著名科幻小說作家阿西莫夫和奧爾迪斯把第一部科幻小說定為１８１８年瑪麗·雪萊創作的《弗蘭肯斯坦》，《弗蘭肯斯坦》確實有資格被作為世界上第一部科幻小說，因為它具備了太多的科幻文學的性質。它用自然觀解釋故事裏的超現實情節：是雷電而不是魔法令怪人擁有了生命。它體現了科幻文藝的重要主題：科學與宗教、社會道德之間的衝突。弗蘭肯斯坦為他侵犯了“上帝創造生命的特權”而自責，被科學創造出來的巨人則因為無法融入社會，而與人類激烈衝突。它塑造了人造人這樣個非人角色，並借此來折射作者對人性的思考，正是科幻文藝的重要特徵。整個故事一直延伸到北極，也體現了科幻文藝作品大量使用跨國跨地區背景的特色。
 
        書中對科學技術的態度，使人想到了一個進退維谷的人類代表，站在新時代的十字路口時，所可能具有的種種複雜心態：一方面，科學向上帝挑戰，創造了奇跡；另一方面，這奇跡又與人類的傳統本性格格不入。近二百年來，這種尖銳的衝突在人類與技術進步之間一直沒有停止，這也就是以《弗蘭肯斯坦》開創的科學幻想作品的主要主題。　　從《弗蘭肯斯坦》開始，科學小說進入了文學的舞臺。
 
 
 
好萊塢１９３１年拍攝的這部名為《弗蘭肯斯坦》的影片，使這一角色深入西方觀眾人心。
　　

http://www.godzilla-germany.com/Titel/1931-33/1931_Frankenstein/1931_Frankenstein.htm

 
這篇挺有意思的

Since its debut in 1819, Mary Shelley\'s novel, Frankenstein, has been the stuff of nightmares...and fuel for the imagination. The consequences of playing God, creating and destroying life at will, and exploiting science are deeply plumbed, yet in the nearly two hundred years since Shelley\'s book was first published, its themes have been continually misinterpreted and its lessons distorted.
 
The horror genre, in which Shelley\'s book is usually categorized, is a 20th Century invention. What is conveniently forgotten is that Mary Shelley was a 19th Century Romantic, and the Creature in her gothic masterpiece was no monster. When first given life, the Creature was beautiful, articulate, and intelligent--too much so for his own good in fact. The Creature became violent and ugly only when his desire to be loved was met with fear and abandonment by his creator, Dr. Victor Frankenstein.
 
Popular Culture has not only ignored the early life of Shelley\'s Creature, it has assigned the name \"Frankenstein\" to the creation rather than the creator. No one is more responsible for this than film director James Whale. His 1930s films (Frankenstein and its sequel The Bride of Frankenstein) presented audiences with the indelible image of Shelley\'s Creature as a flat-headed, bolt-necked monster capable only of grunts and destruction.   
 

  
As you glance at the Frankenstein items on display, note how Whale\'s 70-year-old cinematic vision is still influential today. But stop for a moment and think about Mary Shelley\'s book and its complex metaphors about life, family, and society.

Then ask yourself who the real monster in the novel is.   
http://www.lib.msu.edu/events/FrankExh.html

 
 
http://www.czech-tv.cz/program/04.03.2002-21:30-2.html

http://www.blackcn.net/sfc/okehuan/tj/fzjs.htm 世界科幻小说发展简史
http://www.thinkerstar.com/sci-fi/critique/frankie.html  弗蘭肯斯坦發表 180 週年有感
http://www.hebut.edu.cn/jgsz/tuanwei/union/newspaper/yiyuxk/i.doc