"I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life. ... His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! — Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips."
Shelley was profoundly affected by this nightmare, and it stayed with her for days. She eventually decided to write it down as a story, which became Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.
The story of Frankenstein is often interpreted as a cautionary tale about the dangers of scientific hubris and the pursuit of knowledge without ethical considerations. The novel also explores the themes of life and death, the nature of humanity, and the consequences of our actions.