Arguably, the two most famous film adaptations of Frankenstein are Frankenstein, directed by James Whale and produced by Universal Studios in 1931, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, directed by Kenneth Branagh and produced by TriStar Pictures in 1994. In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, the Monster’s eloquence and persuasiveness make it easier for the reader to sympathize with him, yet, in most film versions of the story the Monster is portrayed as mute or inarticulate and basically inhuman. Whale’s film completely dehumanizes the Monster, however, it is mostly based on a stage play that was adapted from the novel. Branagh’s version follows the book rather well and the Monster is more accurate than any other film adaptation, but still lacks a certain amount of humanity that inspires sympathy for his plight. While both films display aspects of the novel that lead the viewer to some of the same conclusions that Shelley leads her readers too, they both fail to completely capture the Monster’s humanity.
In the novel, Shelley leaves plenty to the reader’s imagination. This is not surprising, considering it was meant to be a “ghost story” project with Lord Byron and other writers and poets (Shelley, intro). Shelley never goes into detail about how Victor acquires the body and subsequent materials for his creation experiment, just that he went to the graveyard and charnel and slaughter houses (Shelley, intro). A brain is never mentioned in the text of the novel and she never describes the process Victor uses to create the Monster, but there are hints in the introduction and Vol. 1 about galvanism and alchemic processes (Shelley intro). Though Victor denies Captain Walton the secret to creation he discovers, the hints that it is indeed l...
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...tly heartbreaking as the Monster, consumed by grief and anger, desperately swims to the ice raft, torch in hand, to be with his father in death. This stirs up great amounts of sympathy and empathy for the Monster and even shows a glimpse of his humanity at its most painful, but at the same time he is “done with man” (Mary) and becomes an “outsider too grotesque, too freakish to reside in human society” (Snodgrass).
Many critics agree that Frankenstein is, and always will be, a difficult piece to capture on film. Whale’s Frankenstein will always hold a special place in the hearts of film makers and horror fans alike and Branagh’s version still holds the title of “most loyal” to the original novel. Both Whale and Branagh changed Shelley’s vision. Though they did not strive to make the Monster more “monstrous” they simply made him more than a man, but less than human.
First, to illustrate the events of the story a writer uses particularly well thought out and descriptive vocabulary. This is done to help the reader visualize the image in the author's mind. But in Mary Shelly's, "Frankenstein", she has gone far beyond this, she not only paints a picture in the mind of the reader, but the words written actually place them in a state of mind. A great example of this is when she wrote, "I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs." As a result of passages like this, "Frankenstein" has captivated it's readers for roughly two centuries. In addition it has not only taken hold of the literary minds of the world, the story has also found itself on to the big screen. Mary Shelly's crowning achievement has inspired about fifty movies. Unfortunately, a vast quantity of the motion picture created does not follow the theme of the original story. They branched out from it and portrayed the creation as an inarticulate, rampaging monster when initially he was a confused and vengeful genius. What ever the form "Frankenstein has taken root in our society and its here to stay.
The most recent film which reflects the novel, was directed by Kenneth Branagh in 1994, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The character remains one of most recognized icons in horror fiction today. Written almost 200 years ago about a man obsessed with creating artificial life continues to be a topic in the 21st century. Such as today’s controversy in stem cell research or human cloning which reflects the basic theme of Mary Shelley’s novel.
In, Susan Tyler Hitchcock book "Frankenstein: A Cultural History", she writes that it is inevitable that inspired films or artworks will create myths that stray from the original source to keep the story fresh and interesting. Frankenstein like any other tale, myth or legend, has been passed down from generation from generation. And from every retelling or remaking of the story parts have been changed or forgotten. And the only way to know the truth is to find the original source.
In this essay I am going to answer ‘how and why does Mary Shelley make the reader sympathise with the character of the monster in her novel Frankenstein’.
Since the original novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, to the multiple movie adaptations, the monster is almost always predicted as the monster of the story. It may be his physical appearance, from his tall, broad frame, to the signature screws in his neck. It may also be his unnatural upbringing and interpreted evil characteristics. We have grown to fear the monster, which ultimately, has masked the true monster, Dr. Frankenstein. With each coming movie, the good side of the monster is brought to light, while the real monster shows his true colors.
How can we think of Frankenstein and ignore the film classic of 1931? Yet the celebrated film does not follow the novel by Mary Shelley. Although the scene of a futuristic laboratory entrances movie audiences with the mad Dr. Frankenstein and his faithful assistant Igor, the scene is derived from twentieth century imaginations and interests, not the novel itself.
The 1931 version of Frankenstein was very similar to the novel and kept the essence of Shelly’s message. Although Shelly herself grew up in an affluent society and came from a family of intellectuals, she sees danger in excess knowledge and the advancement. Her anti-intellectualism and anti- exploration stem from her fear of the results. She doesn’t see many benefits or feel that the positives of advancement will outweigh the bad. The movie version of the novel changed the perspective of the story and added its own creative details. The movie enhances the actions being done by both the monster and Frankenstein which emphasized the dangers that arose from intellectual exploration. Both the novel and movie serve as a warning for advancement based on Shelly’s principals.
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein we are introduced early in the story to one of the main characters Victor Frankenstein and subsequently to his creation referred to as the monster. The monster comes to life after being constructed by Victor using body parts from corpses. As gruesome as this sounds initially we are soon caught up in the tale of the living monster. Victor the creator becomes immediately remorseful of his decision to bring the monstrous creation to life and abandons the borne creature. Victor describes his emotions and physical description of his creation as follows:
Victor Frankenstein, the main character in Mary Shelley’s novel, is the creator of the monster. When Victor created the monster, he believed he created the monster for the betterment of humankind, but he actually created the monster because he desired to prove to the world that an average human can do Godly acts. The desire to create the monster goes back to Victor’s childhood. As a young kid, Victor’s passions always lied in science and chemistry and in college; he became obsessed with the idea of creating life out of inanimate objects. He then decided to specialize in Alchemy. Within Shelley’s book Frankenstein, Victor said:
Hollywood has played a big part is our lives. Growing up we’ve seen numerous movies, some that scared us others that touch us, and those images stayed with us forever. So what happens when Hollywood takes a classic piece of literature such as Frankenstein and turns into a monster movie. It transforms the story so much that now some 50 years later, people think of Frankenstein as the monster instead of the monster’s creator. It became a classic monster movie and all the high values of the original were forever lost.
Victor had created the creature with the vision from his dreams of a strong, tall perfect being with no flaws. His years of study with the unnatural and science had come to this final conclusion and masterful idea that he was determined to finish. To his surprise, he had created the opposite, “For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Shelley 35) Victor is saddened by what he thinks of as a failure. He leaves his own apartment to go sleep in his court yard outside following his creation. He begins to isolate himself from the creature because of his fear of the creature’s outward appearance. He loses all hope for the creature without even learning anything about him. The fact that Shelley begins to refer to the being that Victor created as a “creature” shows Victor’s ignorance and lack of acceptance. It is Victor’s prejudice that blinds him of the creature’s true potential due to the unwanted preconception that follows the creature as he finds meaning in
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly is an old classic that has been enjoyed by many generations. Despite the fact that the novel was written over a hundred years ago, it is not only beautifully written but also enthralling and well composed. At the young age of eighteen, Mary Shelly raises questions about education and knowledge to which are answered through the well written characters in the novel. The Monster, who is a creation of another character, is highlighted as an individual who goes through an intellectual change.
Many timeless novels have impacts on our everyday culture, not only as a book, but also through music or movies. Many popular novels have multiple adaptations, which shape how we approach their interpretation, in ways we may never even notice. In some films, humans are depicted as monsters, whether through their actions, or through the thoughts of other beings. In these films we find issues with our own society, and in turn see ourselves as monsters, and look for ways we can change, for the better. One particular novel that influences this side of Hollywood is Mary Shelley's “Frankenstein”. The ways Frankenstein influences pop culture can be seen in science fiction films in which humans are depicted as monster, and “monsters” are seen as more humane beings, such as I, Robot, and Ender’s Game.
Frankenstein is a fictional story written by Mary Shelly. It was later adapted into a movie version directed by James Whales. There are more differences than similarities between the book and the movie. This is because, the movie is mainly based on the 1920’s play, other than the original Mary Shelly’s book Frankenstein. A text has to be altered in one way or the other while making a movie due to a number of obvious factors. A lot of details from the book were missing in the movie, but the changes made by Whales were effective as they made the movie interesting, and successful.
...iro portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster has created a false myth of an evil, unintelligent monster that is not at all similar to the one Shelley displays in her novel. Not only does the movie spread a false interpretation of Shelley’s work, it provides the public with no lasting message about technology or about the effects of misplaced human love. Shall we then seek revenge? Shall we destroy that what is evil? Of course not--Shelley gave us all to learn a lesson of tolerance and of correcting our mistakes. Perhaps if a more accurate film version of Frankenstein were available to the public, more people would be motivated to read the book and learn Shelley’s powerful message.