Essay on Frankenstein

Introduction
In this essay, I will be talking about the book Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelly, and as well, the
movie based on the book, directed by James Whales in 1931 and its overall context and reason why
this tale was firstly created, so mostly about its origin and happenings. I will be talking about how
the History of Europe and its scientific developments was able to bring this tale to life, and mainly be
analysing the story within these 2, both the book and the movie. This tale is related to the Global
Context of Identities and Relationships, as we can see the monster, Frankenstein slowly trying to
figure out his own identity and how exactly he was, and we can notice that the main character,
Henry did not have a good relationship with the monster, as he did not understand his motives for
the monsters actions, which is why the careless self-Henry was, in not even trying or attempting to
understand or connecting with the monster, to learn more about who he was.

Historical context – From the book (Mary Shelley)

The book of Frankenstein was made in the 18 th century which mainly featured the romantic period,
which romantism was considered as artistic and intellectual in Europe. Mary Shelley wrote the novel
based on Byron, a poet, of which Mary had made a challenge, with Percy and Byron, of who was able
to create the best scary ghost/monster tale. The story itself relates a lot to the life of Mary Shelley,
as in the tale we visually see that Frankenstein must deal with loss, and Mary also lost a lot of people
during her time of living.

One of Mary Shelley’s father’s thinking is that humans should always act for the good of other
people, because if that was not the case and the World was ruled by selfishness and impact badly on
society. This view of her father, impacted a lot on the making of Frankenstein, and the thinking’s of
the main character in the book, Victor which acts for his own good, and letting his selfishness blind
himself, meaning he did not care about the monster he had created, of which he ended up
endangering humans in the society, we can also see that Victor is a bad parent, as he created
something, but then did not care to think or care about it, and he was driven just by the fact he
wanted to end or destroy the monster.

An excellent science fiction book is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. not just for its exhilarating
substance, but also for its moral regarding the evil of technology. Victor Frankenstein went too far
with his never-ending curiosity when he decided to create life, even though curiosity is frequently
viewed as a positive trait in science.

This book demonstrates the necessity of rules and moral standards in terms of science and
technology. Doctors who work in the medical area swear to first do no harm and they must stand by
this code or else they will get fired or even arrested. They use it as a compass to assist them make
decisions in their daily lives. They need rules because there are many lives are on the line, which will
guide them in making crucial choices. Because Frankenstein was constructing his monster in an
unnatural manner, lives were also in danger. He didn't have any regulations, so he just let the
creature suffer. He ignored him because he was repulsed by his creation.
This still holds very similar traits to today. Thousands of people are kept healthy thanks to science.
Important studies on novel approaches to illness treatment and disease prevention are carried out
by scientists. Scientists may potentially employ their knowledge for unethical purposes. For instance,
they can create new diseases and substances that can harm people. The development of chemical
weapons makes this clear. Scientists should be held to the same standards as doctors today since
these scientific products have the potential to harm and kill people, which is why they should always
be aware of what they might be creating and its possible negative impacts on society.

Work Cited:
Halprin, Alexander. “04. 9/26 Frankenstein – ST112 a Fall 2018.” Colby.edu, 2018,
web.colby.edu/st112a-fall18/category/04-2-28-frankenstein/.

h‌ ttp://www.st-thomas-more.net/assets/Knowledge-Organisers/English-Literature-KS4/
Frankenstein/Frankenstein-Context.pdf

Research
Example 1:

During the time of 24.50 minutes into the movie, when Henry started to see the monsters hand
move, and realised that it was alive, Henry showed the audience he was very happy and proud, as he
started to repeat the words “It’s alive! It’s alive!” and every time he said it again, he started to speak
louder and prouder, as well as his voice started to tremble as he’s body too, as a sign of excitement,
he also started to move around the area, spreading his arms and moving them. He also said “Now, I
know how it feels like to be God” as a sign of his proudness of the work he had created and how he
also able to create something like that. During this scene, Henry showed good body language and
voice projection which helped the audience understand more about the mood of the story during
that scene.

Example 2:

When Frankenstein walks in the room at 31.25 minutes into the movie. We can see Henry trying to
communicate with the monster, and trying to understand him better, Henry slowly tells and guides
the monster to come his way by moving his arms and hands in his direction to orientate the
monster. We can know Henry is scared and still a little frightened by the monster, as he is trembling
and getting away form the monster as he is walking towards him, he is also speaking quietly and
slowly so the monster does not attack him, and for the monster to understand Henry better. When
the monster is near the chair, henry requesting it to sit down by slowly saying and repeating “sit
down, sit down” and moving his hands and arms in the direction so the monster understands the
task. When the monster sits down, Henry is surprised and happy as he raised his voice in excitement.
We clearly see Henry acting really well, as he used body language and voice projection to
demonstrate his emotions and feelings.
Example 3:

During the time of 55.00 minutes into the movie, during Elizabeth’s wedding, and when the monster
invades the buildings, meeting up with Elizabeth, we can visualize and know that she was scared as
she saw the monster, because she used her voice and screamed, trying to escape. As the monster
tried and attempted to approach her, she quickly ran away as she continued screaming for help. At
55.40 seconds into the movie, when the monster has downed Elizabeth, and when henry and the
other people find her, she said in pain and scared “don’t let it come here, don’t let it come here”, we
can see that Elizabeth, was indeed scared and she was having a hard time breathing, meaning she
had a lot of adrenaline going on there, either form running away from the monster or also she was
frightened by it.

Applications of Research
After all my research and understanding of the book “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly, and the movie
based on the book. I can now visualise and know how to make my own “monster play” better. In
terms of acting skills showing your emotions and facial expressions to help your audience
understand more about what you are feeling at the moment of the scene, as well as good body
language to make your acting more realistic and to also for the actor to become the character, as
this is something all actors should know, as the best actor is the one who actually becomes the
characters role he/she is playing, meaning by getting their personality and features. The tone of
voice is also very important, as if I am speaking softer it might represent calmness, but if I shout and
speak very loudly than it might represent angriness or frustration, meaning that the tone of voice
can represent your emotions and feelings. All these were well done in the Frankenstein movie,
which is why it helped a lot the audience to understand the mood of the movie at different
moments, making the story and the moral of the movie easy to understand.

Conclusion
To sum up everything that has been written and stated in this document, I would like to talk to
understand a little about the rhetorical question “-When creating something should we consider the
consequences?” In the movie of Frankenstein, we can see that both Victor and Elizabeth, warn
Henry to be aware of what he was creating and that he should stop with his creation, but Henry still
decided to finish his creation out of persistence. Not only because of henry’s persistence on creating
the monster, but also, he’s selfishness on not trying to understand the monster after making it, in
the first place. He creates a problem as he did not try to consider the possible consequences he
could be creating.

This lesson is also something which relates a lot to the current World and its society, as more and
more people tend to start taking actions, without thinking about consequences which might happen,
creating many more unnecessary problems. Scientists tend to want to always create an invention
which would “Save the World”, and to make them famous around the globe, but a lot of the times,
they end up failing and problems might surge.

Not only in science, but also in real life situations, for example a student might decide to cheat on an
exam, as they would want to get a high grade, but they don’t think about consequences of the
decision they might be making, such as failing, if the teacher fins out, or grounded if the parents
found out.