In her book The Gun, the Ship and the Pen, Linda Colley highlights how the earliest interpretations of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein were largely political. Both the monster and Dr. Frankenstein himself bear characteristics that evoke the figure of Napoleon Bonaparte. Dr. Frankenstein embodies boundless ambition—an individual who sees himself as superior to the "mass of ordinary inventors." The monster, on the other hand, is a being fascinated by the great figures of antiquity and possesses a remarkable "power of eloquence and persuasion."  

There is also an evident reference to war: the doctor's experiment aimed at creating a superior form of man, which instead resulted in a "miserable degenerate, who delights in carnage and suffering." These words should not be interpreted as attributing responsibility for war to a single individual, but rather as an exploration of what human beings are capable of when exposed to new ideas and the ability to mobilize en masse. Indeed, Enlightenment ideas were already widely disseminated and sought to reform society by challenging the existing class-based hierarchy, an ideological foundation that would ultimately lead to future conflicts.  

To further support the idea that Mary Shelley's works can be read as a reflection of contemporary historical events, Colley cites an excerpt from another of her novels, The Last Man, which envisions a world devastated by plague, war, and perpetual militarization. One of the characters states: "I have learned that one man more or less makes little difference, as long as there is always someone to fill the ranks of combatants as they fall; and that an individual’s identity can become secondary, as long as the ranks remain unbroken." 

Another link to Bonaparte can be found in Frankenstein’s alternative title, The Modern Prometheus, which alludes to the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire and gave this dangerous yet transformative tool to humanity. Similarly, Napoleon spread gifts that were both perilous and beneficial. Colley does not specify what these gifts were, but one might consider the exportation of revolutionary ideals and the centralized state model as key examples.