Frankenstein is a classic of literature, and throughout history it has had many adaptations both in the small movie and on the big screen. Thanks to so many stories, Frankenstein's creature has been transformed and adapted, so that the monster we know today is actually a mixture of Mery Shelley's imagination and adaptations of her novel.
After I finished reading the book it occurred to me to make a comparison between the book and its thousands of adaptations. So without further ado, let's get started!
Created by lightning in the middle of a storm.
It is well known that Frankenstein's monster gave hints of life on a stormy night. Popular culture tells us that the creature was brought to life by lightning from this famous storm, and that he was on a table that rose to the ceiling. Actually, this is not true.
The creature was on a table, yes, on a stormy night, yes. But in reality, Mary Shelley never tells us how Viktor Frankenstein brought her to life. She narrates that she did experiments for two years, until she finally reached that night.
“One rainy November night I finally managed to finish my man; with an anxiety close to anguish, I placed around me the machinery for life with which I was going to be able to breathe a spark of existence into that lifeless thing that was lying at my feet. "
-Frankenstein, Mary Shelly
It is, in fact, believed that Mary Shelly was inspired by Luigi Galvani's scientific experiments, where she observed that through electricity she was able to move a frog's leg. This experiment gave birth to the theory of Erasmus Darwin that tells us that thanks to electricity a body can be brought back to life.
Hate or love?
There are versions where Viktor Frankesntein loves his creation and protects it from the crowd that wants to kill it, although there are also other versions where Viktor totally abhors his creation.
Mary Shelley actually made this relationship of outright hatred and contempt, both of creation and of Viktor. The text of the story is a relationship of the game of cat and mouse that both have. Threats, but never hurting each other.
"Cursed be the day you saw the light!"
-Frankenstein, Mary Shelly
The appearance of the creature
Thanks to the adaptations of this classic, we have the idea that Frankenstein's creature is this huge monster, with two metal nails sticking out of its neck, where it maintains the electricity that keeps it alive. In the same way that this monster has a bluish greenish tone and that maintains the seams of the parts of the bodies from which it was made.
In the novel, his first description is as follows ...
"Or how to describe that monstrosity that with so much suffering and dedication had managed to shape? ... That yellow skin barely covered the network of muscles and arteries underneath, the black, long and greasy hair; and his teeth, pearly white; but those beautiful details only formed a more gloomy contrast with his watery eyes, ... almost the same color as the whitish orbits that sank him, with his parchment face and those black and chapped lips. "
-Frankenstein, Mary Shelly
Although we have this description, it is easy to forget, because most of the time it is mentioned that he is horrible to look at, misshapen, too tall to be a person, an aberration practically.
A big change between what Mary Shelly tells us and the adaptations of her novel.
Igor, the faithful helper
Igor, Viktor Fransktein's faithful assistant, who helps him create his creature. A constant element of this classic, it doesn't actually exist in the author's original text. This character was added in the adaptations of this text and has been a constant element in this myth ever since.
A thinking creature
Depending on the adaptation, Viktor Frankenstein's monster speaks and thinks like any other human being, in others, he is nothing more than a monster that obeys its creator and barely has the ability to speak or reason.
In the original novel, this monster is as thinking as any other human, So much, that he loves, feels and hates, plans and reasons his movements to make his creator suffer. This creature even leads you to empathize with her in Mary Shelly's text.
These are all the most significant differences that I have found between the novel and the thousands of Frankenstein adaptations. What do you think of them? Do you know any other difference?
In my opinion a faithful adaptation of the 2004 Mary Shelley Frankenstein novel by director Kevin Connor, being Viktor Alec Newman and his creation Luke Gross. Have you seen this movie? What do you think of her?
Dreamers share the synopsis of this classic in case you dare to read it and discover the differences yourself!
⭐4.7 / 5
Author: Mary Shelley
Pages: 294
Publishing House: Editorial Planeta Mexicana
ISBN: 9786070735400
Synopsis
The famous poets Lord Byron and Percy B. Shelley, along with their young lovers, indulged in a literary game of coming up with the scariest tale imaginable. None of those present managed to complete a good story ... except Shelley's young lover; That night she conceived a terrifying and wonderful story: Frankenstein. From its publication it amazed the world and in a few years it acquired the category of modern myth. Between a Gothic novel and a philosophical tale, the story of the superb scientist and her monstrous creation has fascinated several generations of readers.
I hope you are encouraged to read or reread this classic that left me with a blank mind, Dreamers. This book ultimately left me with mixed feelings that to this day I cannot decipher. What made you read this novel? How did it feel to read and understand Viktor and his creature? I read them, Dreamers.
See you in the next post, Dreamers!
-Fer 🌻🌻
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