a destructive agency that cannot be controlled or that brings about the creator's
ruin. The expression comes from a manlike monster in the 1818
novel Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797 - 1851). In the
novel, the monster was created by
Dr.
Victor Frankenstein from parts of
cadavers (
dead bodies) and brought to
life by the
power of an
electrical charge. Frankenstein's monster was larger than most men and fantastically strong. Longing for
sympathy and shunned by everyone, the creature ultimately turned to
evil and finally destroyed its creator.