Dr. Mary Shelly 's ' Frankentein ' And The 1994 Adaptation Of The Novel '

One difference that is seen in the variations between the novel and the film is the state of Victor’s mentality, and whether or not he has a complete obsession over his monster. While Victor is creating his monster in the novel, he does not receive any visitors. He does not have any assistants. He doesn’t even take time to reply to the letters sent by Elizabeth. During the creation of his monster, Victor goes into social withdrawal. Even after the monster is created, Victor seems to be obsessive compulsive about his monster. He becomes physically ill and seems to be mentally and physically unstable because of the escape of his monster. The only thing that he talks about or even thinks about during this time is the monster. Then, later on in the novel, after he meets with the monster in

As for Victor and his mother, the book always seemed to make their relationship appear flawless and non-confrontational. The book, in some ways, lacks maternal presence and input since Mrs. Frankenstein died early in the novel. Caroline is a major part in Victor’s upbringing, but she is not as influential as some characters. The novel in the beginning makes it as seem that Victor is missing a role model that is tender and empathetic to what is happening in his life, but with Caroline we do not get that impression while she was alive. If Victor’s mother was still alive would he have gone on to create the creature? Creating the “monster” was time-consuming and made it hard for him to think about his other problems such as his mother’s death. To succeed, Victor felt the need to dedicate his life to science and the uprising of his

In reading the book Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and watching the by the same title, I discovered several large differences. Primarily, the edited and modified parts were changed to make the movie more interesting.

Victor knew that what he was doing was hurting his body physically and mentally, “My labors would soon end, and I believe that exercise and amusement would then drive away incipient disease” (Shelley 42) Victor felt this way when he was in the midst of the creation of his monster. Victor knows that his decisions were hindering his body and his ruining his limited time that Victor has on this Earth. The hindering of someone’s body and wasting of time is going to be a direct result of Victor’s demise. The actual creation of the monster also took a toll on Victor; Victor describes the monster by saying “No moral could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be so hideous as that wretch” (Shelley 44) Another example of Victor’s description of the creation of the monster the night before “I trembled exclusively; I could not endure to think of, and far less to allude to, the occurrences of the preceding night” (Shelley 46) Even the next day, after the monster was created, Victor still was hurt by the creation of the monster which then led to Victor being very sick, only to be nursed back to health by Clerval. All of this could have been avoided by Victor if he would have not of created the monster. But because Victor decided to create the monster, the consequences of these actions were the ultimate demise of Victor with the person responsible for the demise being victor

In many movie adaptations of a novel, the film doesn’t do the book justice in its story telling. Movie versions generally do not focus on the characters’ emotions or thoughts like the books do. They also do not develop the characters as well as the original story, giving the viewer little to no knowledge of a certain person. This is the case in Frankenstein. While there are some similarities between the original written version and the one on screen, the movie doesn’t delve into the lives of the main characters: Victor and the creature. The loss of characterization and focus on their lives takes away the audience’s take on consequences.

Victor tells the reader, “I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures.” (NEED CITATION) Because of this overpowering guilt and depression, Victor even contemplates suicide; saying, “I was tempted to plunge into the silent lake, that the waters might close over me and my calamities forever.” (81). But throughout all of his suffering, Victor found hope and love in Elizabeth. In one of the letters he wrote to her, he proclaims, “I fear, my beloved girl, little happiness remains for us on earth; yet all that I may one day enjoy is centered in you.” (168). In this statement of love, Victor summarizes what he has to live for. His happiness does not remain in science, friendships, or family; but resides in his future with Elizabeth. He later talks about the last moments of his life during which he enjoyed the genuine feeling of happiness, his wedding. While alive, Elizabeth had been his greatest lover, encouraging him through all of his darkest valleys. And even in her passing, the vengeance of her death consumes Victor’s mind, dedicating his life to kill the horrific Monster which he had created.

The characterization of Victor’s creature, the monster, in the movie although somewhat dramatically different from Mary Shelley’s portrayal in the novel Frankenstein also had its similarities. Shelley’s views of the monster were to make him seem like a human being, while the movie made the monster out to be a hideous creation. The creature’s appearance and personality are two aspects that differ between the novel and movie while his intellectual and tender sides were portrayed the same.

Some people see Frankenstein and his creature as complete opposites, but they are not as different as they may seem. Victor and his creature have no mother figure in the novel. Victor’s mother was there for Victor in the beginning but “resigned cheerfully to death… she died calmly” (Shelley 53), whereas the creature was born without one. Therefore, throughout the novel, both Victor and the creature have to depend on their fathers for guidance. Frankenstein and the creature are both intelligent. Frankenstein gains his intelligence through his schooling and experience, while the creature gains intelligence through observations, experience, and “Paradise Lost, a volume of Plutarch’s Lives, and the Sorrows of Werter” (Shelley 155). These characters want to be accepted in the world. Frankenstein wants to be accepted in the

In the end when all the creature's action made Victor die and pushed both of them to the mental and physical edge of the world. With Victor's death, the monster now had nothing the creature was “ frightful selfishness hurried me on, while my heart was poisoned with remorse”(163). He had no more creator to torment and he lost a part of himself. Unlike Amir once he became evil, there was no turning back, he could not be good again like Amir and only through one way and that was to kill himself. The monster like Othello had lost everything now and when both of them killed the ones they lost they did not realize the consequences of their betrayals. When these consequences came to fruition, they could be good again and both Othello and Frankenstein killed themselves so they did not have to deal with the regret of their decisions that were going to eat away at them. The creature says, “ I shall die. I shall no longer feel the agonies which now consume me, or be the prey of feeling unsatisfied, yet unquenched”(166). The monster was ready to lift the weight off his shoulders like Othello had done because both killed the one they had loved or had wanted to be loved by and did not want the regret

In the book they both suffer the same fate dying alone which is a fear Victor and his creature especially had. Victor always prided himself around his family, and was always the most wretched when they passed. The creature wanted a mate to bond with no matter how miserable the conditions were because at least he would have someone to love and die with. Victor failed in doing this, and suffered the consequences for his failure to comply to the simple needs of his creation. To further analyze, T.J Madigan explains “If Frankenstein can be faulted-as indeed he can – it is not for hubris, but rather for the very qualities he mentions above, cowardice and carelessness. For he performs his operation without telling anyone else, and when his creation comes to life, he rejects it by running away and hoping the creature will die. This rejection of what he has brought about his failure to share his findings with the scientific community, or the people around him ultimately leads to tragedy” (Madigan). Victor was too afraid of being ousted by the scientific community if he shared this. If Victor had done so, he may have been either taken as a joke or an evil doer. Victor may have had help to control his creature and avoid death all over, but it is because of the ridicule of the society that stopped him from sharing his

The monster is not faultless for the awful things that he has done. He kills three of the people that his creator was very close to including his adopted sister Elizabeth. Losing these people is very hard on Victor. The loss makes Victor so distraught that, “he calls the spirits of the dead” (179) to help him make the monster feel the pain of loss that he feels. In addition to killing those close to Victor, the monster destroys the house of the De Lacey’s with fire and then “dances with fury around the devoted cottage (123). Additionally, the monster appears to like the trouble and anguish that he is able to trigger in Victor: “your sufferings will satisfy my everlasting hatred” (181), the monster writes

One example of this is at the beginning when it shows the death of Victor’s mother. In the book it states that she died of scarlet fever, which was a deadly virus that transpired throughout most of Europe. Yet in the movie she died of childbirth when baring her last son William Frankenstein. The scene is quite dramatic and catching, but it makes Victor develop a certain fear of childbirth and sickness. In the book he only feels sadness towards his mother’s unfortunate death. Not a big change, but it still changed something.

The writing “Caleb Williams and Frankenstein” by A. D. Harvey, shows how the writing styles of both books are similar in general, but Caleb Williams does a better job of creating a more fearful and realistic perception of reality. Victor chooses to isolate himself in society, not caring that he is alone. On the other hand Caleb Williams is forced into isolation and it is torture to him. A. D. Harvey is surely right about how Caleb Williams does a better job of creating a better pessimistic view of society, because the characters in each book have a very different stance on isolation despite the parallels in the books.

Throughout the story the Frankenstein’s monster is referred to as a true monster because of the different acts that he has committed, yet throughout the story the reader is made aware of the compassion and morality that Victor’s” creature possesses, like a real human. Victor is the true monster in this horror novel, because he possesses many of the characteristics that would define what a monster is. Victor Frankenstein created his monster due to his eagerness for alchemy and his unnatural obsession with being like God. Victor does not take into account the consequences of his actions. Victor rejects his creation the moment he lays eyes on it, and this caused the monster to perform the acts that he did. The cruel rejection is what begins the a journey that will soon enough be end of Victor. After Victor decides to go back on creating his monster a mate, he then destroys the half made creature which anger Frankenstein’s monster and this cause him wreak revenge on his creator. The monster tells Victor that he will be at his wedding night and the killing spree beings, Victor loses his father, and his friend Henry Clerval because of what Victor had done. In my opinion I believe that should have stuck to creating his monster a mate and this would have made things easier for him and

Victor feels that his relentless search for more knowledge is the cause for all of his suffering. It is true that his knowledge is what created the creature, but what made things worse is that he never gave the creature what he needed, so the neglected creature set out to find it himself. Victor’s tragic fate was not the result of his knowledge but because he did not take care of his creature. 6. Foreshadowing is seen multiple times such as the night when Victor sees lightning strike down a tree and Victor is fascinated with how much power the lighting has. The monster also foreshadows his own death when saying, “But soon I shall die.. I shall ascend my funeral pile triumphantly and exult in the agony of the torturing flames..” 7. By not giving his creation a name, Victor didn’t give his creature an identity or a place in society. In society, a person’s name is who they are, people make their own judgment of people right away. The creature didn’t have a name and people judged him right away and identified him as monster and only that, rather than an actual being. 8. During the period in which Frankenstein was written, science was growing and it was seen as anything could be possible with the new research and