‍The plot of Frankenstein deals various topics including: the usurpation of female role, the theme of education, and social prejudices.
Frankenstein's monster, rejected and marginalized by society for his diversity represents a criticism of the society of the time which judged people based on appearance and excluded them if they didn’t correspond to social standards.
Shelley explores the theme of alienation and loneliness through the monster, suggesting that true monstrosity may lie in society itself. In 19th century Britain, there were many forms of discrimination and social injustices, mainly involving social class, gender, ethnicity and religion. Social classes were rigidly divided, workers were paid little and even children worked; living conditions in industrial cities were often terrible due to overcrowding and  lack of hygiene.
During this period, Rousseau's ideas spread, seeing industrialization as negative. In Frankenstein the monster can be considered Roussseau's natural man, a man in a primitive state, not influenced by civilisation.
Discrimination against minorities was nothing new in England, in fact in this period many people such as Irish immigrants were discriminated against.
An important aspect of the author's life that also influenced her novel is family: Mary Shelley is the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, a famous campaigner for women’s rights, and of William Godwin a radical thinker. Both her parents had been heavily influenced by the ideas of French Revolution and were part of a small group of radical thinkers.

The themes

‍In 1833 slavery was abolished in England and the lives of workers were protected by the reduction of working hours and the improvement of working conditions, through laws such as the Factory Act of 1833.
In the 20th century, England continued to make progress in human rights with major developments such as women's suffrage in 1928. After the Second World War, the human declaration of rights influenced England, and following this declaration some laws like the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1962 and the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 were cancelled.
In recent decades, there have been many struggles for the rights of women and ethnic minorities, with laws like as the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976, which have prohibited gender and racial discrimination in various areas of society . With the approval of the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995, access and equality of opportunities for people with disabilities was guaranteed.