Frankenstein’s Story to Film Transformation
One famous line that many people associate with Frankenstein is “It’s Alive!”. Although this may be true for the films, that line is not mentioned in the book after Frankenstein’s creature comes to life. Most people hardly even know that Frankenstein was a book before it became a movie. Yet, many pieces of artwork, films, and other stories have been created with the baseline of this particular story. When thinking of Frankenstein’s creature, usually people associate it with the movies instead of the book itself. This may be because these days, movies are a more popular art form to indulge in. Yet, over the years, the names, images, and the story itself has changed. When looking at Frankenstein films
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from different years, the viewers will notice many differences; especially in modern Frankenstein movies. The way Frankenstein is perceived and viewed today has changed since the release of the story by Mary Shelley many years ago. One film that is made about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is called I, Frankenstein. This movie is about Victor Frankenstein’s monster and about his “life” many years after the death of Victor. Yet, unlike the ending of the book, the creature doesn’t float away to die after Victor’s death. The creature takes Victor’s body to bury it in his family graveyard. At this moment, this is where the original story begins to form into a modern-day fantasy story.The creature soon receives the name Adam after he has an interaction with a gargoyle association that fights demons. We later find out that the demons are after Adam because he is the key to bringing back deceased demons since he does not have a soul. Yet, when Victor’s journal is brought into light, the plot starts to revolve around knowing the information that is in that journal instead of needing Adam. In the end, the gargoyles and Adam work together to prevent all of the demons from coming back to life and creating and army. We also learn that Adam has a soul after all and soon devotes himself to defend human-kind against demons. “And when the forces of darkness return, you shall know that I am out there fighting to defend yours” (I, Frankenstein). The movie I, Frankenstein was a very interesting movie as a whole and is very enjoyable. Yet, the whole plot of the movie was not really focused on the initial idea of Mary Shelley’s book. The movie basically has a good vs. evil plot line with mystical creatures involved. Though it does give a glimpse into Shelley’s original work in the beginning. This part serves as a background story to the creature and how he arrives in the present time during the movie where all of the actions takes place. When comparing it with the text of Frankenstein, it does give a few components of the original story throughout the whole movie. For example, the creature, also known as Adam, discusses with one of the main scientists, Terra, about how he wanted Victor to make him a companion, but Victor refused to do so just like in Shelley’s story. During the movie, Victor Frankenstein’s journal was the key to the whole plot. Both the creature in the movie and the creature in Frankenstein took an interest to Victor’s journal when they found it. Even though it was made to mostly be a fantasy, this was something in the movie that I believe really related to the original story the most other than the prologue beginning. One difference between Mary Shelley’s story Frankenstein and the Frankenstein portrayed today are the names.
It seems as if over the years, Dr. Frankenstein has almost become a distant memory. Nowadays, the creature that Victor created is referred to as Frankenstein. Compared to Shelley’s original story, present viewpoints of Frankenstein and the creature have blurred together into one solid form. In one of the scenes in the movie I, Frankenstein, one of the characters named Naberius called the creature Frankenstein with the reasoning behind it being, “We are all the sons of our fathers, are we not?” (I, Frankenstein). This meaning that he is giving the creature the name of its “father” which is a reasonable explanation unto why society calls the creature Frankenstein as well.
Along with names being different, the creature’s appearance has changed as well. One of the things that is mostly remembered about Frankenstein's monster are its features. Many know Frankenstein’s creature to have a square like head and bolts sticking out of its neck. Yet, over the years, the creature’s features have changed drastically. In the movie I, Frankenstein, the creature is more human-like with scars all over his body and face. The scars are an accurate feature, but in the original story, Victor describes the creature
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as: “His limbs were in proportion,....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 the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shriveled complexion and straight black lips”(Shelley 58). Plus, the creature is normal human size in the movie but in the book it states that Dr. Frankenstein wanted “to make the being of a gigantic stature,that is to say, about eight feet in height, and proportionably large” (Shelley 53). The movie definitely differs from the book in this department. Many other differences occur between the original Frankenstein story and the films that are made about it.
For one thing, the point of views are different between the two. The book has Victor being the narrator of the story and the creature having gained a lot of knowledge. Yet, in some movies, we mostly follow the creature’s perspective of the story. In the movie I, Frankenstein, we follow the creature perspective after the events that had occurred in the story. Plus, many movies about the book Frankenstein show “us far less of the monster’s inner life than his long autobiographical narratives in the novel do” (Heffernan 135). The creature is usually grunting or portrayed as not knowing many words. Yet the movie I, Frankenstein is one true exception. The creature knows English pretty well and has even taught himself to fight in order to survive. I, Frankenstein might not be what Shelley’s initial work had in mind, but it is better than the creature wandering around grunting as shown in most
films. Although many changes have been made to the story of Frankenstein, some things were still kept the same as they were in the story. One obvious characteristic that has not been changed is that the creature created and brought to life by Victor Frankenstein. Also, the creature’s loneliness is emphasized in plenty of the Frankenstein movies. Take the movie I, Frankenstein for example. For many years, the creature spends by himself in solitude on a high mountain. This is one trait that is most likely going to change. Another would also be the creature’s inability to fit into society. In I, Frankenstein, when the creature finally comes out of solitude from the mountain, he states, “The human world had changed in the time I had been gone. But some things had not changed” (I, Frankenstein). In this scene, many people were giving him funny looks because of all of the scars on his face which pointed out its inability to be accepted by humans. All of these components are key to Frankenstein’s creature. Luckily, they have not changed over the years. When watching the movie I, Frankenstein, even though it gave some of Shelley’s original plot as a background story, the film is mostly about a fantasy modern world to make the story more interesting. While Shelley’s story is a thriller/ Romantic book about a ferocious creature, the movie is a fantasy involving gargoyles, demons, and saving mankind. Yet, I, Frankenstein is not the only film that changes the story’s original genre. “Young Frankenstein became known as one of the best exercises in genre satire in world cinema” (Du Bose). Reasoning for this could be because, “Film appeals to viewers’ appetites for a vicarious experience and the emotions that it brings” (Fischoff 402). Over the years, preferences may have changed for a lot of people. Providing different genres for Frankenstein gives all types of audiences to enjoy and view this story in different ways. Throughout the movie I, Frankenstein, both science and magic are present in explaining many things. Yet, science and magic have a lot of similarities to them. Both science and magic have, “or seem to have, mysterious and thus potentially dangerous properties” (Schelde 5). As shown in the actions of Frankenstein’s monster, science definately can possess some dangerous outcomes. In Shelley’s story, what Victor achieved through the animation of his creature could definitely fall into either category. All in all, the story Frankenstein has experienced many changes since it was first released by Mary Shelley. One of the main changes that has occurred would be how the creature is now referred to as Frankenstein. Another change would be how the creature’s features have evolved over the years. Plus, many different movies genres other than thrillers have been made about the story. Whether for better or for worse, the story of Frankenstein, and its image, has evolved into a form that embraces the views of society. Even though the story has been altered, the movies of Frankenstein’s story can still be enjoyed by many audiences.
To begin with, Victor Frankenstein's creature thinks, reacts and acts like a human. For example, When the creature was in the woods he noticed that a girl was drowning in the lake. When he went in the lake to go save her from dying a man comes and thinks that the creature was doing harm to the girl. When all the creature was trying to do was to save the girl from drowning. In this case the creature reacted and acted just like a human would. To add on, the creature also made some horrid mistakes in which he regrets in doing. The creature regrets and admits that he did wrong ''But now vice has degraded me beneath the meanest animal''(192). In this quote it states that the creature calls himself an "animal'' because of all his wrong doing. The creature
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.
The Creature, Victor Frankenstein’s creation, is shaped into a monster through its experiences, instead of the nature of itself, which is more expected. Victor Frankenstein, on the other hand, is shaped into a monster because of his mind’s power-hungry nature. Victor treats his creature poorly and he himself becomes wicked. While the Creature also becomes wicked in the end, its actions are more justified because multiple people treated it poorly, causing the Creature to lash out. Even though Victor Frankenstein and the Creature both turn into wicked monsters, to some extent, only one of
Imagine an eight-foot-tall, misshapen human child. You might complain that this is contradictory - but do it anyway. Imagine some sort of humanoid being with the mind of a human child in an eight-foot body, green with a nail in its head if you want. This is what Frankenstein's creature is. Frankenstein's creature is mentally a child, and we see its evolution through traditional child development in the course of its narrative. But the creature is the only member of its species, and therefore its narrative can be taken to represent the history of an entire species - the creature's first experiences can be viewed as an amalgam of creation myths.
Later on, the creature without having knowledge of what is life and what is dead, he goes on rampage but he feels the hate and eventually wants to kill his creator. In Frankenstein we see the scientist in a small sympathetic way since he wants to redeem his actions and destroy what he made. That is not the scientist we see in Hammer’s version. In Hammer’s version we see how Frankenstein is deeply obsessed on his experiments. Frankenstein’s monster shows to be in the sympathetic part, even if he had less participation that in 1931 Frankenstein, he shows darkly comedic way how he is brought to life and suddenly dies just to be resurrected again. The spectator has a sympathetic perception of this character whose goal in life is no more than
As a tragic hero, Victor’s tragedies begin with his overly obsessive thirst for knowledge. Throughout his life, Victor has always been looking for new things to learn in the areas of science and philosophy. He goes so far with his knowledge that he ends up creating a living creature. Victor has extremely high expectations for his creation but is highly disappointed with the outcome. He says, “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). Frankenstein neglects the creature because of his horrifying looks, which spark the beginning of numerous conflicts and tragedies. At this point, the creature becomes a monster because of Victor’s neglect and irresponsibility. The monster is forced to learn to survive on his own, without anyone or anything to guide him along the way. Plus, the monster’s ugly looks cause society to turn against him, ad...
The depiction of the creature itself establishes one of the main differences. Instead of running around and murdering innocent civilians because he was purely evil, Shelley’s interpretation of the Creature commits his most horrifying acts as revenge against Dr. Frankenstein for not creating a bridge for him to live his and her lives together away from human contact.... ... middle of paper ... ... Frankenstein, like any other tale, myth or legend, has been passed down from generation to generation.
There are a number of differences between the book and movie adaptation of Frankenstein. The first evident difference is that, in the book, the novel gets some books and learns on his own to read and write from them .Comparably, in the movie adaptation, the monster learned from watching the De Lacy family and how they communicated to each other. The book goes in great detain to explain the monsters education and how the books helped whereas, in the movie, little is shared of how fast the monster acquired education. The monsters education is reflected best in the book compared to the movie. In addition to this, the monsters appearance is very different in the movie compared to how he is described in the book. In the book, the creature taught himself how to read and write from the classic literature the Prometheus and Milton’s Paradise Lost, where he learnt to speak very clearly. In the movie, the creature is inarticulate.
Most Americans have some idea of who Frankenstein is, as a result of the many Frankenstein movies. Contrary to popular belief Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a scientist, not a monster. The "monster" is not the inarticulate, rage-driven criminal depicted in the 1994 film version of the novel. Shelley’s original Frankenstein was misrepresented by this Kenneth branagh film, most likely to send a different message to the movie audience than Shelley’s novel shows to its readers. The conflicting messages of technologies deserve being dependent on its creator (address by Shelley) and poetic justice, or triumph over evil (showed by the movie) is best represented by the scene immediately preceding Frankenstein’s monster’s death.
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:
Frankenstein was and still is one of the greatest horror books written. It is still relevant to incidents happening today. Children dress up as the monster at Halloween and directors still try producing newer versions of the movie. People view the creature as a monster purely based on its aesthetics, “I had gazed on him while unfinished; he was ugly then…” Victor comments on the monsters looks a lot throughout the novel and as the story progresses the creature realises how hideous he is too.
Mary Shelley was a big fan of Romanticism. So the creature is evident of Gods work. A monster is not characterized only by its physical appearance but by its actions and attitude. That’s the reason that Frankenstein’s creation is not the true monster in this novel. Even though it may express many monstrous qualities throughout the story it has many more human ones. The creature’s humane characteristics greatly outnumber the monstrous ones and should be recognized by the reader. It is truly amazing how a creature with so much hatred and despair can have so many humane qualities.
Despite popular belief, Frankenstein is not the name of the monster but instead its creator. Victor Frankenstein created the “tremendous and abhorred” (page 76) creature that is known as the Monster after he discovers how to give
When you hear the word “Frankenstein”, the first thing that comes to mind is a creepy, zombie-like monster; but this is not exactly what the story is all about. The monster is not actually named Frankenstein; it’s the creator of the monster whose name is Victor Frankenstein. Because of Victor’s interest in natural science and creation of life, he decided to study relentlessly and create his own human out of something inanimate. Once brought to life though, the creature ends up being more of a curse than an amazing invention. Victor then spends the rest of his life in fear and grief to try and put an end to the monster he created. The novel Frankenstein shows remarkable and deliberate connection with the myth of Prometheus from the cover page to the creation scene and is tied in through the rest of the book. (Whisenant)Victor Frankenstein can be called a modern-day Prometheus because of his creation of a being, their love for human kind, and their fate at the end.
As a romantic novel Victor is responsible, because he abandoned his creation. As an archetype novel, Victor is the villain, because he was trying to play god. Finally, Victor as a Gothic novel, Victor is at fault, because, he and the creature are two different parts of the same person. If Frankenstein is looked at as a romantic novel, Victor, not the creature, is truly the villain. When Victor created the creature, he didn't take responsibility for it. He abandoned it, and left it to fend for itself. It is unfair to bring something into the world, and then not teach it how to survive. The creature was miserable, and just wanted a friend or someone to talk to. On page 115, the creature said, "Hateful day when I received life! Accursed the creator. Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust." This line shows the agony the monster was in, because of how he looked when he was created which led to even Victor running away from him. If Victor didn't run, he could have taught the monster and made his life happy. After the creature scared the cottagers away he said, "I continued for the remainder of the day in my hovel in a state of utter ...