Information AboutFrankenstein |
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(1537-1619) tastefully examines the themes of romanticism, science and art.]] ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is a Novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley . First published in London in 1818 (but more often read in the revised third edition of 1831), it is a novel infused with some elements of the Gothic Novel and the Romantic movement. It was also a warning against the "over-reaching" of modern man and the Industrial Revolution . (The novel's subtitle, ''The Modern Prometheus '', alludes to the over-reaching and punishment of the character from Greek Mythology .) The story has had an influence across Literature and Popular Culture and spawned a complete genre of Horror stories and Film s. Many distinguished authors, such as Brian Aldiss , claim that it is the very first Science Fiction novel. PLOT SYNOPSIS The novel opens with Captain Walton on a ship sailing north of the Arctic Circle. Walton's ship becomes ice-bound, and as he contemplates his isolation and paralysis, he spots a figure traveling across the ice on a dog sledge. This is Victor Frankenstein 's Creature . Soon after he sees the ill Victor Frankenstein himself, and invites him onto his boat. The narrative of Walton is a Frame Narrative that allows for the story of Victor to be related. At the same time, Walton's predicament is symbolically appropriate for Victor's tale of displaced passion and brutalism. Victor takes over telling the story at this point. Curious and intelligent from a young age, he learns from the works of the masters of Medieval alchemy, reading such authors as Albertus Magnus and Paracelsus and shunning modern Enlightenment teachings of natural science (see also Romanticism And The Middle Ages ). He leaves his beloved family in Geneva , Switzerland to study in Ingolstadt , Bavaria , Germany , where he is first introduced to modern science. In a moment of inspiration, combining his new-found knowledge of natural science with the alchemic ideas of his old masters, Victor perceives the means by which inanimate matter can be imbued with life. He sets about constructing a man—perhaps intended as a companion—using means that Shelley refers to only vaguely. Subsequent visual interpretations of the story have included the creation of Frankenstein's monster through alchemy, by the piecing together of corpses, or a combination of the two. In the novel it is stated (chapter 4, volume 1) that he uses bones from charnel-houses (where corpses were kept at the time). He intends the creature to be beautiful, but when it awakens he is disgusted. It has yellow, watery eyes, translucent skin, and is of an abominable size. Victor finds this revolting and although the creature offers him no harm (in fact, it grins at him and reaches its hands out innocently to its creator), Victor runs out of the room in terror, whereupon the creature disappears. Shock and overwork cause Victor to take ill for several months. After recovering, in about a year's time, he receives a letter from home informing him of the murder of his youngest brother William. He departs for Switzerland at once. Near Geneva, Victor catches a glimpse of the creature in a thunderstorm among the rocky boulders of the mountains, and is convinced that it killed William. Upon arriving home he finds Justine, the family's beloved maid, framed for the murder. Despite Victor's feelings of overwhelming guilt, he does not tell anyone about his horrid creation and Justine is convicted and executed. To recover from the ordeal, Victor goes hiking into the mountains where he encounters his "cursed creation" again, this time atop a Glacier . The creature converses with Victor and tells him his story, speaking in strikingly eloquent language. He describes his feelings first of confusion, then rejection and hate. He explains how he learned to talk by studying a poor peasant family through a crack in the wall. He performs in secret many kind deeds for this family, but in the end, they drive him away when they see his appearance. He gets the same response from any human who sees him. The creature confesses that it was indeed he who killed William and framed Justine, and that he did so out of Revenge . But now, the creature only wants one thing; he begs Victor to create a female companion for him so that he may have companionship. At first, Victor agrees, but later, he tears up the half-made companion in disgust and madness. In retribution, the creature kills Clerval, Victor's best friend, and later, on Victor's wedding night, his wife. Victor now becomes the hunter: he pursues the creature into the Arctic ice, though in vain. Near exhaustion, he is stranded when an iceberg breaks away, carrying him out into the ocean. Before he dies, Captain Walton's ship arrives and he is rescued. Walton assumes the narration again, describing a temporary recovery in Victor's health, allowing him to relate his extraordinary story. However Victor's health soon fails, and he dies. Unable to convince his shipmates to continue north and bereft of the charismatic Frankenstein, Walton is forced to turn back towards England under the threat of Mutiny . Finally, the creature boards the ship and finds Victor dead, and greatly laments what he has done to his maker. He vows to commit Suicide . He leaves the ship by leaping through the cabin window onto the ice, and is never seen again. GENESIS :"How I, then a young girl, came to think of, and to dilate upon, so very hideous an idea?" During the snowy summer of 1816, the " Year Without A Summer ," the world was locked in a long cold Volcanic Winter caused by the eruption of Tambora in 1815. In this terrible year, the then Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, age 19, and her husband-to-be Percy Bysshe Shelley , visited Lord Byron at the Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva in Switzerland . The weather was consistently too cold and dreary that summer to enjoy the outdoor vacation activities they had planned, so after reading '' Fantasmagoriana '', an anthology of German ghost stories, Byron challenged the Shelleys and his personal physician John William Polidori to each compose a story of their own, the contest being won by whoever wrote the scariest tale. Mary conceived an idea after she fell into a Waking Dream or nightmare during which she saw "the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together." This was the germ of ''Frankenstein''. Byron managed to write just a fragment based on the Vampire legends he heard while travelling the Balkans , and from this Polidori created '' The Vampyre '' (1819), the progenitor of the romantic vampire literary Genre . Thus, the Frankenstein and vampire themes were created from that single circumstance. PUBLICATION Mary Shelley completed her writing in May 1817, and ''Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus'' was first published on 1 January 1818 by the small London Publishing House of Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones. It was issued anonymously, with a preface written for Mary by Percy Bysshe Shelley and with a dedication to philosopher William Godwin , her father. It was published in an edition of just 500 copies in three volumes, the standard "triple-decker" format for 19th century first editions. The novel had been previously rejected by Percy Bysshe Shelley's publisher Charles Ollier and by Byron's publisher John Murray . Critical reception of the book was mostly unfavourable, compounded by confused speculation as to the identity of the author, which was not well disguised. Walter Scott wrote that "Upon the whole, the work impresses us with a high idea of the author's original genius and happy power of expression", but most reviewers thought it "a tissue of horrible and disgusting absurdity" (''Quarterly Review''). Despite the reviews, ''Frankenstein'' achieved an almost immediate popular success. It became widely known especially through melodramatic theatrical adaptations – Mary Shelley saw a production of ''Presumption; or The Fate of Frankenstein'', a play by Richard Brinsley Peake, in 1823. A French translation appeared as early as 1821 (''Frankenstein: ou le Prométhée Moderne'', translated by Jules Saladin). The second edition of ''Frankenstein'' was published on 11 August 1823 in two volumes (by G. and W. B. Whittaker), and this time credited Mary Shelley as the author. On 31 October 1831 , the first "popular" edition in one volume appeared, published by Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley. This edition was quite heavily revised by Mary Shelley, and included a new, longer preface by her, presenting a somewhat embellished version of the genesis of the story. This edition tends to be the one most widely read now, although editions containing the original 1818 text are still being published. The revised edition was changed in several significant ways: any indication that Frankenstein's monster was created by vice was removed, and the text details a benevolent creator who creates the monster merely for the purposes of science. Suggestions of an incestuous relationship between Victor and Elizabeth are also removed, by making Elizabeth an adopted child of the Frankensteins. NAME ORIGINS The creature See Also: Frankenstein's Monster The creature – "my hideous progeny" – was not given a name by Mary Shelley, and is only referred to by words such as 'monster', 'creature', 'daemon', and 'wretch'. After the release of James Whale 's popular 1931 film ''Frankenstein'', the filmgoing public immediately began speaking of the monster itself as "Frankenstein". A reference to this occurs in '' Bride Of Frankenstein '' (1935) and in several subsequent films in the series, as well as in film titles such as '' Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein .'' Some justify referring to the Creature as "Frankenstein" by pointing out that the Creature is, so to speak, Victor Frankenstein's offspring. Frankenstein Mary Shelley always maintained that she derived the name "Frankenstein" from a dream-vision, yet despite these public claims of originality, the name and what it means has been a source of many speculations. Literally, in with Burg Frankenstein (Frankenstein Castle) and Burg Frankenstein [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burg_Frankenstein_(Bergstra%C3%9Fe) near Darmstadt. Moreover Frankenstein is a common family name in Germany. More recently, Radu Florescu , in his ''In Search of Frankenstein'', argued that Mary and Percy Shelley stayed at Castle Frankenstein on their way to Switzerland, near Darmstadt along the Rhine, where a notorious alchemist named Konrad Dippel had experimented with human bodies, but that Mary suppressed mentioning this visit, to maintain her public claim of originality. However, this theory is not without critics; Frankenstein expert Leonard Wolf calls it an "unconvincing...conspiracy theory" (Wolf, p.20). Victor A possible interpretation of the name Victor derives from the poem '' Paradise Lost '' by John Milton , a great influence on Shelley (a quotation from ''Paradise Lost'' is on the opening page of ''Frankenstein'' and Shelley even allows the monster himself to read it). Milton frequently refers to God as "the Victor" in ''Paradise Lost'', which Shelley obviously sees Victor as playing God by creating life. In addition, Shelley's portrayal of the monster owes much to the character of Satan in ''Paradise Lost''; indeed, the monster says, after reading the epic poem, that he sympathizes with Satan's role in the story. Victor was also a pen name of Percy Shelley's, as in the collection of poetry he wrote with his sister Elizabeth, ''Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire''. There is speculation that one of Mary Shelley's models for Victor Frankenstein was Percy, who at Eton had "experimented with electricity and magnetism as well as with gunpowder and numerous chemical reactions," and whose rooms at Oxford were filled with scientific equipment. [http://www.dickinson.edu/~nicholsa/Romnat/pbshelley.htm "Modern Prometheus" ''The Modern Prometheus'' is the novel's subtitle (though some modern publishings of the work now drop the subtitle, mentioning it only in an introduction). Prometheus , in Greek mythology, was the Titan who created mankind, and Victor's work by creating man by new means obviously reflects that creative work. Prometheus was also the bringer of fire who took fire from heaven and gave it to man. Zeus then punished Prometheus by fixing him to a rock where each day a predatory bird came to devour his liver. Prometheus was also a myth told in Latin but was a very different story. In this version Prometheus makes man from clay and water, again a very relevant theme to Frankenstein as Victor rebels against the laws of nature and as a result is punished by his creation. Prometheus' relation to the novel can be interpreted in a number of ways. For Mary Shelley on a personal level, Prometheus was not a hero but a devil, whom she blamed for bringing fire to man and thereby seducing the human race to the vice of eating meat (fire brought cooking which brought hunting and killing) (Wolf, p. 20). For Romance era artists in general, Prometheus' gift to man compared with the two great utopian promises of the 18th century: the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution , containing both great promise and potentially unknown horrors. Byron was particularly attached to the play '' Prometheus Bound '' by Aeschylus, and Percy Shelley would soon write '' Prometheus Unbound ''. ANALYSIS ''Frankenstein'' is in some ways can have unconsidered consequences. Another popular critique of the novel ''Frankenstein'' views the tale as a journey of Pregnancy and the common fears of women in Shelley's day of frequent Stillborn births and maternal deaths due to complications in delivery. Mary Shelley experienced the horrors of a stillborn birth the prior year. Victor Frankenstein is often fearful of the release of the Monster from his control, when it is free to act independently in the world and affect it for better or worse. Also, during much of the novel Victor fears the creature's desire to destroy him by killing everyone and everything most dear to him. However it must be noted that the creature was not born evil, but only wanted to be loved by its creator, by other humans, and to love a sentient creature like itself. It was mankind who taught it evil, Victor rejected it, and the creature's poor treatment by villagers taught it how to be evil. In this way the creature represents the natural fears of bringing a new innocent life into the world and raising it properly so that it does not become a monster. Representing a minority opinion, Arthur Belefant in his 116-page book, ''Frankenstein, the Man and the Monster'' (1999, ISBN 0962955582) contends that Mary Shelley's intent was for the reader to understand that the Creature never existed, and Victor Frankenstein committed the three murders. In this interpretation, the story is a study of the moral degradation of Victor, and the "science-fiction" aspects of the story are Victor's imagination. Note that according to the novel, Victor has a clear alibi for at least one of the murders committed by the Monster – it is proved that he was on a different island at the time of the killing. Alchemy was a very popular topic in Shelley's world. In fact, it was becoming an acceptable idea that humanity could infuse the spark of life into a non-living thing ( Luigi Galvani 's experiments, for example). The scientific world just after the Industrial Revolution was delving into the unknown, and limitless possibilities also caused fear and apprehension for many as to the consequences of such horrific possibilities. The book also discusses the ethics of creating life and contains innumerable Biblical allusions in this context. In the 1931 film "Frankenstein," Boris Karloff plays the part of the Creature, and the scientist, played by Colin Clive , is renamed Henry Frankenstein. Shelley's character Henry Clerval does not appear in the film at all, which eliminates Victor's foil altogether. However there is a character called Victor who is after Elizabeth, Frankenstein's fiancee. Changing the doctor's name from Victor also eliminates some original irony, inasmuch as the novel ends after exposing the doctor's utter failure and destruction. Since this film, the horror culture has confused modern audiences into replacing the scientist's name with his freakish creation. This event has stimulated much conversation in the literary criticism of Shelley's work. Attributing the name of the scientist to his creation reveals a deeper connection between the two, especially when the scientist realizes the great danger that the creation presents to himself and to the world. However, it also obscures Shelly's original intention that the creature was not an "evil creation", it was born an innocent blank slate, it was Victor's rejection of the creature that taught it to be evil. Likewise, the film takes a moralising and religious tone that was more or less absent in the original novel. FILM ADAPTATIONS Silent Era The first film adaptation of the tale, '' Frankenstein '', was done by Edison Studios in 1910, with Charles Ogle as the Monster. For many years this film was believed lost until a collector announced in 1980 that he had acquired a print in the 1950s and had been unaware of its rarity. The Edison version was followed soon after by another adaptation entitled '' Life Without Soul '' and at least one Europe an film version. Universal Pictures The most famous adaptation of the story, 1931 's '' Frankenstein '', was produced by Universal Pictures , directed by James Whale , and starred Boris Karloff as the monster. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry . Its first sequel, '' Bride Of Frankenstein '' ( 1935 ), was also directed by Whale and is considered by many to contain the most spectacular laboratory scene of any of the series. '' Son Of Frankenstein '' followed in 1939 . Later efforts by Universal combined two or more monsters, culminating in the comedy '' Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein ''. The Universal films in which The Monster appears (and the actor who played him) are: # '' Frankenstein '' (1931 - Boris Karloff) # '' Bride Of Frankenstein '' (1935 - Karloff) # '' Son Of Frankenstein '' (1939 - Karloff) # '' The Ghost Of Frankenstein '' ( 1942 - Lon Chaney Jr. ) # '' Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man '' ( 1943 - Bela Lugosi with stuntman Eddie Parker in some scenes including a close-up) # '' House Of Frankenstein '' (1944 - Glenn Strange ) # '' House Of Dracula '' ( 1945 - Strange) # '' Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein '' ( 1948 - Strange). This film is usually referred to as ''Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'' but the title given above is its official title according to the Internet Movie Database . Hammer Films In Great Britain , a long-running series by Hammer Films focused on the character of Dr. Frankenstein (usually played by Peter Cushing ) rather than his monster. Peter Cushing played Dr. Frankenstein in all of the films except for ''Horror of Frankenstein'' in which the character was played by Ralph Bates . Cushing also played a creation in ''Revenge of Frankenstein''. David Prowse played two different Monsters. The Hammer Films series (and the actor playing The Monster) consisted of: # '' The Curse Of Frankenstein '' ( 1957 - Christopher Lee ) # '' and Peter Cushing ) # '' The Evil Of Frankenstein '' ( 1964 - Kiwi Kingston ) # '' Frankenstein Created Woman '' ( 1967 - Susan Denberg ) # '' Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed '' ( 1969 - Freddie Jones ) # '' The Horror Of Frankenstein '' ( 1970 - David Prowse ) # '' Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell '' ( 1974 - David Prowse) Other film versions
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Parodies and satires
TELEVISION ADAPTATIONS The Frankenstein story and its elements have been adapted many times for television:
OTHER ADAPTATIONS Radio In 1938, George Edwards produced a 13-part, 3-hour series for radio. It follows the structure and spirit of the novel closely. Two other versions were made in both 1944 and 1955. Books and comic books and artist Mike Ploog .]] The story of ''Frankenstein'', or to be precise, " Frankenstein's Monster ", has formed the basis of many original novels over the years, some of which were considered sequels to Shelley's original work, and some of which were based more upon the character as portrayed in the Universal films. The Monster has also been the subject of many comic book adaptations, ranging from the ridiculous (a 1960s series portraying The Monster as a superhero; see below), to more straightforward interpretations of Shelley's work, such Marvel Comics ' ''The Monster of Frankenstein'', the first five issues of which (Jan.-Sept. 1973) contained a faithful (in spirit at least) retelling of Shelley's tale before transferring The Monster into the present day and pitting him against '' James Bond ''-inspired evil organizations. The artist, Mike Ploog , recalled, "I really enjoyed doing ''Frankenstein'' because I related to that naive monster wandering around a world he had no knowledge of — an outsider seeing everything through the eyes of a child." {Link without Title} In 1940, Cartoonist Dick Briefer wrote and drew a Frankenstein's-monster comic book title for Crestwood Publications 's ''Prize Comics'', beginning with a standard Horrific version, updated to contemporary America, but then in 1945 crafting an acclaimed and well-remembered comedic version that spun-off into his own title, ''Frankenstein Comics''. The series ended with issue #17 (Jan.-Feb. 1949, but was revived as a horror title from #18-33 (March 1952 - Oct.-Nov. 1954). Dell Comics published a Superhero version of the character in the comic book series '' Frankenstein '' #2-4 (Sept. 1966 - March 1967; issue #1, published Oct. 1964, featured a very loose adaptation/update of the 1931 Universal Pictures movie). In 1988 the "spawn of Frankenstein" appeared in the Young All-Stars comic from DC Comics . The portrayal of the monster was as a reclusive, sympathetic character who had been living alone in the Arctic since the death of his creator. 2004 saw the debut of '' Doc Frankenstein '', written by the Andy And Larry Wachowski , the writer-director team of '' The Matrix ''), and drawn by Steve Skroce . The book tells the continuing adventures of Frankeinstein's monster, who has since adopted his creator's name and became a hero through the ages. In 2005, '', written by R. D. Hall with art by Jerry Beck . In Dead Dog's version, the monster sets out to create his own Necropolis . DC Comics also has made use of the character. He appeared as a backup feature in the Phantom Stranger stories written by Len Wein . Grant Morrison revived the character in his '' Seven Soldiers Of Victory ''. Here, Frankenstein is a Milton-quoting, Gun -toting warrior battling to prevent the end of the world. Japanese Mangaka Junji Ito also wrote a Manga faithfully adapting the story of the original novel. Videogames Frankenstein's monster appears in the Konami Video Game series '' Castlevania '', numerous times, with its name being "The Monster" or "The Creature", often as a Major Boss , but sometimes as a regular enemy. His presence is technically an Anachronism since he appears several hundred years before his date of creation in the 18th century. Several other video game version are also available, including ''Frankenstein: Through the Eyes of the Monster - A Cinematic Adventure Starring Tim Curry'' (PC) and ''Mary Shelley's Frankenstein,'' (Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Sega CD) based on the 1994 film of the same name. For the original Nintendo (NES) was ''Frankenstein: The Monster Returns!'' and for the Atari 2600, ''Frankenstein's Monster.'' A Frankenstein-like monster is a playable character in the fighting game series '' Darkstalkers '', along with many other monsters from popular culture. INFLUENCE The concept of the ' Mad Scientist ' creating a creature / monster / weapon that eventually falls out of his (the scientist is usually a 'he') control, leading to the scientist's eventual defeat or ruin, is a common narrative Trope in science-fiction / horror tales. For example, Robert Louis Stephenson 's '' The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde '' also features a scientist destroyed by a creature of his own making (although the circumstances are, of course, quite different). Science Fiction author Isaac Asimov coined the term '' Frankenstein Complex '' for the fear of robots. ''Frankenstein'' or ''Franken-'' is sometimes used for nuancing artificial monstrosity as in " Frankenfood ", a Politically Charged name of Genetically Manipulated foodstuff. In 1971, General Mills Cereals introduced " Franken Berry ", a strawberry-flavored corn cereal whose mascot is a variation of the Monster from the 1931 movie. Franken Berry has also appeared in FOX's " Family Guy ". In David Brin 's science-fiction novel '' Kiln People '', defective Golem s that become autonomous are called "frankies". In The Frankenstein Papers , Fred Saberhagen retells Shelley's story (with significant modifications) from the creature's point of view. SEE ALSO FURTHER READING
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