Chapters 1–4: Victor recalls his childhood in Geneva, his bond with Elizabeth and Henry, and the books and ideas that transform his curiosity about science into a dangerous obsession—with Elizabeth’s backstory differing between the 1818 and 1831 editions.

In Chapters 1–4, Victor looks back on his happy childhood in Geneva, his loving parents, and his close relationships with Elizabeth Lavenza and Henry Clerval. We see how his early reading in strange, outdated scientific writers shapes his imagination and how his fascination with “natural philosophy” leads him to Ingolstadt, where modern science and new discoveries push his curiosity in a more dangerous direction.

This episode also briefly highlights one of the biggest differences between the 1818 and 1831 editions: Elizabeth’s origin and status. In t ...