In episode five, we finally begin Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. We begin with the first four letters of the work, which are in this episode. We discuss Mary Shelley's tragic life, her dances with loss, and the hypothesized influences on her work. What does Frankenstein mean to you? We look at allegories for Frankenstein and the possibilities of what it represents. Next episode we will begin the first chapters of Frankenstein.

Content warnings for today's episode include infant death, suicide, antiquated/culturally offensive language, discussion of penal colonies, and emaciation. Please take care of yourself when listening to the program.

Introduction song is "Surreal Forest" by Meydän, licensed under Creative Commons. The song playing intermittently through the podcast between transitions is "Mystery Suspense Piano Theme - Oscar" by Keyframe Audio. Podcast also includes music by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay.