Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
After reading the book Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and then seeing several adaptations done for the silver screen, there are changes that the films make to the book. The most evident change that jumps out at me is the portrayal of Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The common missing element in all of the film versions of the classic novel is the way they treat the character of Victor. The films all tend to downplay what a “monster” Victor is and instead stress how much of a monster the Creature is. The films seem to stress less on the responsibility and guilt that Victor feels over his creation, which is shown in the book. Instead of taking the stance on “a crime against nature” for trying to play God, the films spin the film as “a science experiment gone wrong”.
When reading the book Frankenstein, and looking at the character of Victor, one can not help but see his character flaws. Dr. Frankenstein is portrayed as selfish, ego manic bent on restoring life to his stitched together creature, and doesn’t stop to think of the consequences. Though not till later in the book, as Victor and Elizabeth are to be wed, his true selfish nature emerges once again. Victor believes that the Creature is coming to seek revenge on him, not for a moment thinking about the well being of his bride to be, Elizabeth (144). In the novel it is all about Victor and his selfishness, where as in the film versions, it looks as though Victor is trying to protect Elizabeth. Whether it had been a noise outside or a quick motion of a shadow, in the films its looks as if Victor is trying to protect Elizabeth.
A place in the book where it couldn’t be more evident of his guilt and shame of his creature is after it rises up, the birth of the Creature (35). Instead of feeding off this power scene and theme from the book, the directors of the films missed this opportunity. In the 1994 film Frankenstein, directed by Kenneth Branagh, Branagh changes this scene in the movie by having Victor believe he has accidentally killed the creature, and that all his guilt is believed to be gone. By changing this scene, Kenneth Branagh failed to capture the sense of out casting and lack of feelings Victor shows toward the Creature as he did in the book.
The biggest change in the novel to film adaptations is undisputedly the Creature. Obviously for time constraints...
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...for good. However he does try to use the knowledge he gains for good, by trying to help out the family in the woods, but because society rejects him he lashes out against them and his creator, Victor.
Most of the film versions of Frankenstein have chosen to not take the theme of “attainment/abuse of knowledge” as a major theme. They have mainly tended to focus on the aspect of a “monster movie” theme; this less intelligent monster terrorizing the country-side and on the hunt after its creator. However the most recent movie of Frankenstein, done by Hallmark Pictures, is the closest representation of the original Mary Shelley novel. This movie tends to add elements that are not in previous films, such as showing glimpses of Elizabeth’s and Henry’s positive use of their knowledge. The monstrous nature of the Creature is amplified in my opinion by actually showing his higher intelligence in the Hallmark version of the film. He comes off as more sinister because of his high intelligence level. Though the Hallmark version of Frankenstein is one of the better to date, none of the film versions of Frankenstein have used knowledge, the abuse and attainment of it, as a major theme.
The constant efforts and struggles of African Americans against Jim Crow laws, hate groups, social injustice, and racial bias prevailed and led to the Civil Rights Movement that has shaped our contemporary world. The struggle of African Americans to gain equal rights in a society dominated by conservative, white culture and prejudice along with the endeavor of acquiring the constitutional right to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, can safely place Jim Crow laws in archive of American
..., played God, abandoned his creation, and then hid any relation to the creature. Victor is quite at fault for the murders that take place in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. True, the monster does know right from wrong, the difference is he was not brought up by his parents that way. How to live life is something that is learned and imprinted through experience and guidance. The monster was never fully given the chance to live because upon the day he arrived he was instantly rejected. Victor created the monster physically and emotionally within himself and in turn died by it.
Although some critics say that the monster Victor has created is to blame for the destruction and violence that follow the experiment, it is Victor who is the responsible party. First, Victor, being the scientist, should have known how to do research on the subject a lot more than he had done. He obviously has not thought of the consequences that may result from it such as the monster going crazy, how the monster reacts to people and things, and especially the time it will take him to turn the monster into the perfect normal human being. This is obviously something that would take a really long time and a lot of patience which Victor lacks. All Victor really wants is to be the first to bring life to a dead person and therefore be famous. The greed got to his head and that is all he could think about, while isolating himself from his friends and family. In the play of Frankenstein, when Victor comes home and sets up his lab in the house, he is very paranoid about people coming in there and finding out what he is doing. At the end of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor says:
Frankenstein spent nearly two years devoting his life to giving life to an inanimate body. Frankenstein was so excited about finishing his work until he brought it the creature to life. Once the creature came to life Frankenstein abandoned him. Victor said, “Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bedchambers, unable to compose my mind to sleep (Shelley, 43).” Victor cast aside his creation simply because of his looks he could not get passed them. If Victor would have accepted and embraced the Monster than the outcome of their relationship could have been very different. Frankenstein’s rejection was the start of his future and happiness being stripped away from him. He had a chance to redeem himself to the Monster and he promised him he would create a companion for him and again he denies him that right as well. Victor spends months creating a companion for the creature and once he was almost finished he “tore to pieces” the Monsters companion. Victor now not only betrayed his creation once, but twice. First Victor left him and then he breaks his promise that he made
In Frankenstein, Victor’s monster suffers much loneliness and pain at the hands of every human he meets, as he tries to be human like them. First, he is abandoned by his creator, the one person that should have accepted, helped, and guided him through the confusing world he found himself in. Next, he is shunned wherever he goes, often attacked and injured. Still, throughout these trials, the creature remains hopeful that he can eventually be accepted, and entertains virtuous and moral thoughts. However, when the creature takes another crushing blow, as a family he had thought to be very noble and honorable abandons him as well, his hopes are dashed. The monster then takes revenge on Victor, killing many of his loved ones, and on the humans who have hurt him. While exacting his revenge, the monster often feels guilty for his actions and tries to be better, but is then angered and provoked into committing more wrongdoings, feeling self-pity all the while. Finally, after Victor’s death, the monster returns to mourn the death of his creator, a death he directly caused, and speaks about his misery and shame. During his soliloquy, the monster shows that he has become a human being because he suffers from an inner conflict, in his case, between guilt and a need for sympathy and pity, as all humans do.
He created a life, and then spontaneously he quickly decided to run away from his creation. Victor’s actions after creating what he created were really irresponsible, and did not correctly took care of the circumstance’s he put himself in. The creation was never actually evil, but he felt abandoned by what could had been called his father. Frankenstein, the monster, was only a seeker for companionship. He strongly desired to feel loved, rather than abandoned. Society’s evil behavior toward the monster is what altered the monster’s conduct and followed to how he acted.
The movements discussed in this paper represent the power of what can happen when a nation is united. The Reconstruction Era paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement. If one element of the Reconstruction Era was missing from the history of America the Civil Rights Movement may have not been possible. To evaluate each event on an individual basis, the Reconstruction Era is a representation of a developing country deciding how to move forward with the situations that were present at the time. Reconstruction was necessary in order to save the country and to integrate black Americans into an evolving nation. The Civil Rights Movement on the other hand symbolized a vision that was created during the Reconstruction Era, but was not fulfilled until this point. As a nation that was a trailblazer in the form of democracy, we had failed the black community in equality. The only problem with both of these movements is the fact that they should have not needed to occur in the first place, in a theoretical world were racism does not exist. Along side with how long it took for change to occur in the country are the only real negative representations behind each of these movements. Thousands of black Americans died simply to have the same rights as white Americans. The future of this nation cannot advance without knowing the legacy of each of these
Shelley’s Frankenstein does an excellent job at demonstrating the ideas and accomplishments of the enlightenment period. Shelly expresses these ideas and thoughts through the character of Victor Frankenstein who is an aspiring scientist seeking an intellectual challenge. Victor Frankenstein live s his hometown of Geneva and leaves in quest of a valued education in Ingolstadt. When Victor arrives at college he is lonely and finds himself in a new world in which he lives by himself. He than meets Mr. M. Waldman who is a chemistry professor. We can tell the Frankenstein is a representation of the Enlightenment and scientific period because he just like the earlier theorist Who is a Each character represents an important part of history such as the ideals of the scientific revolution, the embodiment of non- European ideals, and the scientific path that the Europeans would be taking in the future. The creation of Frankenstein itself is a symbolization of the progress of the enlightenment period. During this time the Europeans had just witnessed the scientific revolution where simple devices like the microscope and better telescopes were invented along with the advances of knowledge.
At first glance, the monster in Frankenstein is a symbol of evil, whose only desire is to ruin lives. He has been called "A creature that wreaks havoc by destroying innocent lives often without remorse. He can be viewed as the antagonist, the element Victor must overcome to restore balance and tranquility to the world." But after the novel is looked at on different levels, one becomes aware that the creature wasn't responsible for his actions, and was just a victim of circumstance. The real villain of Frankenstein isn't the creature, but rather his creator, Victor.
He toils endlessly in alchemy, spending years alone, tinkering. However, once the Creature is brought to life, Frankenstein is no longer proud of his creation. In fact, he’s appalled by what he’s made and as a result, Frankenstein lives in a perpetual state of unease as the Creature kills those that he loves and terrorizes him. Victor has realized the consequences of playing god. There is irony in Frankenstein’s development, as realized in Victor’s desire to destroy his creation. Frankenstein had spent so much effort to be above human, but his efforts caused him immediate regret and a lifetime of suffering. Victor, if he had known the consequences of what he’s done, would have likely not been driven by his desire to become better than
It is when Frankenstein realizes how different he is to other people that he realizes his uniqueness and individualism. “I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man. I was more agile than they and could subsist upon a coarser diet; I bore the extremes of heat and cold with less injury to my frame; my stature far exceeded theirs. When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?” (Frankenstein, 150). While Frankenstein is by no means a human, he is made up of human parts and still craves love and affection. His rejection from everyone he sees, including his creator makes him feel like an outcast. It was because of Victor that Frankenstein couldn’t bear to be who he was made to be and felt a need to run into isolation. Victor not only created a monster physically, but also mentally turned him into someone he didn’t have to be. Both Frankenstein and Victor struggle with balancing their personal wants and needs with societies expectations and the people around them. That is one of the true struggles of being one person living in a world of many, you have to do what makes you happy while making sure it doesn’t effect other peoples happiness negatively. Victor doesn’t do a good job of
Everything has an origin, a time and a place of its beginning. A lot of things have happened over the course of two millennia’s. The origin of Italian cuisine dates back centuries and over time is has evolved due to political and social changes within Italy and Europe. During the time the Roman Empire controlled many territories and provinces. Italy was among theses territories, and during which time its people generated one of the greatest cuisines in the world. Each territory and providence displayed their individually with their own unique way of cooking. (Steendahl, Par.3). Every town has a distinctive way of making sausage, special kinds of cheese and wine, and a local type of bread. Even if one were to ask around just one town or providence how to make tomato sauce. Variations within the methods and ingredients will be the answers. (Volpi, ...
The dramatic ending serves a purpose as he wants to point out the flaws for Greek marriage traditions. He revealed the sexism in Greek marriages with Jason and Medea. Jason was very domineering and also portrayed as the antagonist, thus making his wrongdoings very unforgiving. His justification of leaving Medea was unreasonable and only made his situation worse. Jason, once the hero, is satirized by Euripides. His actions are not seen as heroic, even if he thinks about the well being of his sons. Medea, on the other hand, can be sympathized at first by seen from suffering from the lost of her love to an unfair reason. Her erratic behavior was well justified, she had the right to grieve over everything she had lost. However, her act of revenge went out of hand. Her act of revenge was worse than Jason’s act of betrayal. Her revenge add a dramatic effect which was intended to send a message. Euripides brought up a taboo aspect of marriage and divorce in Medea to show the flaws in Greek belief. Marriages were not fair, as shown in Medea. The character Medea, was used to send message that there needs to be justice for
Stress is defined as “any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one’s well-being and thereby tax one’s coping abilities” (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 72). Stress is a natural event that exists literally in all areas of one’s life. It can be embedded in the environment, culture, or perception of an event or idea. Stress is a constant burden, and can be detrimental to one’s physical and mental health. However stress can also provide beneficial effects; it can satisfy one’s need for stimulation and challenge, promote personal growth, and can provide an individual with the tools to cope with, and be less affected by tomorrow’s stress (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 93).
Stress is an ongoing dilemma that occurs in each and everyone’s life. It is a factor that is undoubtedly a part of daily living. Due to the trivial problems that occur in people’s daily lives massive amounts of stress can arise. People perceive and manage stress in many different ways. The causes and effects of stress are numerous and one’s ability to manage stress is vital in maintaining healthy living.