FactSentinel

In Mary Shelley's 1818 novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus," Frankenstein is not the monster but rather Victor Frankenstein, the ambitious young scientist who creates the creature through his experiments in reanimating dead tissue. The creature itself is never given a proper name in the text. Throughout the novel, Shelley refers to him using terms such as "the creature," "the daemon," "the fiend," "the wretch," and simply "the monster," but no formal name is ever assigned to him by his creator or within the narrative.

The confusion between creator and creation has become so widespread that it now represents one of literature's most famous cases of mistaken identity. This misunderstanding likely stems from early stage and film adaptations, particularly Universal Pictures' 1931 film starring Boris Karloff, which cemented the visual image of a green-skinned, bolt-necked figure in popular culture and blurred the distinction between Victor Frankenstein and his creation in the public imagination. Over time, casual usage has increasingly applied the name "Frankenstein" to the creature itself, even though this contradicts the original text.

Literary scholars and the novel itself consistently support the fact that Frankenstein is the scientist's surname, not the monster's name. This distinction matters not only for accuracy but also because it reflects a central theme of Shelley's work: the creature's lack of identity and name underscores his isolation and the responsibility Victor fails to take for his creation.