I intend to examine to what effect the concepts of body, medicine and madness are presented in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818). I will perform an in-depth analysis of the parts of the text that relate to explorations in new technologies, advances in medical science, and their psychological impacts. I will discuss the social implications of the growth of man's technological evolution during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Mary Shelley's gothic science fiction novel Frankenstein (1818) was written and published between two major historical events. It followed the French Revolution (1789-1799), a time of radical social and political upheaval, and was written during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, a time of great socioeconomic and cultural effects. The French Revolution constituted "the most decisive influence on nineteenth-century British intellectual, philosophical and political life". (David Cody, French Revolution: 2010). The Industrial Revolution marked “the transition from a world of artisanal production to a factory system”. (Shirley Burchill et al. The Industrial Revolution: 2010). Advances in mechanical manufacturing have brought social implications of anxiety. Frankenstein can be seen as a reflection of the turmoil and change observed within society during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, through the explorations and growth of man's technological evolution. Frankenstein is an epistolary novel, made up of letters, diaries and journal entries, which allows the reader a sense of verisimilitude – the feeling that it could have actually happened, allowing the author to change point of view when required to advance the plot. The story follows a young man plagued by grief... middle of paper.......com. Whole wheat. Random House, Inc. 2011. Available at www.dictionary.reference.com/browse/Prometheus, [accessed 12 January 2011].Russell A. Potter, A Chronology of Frankenstein. Available from www.ric.edu/faculty/rpotter/Frank-chron.html, [accessed January 12, 2011]. Robert W. Anderson, Body Parts That Matter: Frankenstein, or The Modern Cyborg, 1999. Available from www.womenwriters. net/editorials/anderson1.htm, [accessed 12 January 2011].Shirley Burchill, Nigel Hughes, Peter Price & Keith Woodall, The Open Door Website, The Industrial Revolution, 2010. Available from www.saburchill.com/history/. ./001.html, [accessed 12 January 2011].US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Frankenstein Penetrating the Secrets of Nature, 2010. Available at www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/frankenstein.html, [ accessed January 12 2011].