.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Mar. 2018, https://www.history.com/news/frankenstein-true-story-mary-shelley.

Parent Map

19th Century British Literature Map

Timeline of Events Associated with Villa Diodati, Lake Geneva

Date Event Manage
1816 to 1821

The Creation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

At 18 years old, Mary Shelley crafted the idea of Frankenstein while reading, telling, and writing ghost stories with her husband, poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, her step sister Claire Clairmont, their friend Lord Byron, and Lord Byron’s physician, John Polidori, while trapped inside on a rainy day in Geneva, Switzerland in 1816. They were on a vacation at Lake Geneva, and the weather kept them trapped inside for days. To cope with their emotions while confined by the rain, they read horror stories together and found inspiration for their own ghost stories.Thus, the story of Frankenstein was born. 

The first edition was published anonymously out of fear of backlash on January 1, 1818 in London, but the second edition published in Paris in 1821 contained Shelley's name. The image included depicts the publishing company in London of the first edition of Frankenstein called Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor and Jones. Since then, there have been many publications and iterations of the story, and there have also been numerous film adaptations of Frankenstein.

 

Sources:

Blakemore, Erin. “'Frankenstein' Was Born during a Ghastly Vacation 200 Years Ago.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Mar. 2018, https://www.history.com/news/frankenstein-true-story-mary-shelley.

Exploringlondon. “10 Sites from Mary Shelley's London...5. the Temple of the Muses, Finsbury Square...” Exploring London, 10 Oct. 2018, https://exploring-london.com/2018/10/10/10-sites-from-mary-shelleys-lond....

“Mary Shelley's ‘Frankenstein’ Is Published.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 Nov. 2009, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/frankenstein-published.

 

 The Publishing Building of the First Edition of Frankenstein