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Literature and Film 2009

The origin of “Frankenstein”

begins in the summer of 1816 at the famed Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland, where Mary Shelley spent most of that summer together with her future husbandPercy Bysshe Shelley, her stepsister Claire Clairmont, Lord Byron and Dr. John Polidori, Byron's physician.Inspired by a reading of the “Fantasmagoriana”, a collection of German ghost stories, on June 16 they decided totry their hands on supernatural stories themselves. The first one to come up with a story was Polidori, whobegan his now famous tale

“

The Vampyre”. However, Mary Shelley was not that quick in creating her first pieceof literature. Initially, she suffered from some kind of writer's block and produced nothing so far until one dayshe had (or claimed to have) a sort of vision that finally inspired her to write “Frankenstein”.

A couple of dayslater, Mary Shelley finally began to write her own ghost story. She completed the novel in 1817 and the first edition was published anonymously in 1818, with a preface by Percy Shelley.

The novel became quite popularand had even spawned several theatrical adaptations.“Frankenstein” is a 1994 film directed by Kenneth Branagh and produced by Francis Ford Coppola,starring Robert de Niro, Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter, and Kenneth Branagh. It is an adaptation of MaryShelley’s novel “Frankenstein”. It follows the novel more closely than other film adaptations, but still deviatesbroadly from Mary Shelley’s original plot. The film was a part of a brief trend towards high-profile adaptationsof classic horror stories (usually with claims of greater authenticity than previous film versions) following thebox-office success of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”. Other films in this trend included “MaryReilly” (based on the story of Jekyll and Hyde) and the film “Wolf”, based on the werewolf myths.

FRANKENSTEIN

Author: Mary Shelley (1818)/vs./ Director: Kenneth Branagh (1994)NovelFilm(Dis)similarities (+/- fidelity)

STORY/ PLOT

Frankenstein, a student of natural philosophy inGeneva, builds a creature in the semblance of a manand gives it life. Possessed of unnatural strength, thecreature inspires horror in those who see it but ismiserably eager to be loved. The unhappyFrankenstein deserts the creature, but is pursued toChamonix where he agrees to make a mate. However, awave of remorse makes him destroy the female he hasbeen constructing, and the creature swears revenge onhis creator. He kills Frankenstein's bride on theirwedding night. Frankenstein's father dies of grief, andthe scientist's mind gives way. Eventually he recoversand sets out to destroy his creation. After a chaseacross the world, the two at last confront each other inthe Arctic wastes. Frankenstein dies and the creature,mourning the loss of the man who gave him life,disappears into the frozen wilderness, hoping for hisown annihilation.

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Victor steals the body parts from graveyardsaround the school.

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Dr. Frankenstein uses the brain of a criminalfor his monster.The movie is one of the most faithful adaptations of the book, and one of the few to actually follow thenovel’s plot and characterizations.

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Victor steals the body parts from theprison.

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Dr. Frankenstein takes his mentor’s brain, abrilliant scientist.

Literature and Film 2009

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Dr. Frankenstein does not have a helper.

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Elizabeth never goes to visit Victor while he isat college.

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The novel is devoid of strong femalecharacters. Elizabeth waits, impatient andhelpless, for Victor to return to her.

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The book spends a lot of time on the creature’stime spent observing the DeLacey family(Felix, Agatha and Safie) in their cabin.

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Victor has two little brothers: William andErnest.

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Victor and Henry Clerval go to school togetheras young boys.

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Henry Clerval dies.

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Victor’s father just dies.

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The Creature asks Victor to fashion a femalemonster for him. He agrees, but destroys thecreature right before he is about to breathe lifeinto it.

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Throughout different parts o the movie Dr.Frankenstein has a helper, a student that hemet at school. He helps Frankenstein to acertain extent, but he still thinks he is crazyto create life.

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Elizabeth goes and visits Victor while he isat college.

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Victor and Elizabeth’s relationship is muchstronger; they are much more physical andexpress their feelings.

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The movie spends nearly no time showinghow the monster learns how to read, writeand speak. It also gives the impression that he just learns what love and emotions are.

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In the movie there is no mention that Victorhad a brother named Ernest.

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Victor and Henry Clerval meet at theUniversity.

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Henry Clerval does not die.

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Victor’s father is killed by the monster.

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In the film he goes through with his planonly after the monster murders Elizabethon their wedding night by thrusting hishand into her chest and ripping out herheart. Victor then takes Elizabeth’s bodyback to his laboratory, where he attachesher head to the exhumed body of Justine.He then galvanizes this “new” body andbrings Elizabeth back as a horrific bride.The creature approaches her, thinking that the bride is meant for him, however Victoris not ready to let go of her and a stand-off occurs between the Creature and Victorfighting over her which ends with the bridekilling herself by immolation.A similarity that exists between the novel and movie is the Monster's actions after the De Lacey family shunshim. The Monster finally decides to show himself to the eldest De Lacey first. He believes that since the oldman is blind, he will not be judged by his physical appearance. The Monster waited until everyone was out of the cabin except for the blind man. When he entered the cabin he asked the blind man if he could rest for a bit.They began talking and the Monster was especially happy because it was the first time in which the Monsterwas not being chased away. Things took a turn for the worse when the rest of the De Lacey family returnedhome and saw the Monster with the blind man. They immediately feared for his safety. The monster wasstruck violently with a stick by one of the family members. Just like that, the Monster was shunned again. Henever saw the De Lacey family again because they moved out in fear of him. The Monster now realized that hewould never be accepted and this was his creator's fault. In his rage the Monster set fire to the De Lacey'scabin. This important detail was not altered in movie because it is really the turning point in which theMonster vows revenge on Frankenstein and his family.

FOCALIZATION

Although Walton retells what Frankenstein told him,the focalization immediately shifts to Frankenstein (orThe film loses its epistolary form in favor to a point of view narration. The focalizer (the one “who

Literature and Film 2009

later, the monster) after Walton’s letters and henarrates the story as if it were not embedded inWalton’s words.There are three effect focalization in “Frankenstein”:1.

Temporal: Both Victor and the Creature narrate

past events from their perspective as matureindividuals, hence, they often express regret,remorse, anger, rage at their past innocence orerrors. The temporal structure inflects the tone of the novel and provides us with important characterization.2.

Distance and Speed: In the novel, some temporally

brief events are dwelled upon. In other cases, longperiods of time are summed up in a brief sentence.The compression and expansion of narrative eventsin the novel effects tone as well as structure. It might also provoke the reader to ask questionsabout the narrator’s self representation.

Limitations of Knowledge: The novel’s presentation

of the character’s focalization (Victor’s) is revealedto be radically limited once we hear the Creature’sstory. Although each acts without the other’sknowledge, the effect of each character’sindependent action is extremely significant to theother.

sees”) of the film seems to be almost always theauthor herself, Mary Shelley, who opens the film bypresenting her purpose of writing the novel, but focalization tends to shift along with point of viewas Victor Frankenstein tells his life story to captainRobert Walton. Again focalization shifts from theCreator to the Creature when the Creature’s story isrevealed. The film is focalized by these two maincharacters (Victor Frankenstein and the Creature)that expose their significant scenes and moodsthrough point of view shots.

CHARACTER

Victor changes over the course of the novel from aninnocent youth fascinated by the prospects of scienceinto a disillusioned, guilt-ridden man determined todestroy the fruit of his arrogant scientific endeavor. Hecuts himself off from the world and eventually commitshimself entirely to an animalistic obsession withrevenging himself upon the monster.The monster represents the conscience of Victor, andthere is a supernatural link between the two. They areboth aware of each other’s presence. The monsternarrates part of the tale to Victor Frankenstein.Elizabeth embodies the novel’s motif of passivewomen, as she waits patiently for Victor’s attention.The British director chooses to privilege VictorFrankenstein’s narration and to silence the voices of the other two narrators in the novel, Robert Waltonand the Creature. He also fails to delve deep into theprocess of education the Creature goes through andin so doing he erases both Mary Wollstonecraft’sand William Godwin’s messages, which arepowerfully present in Mary Shelley’s original novel.The result of this it’s the void in the text left by theauthor’s presence.Elizabeth’s presence in the film is more active anddynamic than that in the novel. She is no longerpassive; she has a strong relationship with Victor.

THEMES/MOTIFS/SYMBOLS

ThemesDangerous knowledge.

The pursuit of knowledge isat the heart of “Frankenstein”

as Victor attempts tosurge beyond accepted human limits and accesses thesecret of life. Likewise, Robert Walton attempts tosurpass previous human explorations by endeavoringKenneth Branagh focused his reading of “Frankenstein” on some specific Romantic issues: herefers to “the myth of creation” or underlines howthe novel asks fundamental questions about ourexistence. He is sensitive to the ontological quest foridentity and to the powerful presence of the