Response to “Frankenstein”
Movie clips are depicting the Monster’s birth in a different way than it is shown in Merry Shelley’s book “Frankenstein”. In the older movie version of “Frankenstein”, Victor is depicted as a crazy scientist. Unlike in the book, the scientist has a crippled helper and in the time of reviving the Monster he has spectators in his castle. Also, thunderstorms and rain ads to the effect of the crazy scientist. When electricity strikes and the monster become alive, scientist feels like God and yells “It’s alive” and “Now I know how it feels like being a god”. He is proud of his creation. In the book Victor’s Monster is described as a creature that’s skin is yellow and covers arteries and muscles underneath. “His hair is of lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of pearly whiteness; but these luxuriance’s only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, …and straight black lips.” In the process of Monster’s creation in the book, Victor is working by himself, as he was hiding his creations from his family and friends for almost two years in isolation inside his apartment. In the book, when Monster gets alive, his mouth opens and his eyes and than it s body started to move, while in the movie his hands move first, when monster gets alive. Victor is by himself in the modern movie version, just like in the book. Also there is a detail of burning candle just like in the book, although they left out details of it raining hard. Victor is running around, as he gets excited about his masterpiece ready to get revived. In both movie versions Victor is excited about monster’s birth, but in the book he runs away from the monster, because it did not turn out to be as he imagined. In the modern movie version Victor is yelling: “It is alive”, when the monster opens his eyes.
These two different adaptations are different than the Merry Shelly’s book, because the director wanted to make it more exciting for the audience.
Marija Krasojevic