Comparing Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

The exclamation “that was an amazing book!” is usually never followed by “that was the best movie ever; it followed the storyline perfectly!” For some reason, only the book or movie is actually well put together, and it usually ends up being the book since it is how the author intended the story to be. All the changes that can occur tend to change the meaning of the story a little which is why the original is almost always better. There are many things that can be different between the original books and other representations; for example, a scene can be changed, the setting can be different, or an entire new story could be introduced. However, one major difference that tends to happen a lot is the adjustment of characters and their traits. This difference can be seen when comparing the creature in Mary Shelley’s original novel Frankenstein to multiple newer representations. The creature is portrayed differently in almost all illustrations; unfortunately, all modern representations of the creature tend to be wrong. The creature’s physical characteristics, intellectual abilities, morals, and actions are all drastically different when comparing modern representations to Shelley’s actual portrayal of the being, and these changes can ruin Shelley’s depiction of who the creature is on the inside.

Gothic literature is a style of writing that contains elements of both horror and romance. This genre allows readers to experience a mix of horror and romance intertwined. Within the gothic genre there are elements of supernatural events, beings, and gloomy day settings. This style of writing became popular in the late 18th century and early 19 century. Many give credit to it’s uprising to author Horace Walpole, who wrote The Castle of Otranto (1764). His book contains all the elements that constitute the gothic genre. Frankenstein fits perfectly into the gothic category because the gloomy and mysterious setting is placed where most readers think of it as

Upon hindsight following the two novels, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, one would label the monster and Heathcliff to be nothing short of villainous characters. Throughout each individual novel the two leads perform heinous actions that should leave readers feeling repulsed, and with no ounce of sympathy towards the principal characters; nonetheless, it is impossible not to. Heathcliff and the monster are not evil but rather characters to sympathize, both are the products of their environment and correspondingly, although for divergent reasons, are motivated by the supereminent emotions—love and hate.

Literary suspense techniques used by the film maker is foreshadowing and imagery. Foreshadowing is used in the film through the use of fast pace music in combination

In Bowen’s article, he discusses the different gothic motifs that make up gothic literature such as power and restraint, clashing time periods, strange places, terror versus horror, and a world of doubt. “Edward Scissorhands” has always been considered a strange film while We Have Always Lived in a Castle has always been considered a gothic novel. According to Bowen’s list of gothic motifs, “Edward Scissorhands” would be considered more gothic than the novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle because it fits more of the gothic conventions.

If the setting is in a castle or an abandoned home, they’re definitely using gothic elements. It could either be a big mansion, a haunted house, towers, etc. For “Frankenstein”, the setting is in a Castle. Victor’s parents were very wealthy and most families that were wealthy at that time, lived in castles.

What does it mean when one describes a 'noble beast', and to what extent must a damaged character wreak havoc for their actions to be deemed monstrous? How do we define a monster? These questions are posed to readers of Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights, two novels tied by threads of revenge and discrimination. Both stories are about created 'monsters' and how they have been wronged by those around them. Those 'monsters' proceed to seek vengeance on the people who have harmed them. Several parallels can be drawn between Heathcliff and Frankenstein's monster, although the circumstances and results of their warping differ, and these comparisons help one determine whether their actions are justified or are impossible to redeem.

The 2015 film Victor Frankenstein written by Max Landis and produced by John Davis completely changes, removes the humanity from, and almost obliterates Victor's relationship with his monster, from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, causing Shelley's original story to be lost through this adaptation. In Victor Frankenstein the story of Victor's monster is not conveyed until the very end of the film because the movie is narrated from the point of view of Igor, as opposed to Victor, which changes the portrayal of the monster and Victor's relationship. Shelley's frame narrative brings the reader's attention to the fact that Victor will be telling his own story. This is evidenced when Walton states in his letter to his sister that, “He [Victor] then

The movie Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, directed by Kenneth Branagh may be the most accurate depiction of such a prestigious work of art in Mary Shelley’s novel titled Frankenstein. The movie encompasses the themes that Shelley set out to exhibit in her own novel in a mirror like fashion except for the reason it is being portrayed on the big screen rather than on paper. In addition to the messages being displayed in the film and novel being alike, the storylines were almost identical. The movie even included the highly beneficial frame story with Robert Walton and his crew and their travelings to the North Pole. Lastly, the actors and props within the movie could not have done a better job of portraying the feelings of the characters and the setting of this well known story.

Mary Shelley envisioned a horror story one stormy night with a group of friends that would be brought to fame for decades to come. In 1994, Kenneth Branagh brought to light a dramatic recreation of the famous novel. Both tell the story of Victor Frankenstein, and his powerful knowledge of life. Many concepts and ideas of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein were brought to life in Kenneth Branagh’s Hollywood film, but things like his studies, creations, and friendship with Henry gave a whole new light to how this tragic story unfolded.

“Horror and science fiction tend to present radically opposite interpretations of what may look like comparable situations.” (Kawin, 1981.) Bruce Kawin helps the reader to understand how a story in the genre of science fiction could be adapted, or bastardized if you like, into a horror. This is similar to the film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Both “Frankenstein” (1931) and “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935) portrayed characters and events differently than Shelley would have desired. Her novel had many deeper implications than the movie portrayed.

Even though it is mysterious and cannot be fathomed, just like Romanticism, the mystery in Gothic Literature is horrific, while in Romanticism it is beautiful. Gothic fiction relates to prudishness (especially in the Victorian era) as it focuses on taboo subjects, such as: sex, vice, and murder. Therefore, it is, to great extent, going beyond peoples emotional limitations. To add to that, the typical feature of Gothic Literature would be expressing nature in the threat of monsters, ghosts, or in other words, supernatural forces conflicting with humanity. On the whole, a great representation of these gothic and romantic influences would be the novel Frankenstein (or The Modern Prometheus) by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, which was published in 1818 and written during the Romantic Period.

Gothic literature includes elements of style that is usually portrayed in tales and deals with horror, despair, the grotesque, and mysteries. In the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, there are many elements of gothic literature that is found throughout the book. The term gothic is very broad in literature, and gothic can mean many different things from characteristics of people, feelings and reactions of a specific setting, mood, actions that happen being people, and so much more. All of this thrived in the 19th century. Gothic is categorized by an emphasis on the dark, gloomy, and mysterious. Ideas such as magic, hidden passages, wind, ghosts, and other supernatural elements, love, etc were all elements in the Gothic movement during the 19th century. Specifically, the descriptions of the settings, both outside and inside, in the novel, the actions of the main protagonists in the novel, and the love between Catherine and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights all add on to this idea of a gothic literature or tradition.

One of the most important aspects of any Gothic novel is setting. Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is an innovative and disturbing work that weaves a tale of passion, misery, dread, and remorse. Some would argue that Frankenstein is a classic Gothic novel. By a classically Gothic novel it is meant that the story employs a traditionally scary theme. This could include such things as dark and dreary castles set in isolated surroundings replete with dungeons. Supernatural beings such as ghosts and living dead may be included in the twisted, thrilling, unveiling tale. The novel does contain many Gothic characteristics in a sense that it does explore

In Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights, we see this through the description of Wuthering Heights and Thrusscross Grange, “…and displayed, beyond the garden trees and the wild green park, the valley of gimmerton” (Bronte 102). Certainly, the use of a descriptive narrative by the author allow the reader to have a better understanding of feelings and emotions. Besides, the settings could also be used as a more metaphorical way and depict a darker side of the story. On the day of Catherine’s wedding for example, “the day she was buried there came a fall of snow… it blew bleak as snow” (316). The description of the day should make the reader feel gloomy and dismal, nonetheless Bronte used snow which changed the gloomy aspect of the setting. In addition Emily Bronte’s quotations of the awe of nature Mary Shelley are well described in her novel Frankenstein. In fact, Shelley illustrate within the story characters such a monster to create a gloomy or dreary setting. “I saw the light of the moon, the daemon at the casement” (Shelley 71). Definitely, the light of the moon used in this quotation is associated with the wickedness of the monster. Indeed, In both Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights, the writers give the reader more insight to the setting by using the awe of nature, which