Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was written at a time of rapid change throughout the world. At the end of the 18th century, the French Revolution was taking place. Meanwhile, the Declaration of Independence was passed in the United States. Also, there were scientific breakthroughs including Dr James Lind's experiments using electricity to animate dead frogs. This was the inspiration for Mary Shelley to write a fantasy novel about a doctor who creates a `monster' from dead body parts. As a result of some of the scientific developments, attitudes were changing towards Lind and others, and Shelley took advantage of these changing attitudes to get them to sympathise with the two main characters from her novel, Frankenstein, namely...