The Three Frankensteins: The Evolution of the Frankenstein Monster
In the history of modern literature there is one monster that has haunted humanity for longer than any other, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein monster. Her novel was originally published almost 200 years ago in 1818 and has clearly stood the test of time. In today’s world, Frankenstein has transformed into a figure that Shelley would not regonize. The subject of her book has managed to transcend culture on a global scale. Basing her monster in Greek Mythology, Shelley created something that could become a figure that not only transcends literature but also help launch a reletively new genre — horror. Before it can be understood how he became so integrated in today’s culture first his past must be addressed.
Prometheus and Frankenstein
Mary Shelley’s original Frankenstein novel was a pivotal piece of literature in the Victorian era. Within the many moral implications and themes of love, violence, rejection and monstrosity, the novel quickly gained popularity and the attention of famous writers and notable critics such as John Wilson Croker and Walter Scott.
Since the Victorian Era, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein novel’s characters, especially the creature, have been used as the foundation for new depictions in film, music and entertainment, but what most readers and indulgers into the Frankenstein fanfair are unaware of is that the plot of the Mary Shelley piece is a new adaptation of the story of Prometheus.
The old stories from Greek mythology have provided foundations for some of the greatest contemporary novels we have today. In Greek mythology, Prometheus was a Titan that was known for creating mankind and also mankind’s benefactor, providing him with stolen fire from Mount Olympus. Because of this theme of the creation man, Mary Shelley’s novel became known as Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. She did a wonderful job of taking this theme of the creation of man and placing contemporary aspects of the Victorian era within her work.
The transference of the role of the creator of man was taken from Prometheus and given to Doctor Victor Frankenstein, with a new modern, scientific and less natural spin on how a man was created. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein novel was also influenced by previous novels such as Paradise Lost by John Milton and Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
The original cover of the novel even featured a quote from Milton’s epic poem Mary Shelley, at the young age of eighteen and with the help of Greek mythology, was able to create a story that has provided a foundation of themes from Romanticism and the Gothic for the twentieth and twenty-first centuries cinema, literature and popular culture.
Frankenstein in Pop Culture
Few monsters have transcended the generations quiet like Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein monster. What was originally the tale of playing God gone horribly wrong has seemingly morphed into many different forms throughout the years. But how did the monster transform from a misshapen heap of reclaimed body parts that simply wanted to be loved by his creator to Aaron Eckhart with some facial scars and axe-knuckles hunting gargoyles? Faster than you think.
The real images and story that people remember are based off of the 1931 film adaptation Frankenstein. In this film the monster is portrayed differently than in the books, notably having green skin, large stitching on the forehead, a mindless stare, and neck electrodes and has several key differences in the plot. These changes set in motion a series of constant tweaking to the monster every ten years or so, much like a game of telephone. The physical changes to Frankenstein are almost excusable given the limited makeup and effects of the time, but the tweaks to the plot change the story entirely forever.
In Mary Shelly’s version there is no giant castle, or wisecracking assistant named Igor, or angry mob of villagers, or a flaming windmill. Her story focused on a young Victor Frankenstein who creates a monster and abandons it out of fear, causing the monster to seek revenge on him through harming his loved ones. Most of the story is Victor continuing about his life while the monster roams around the countryside gaining knowledge of himself and his surroundings.
The classic movie plot focuses around an older, more middle aged Victor who is a mad scientist that wants to create a monster. There, Victor plays a large role in the monster’s development until their eventual downfall to an angry mob of villagers.
This departure from the traditional storyline has led to many different interpretations and versions of the Frankenstein monster. The narrative of the pop culture Frankenstein took a turn for the funny following the original motion picture, seeing parodies like The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957), and most famously Young Frankenstein (1974).
Written by funny man Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder as Victor Frankenstein’s grandson Frederick and Pete Boyle as the Frankenstein monster. Hilarity ensues when Wilder embraces the creation as his own and in Pretty Woman fashion teaches the monster how to be a sophisticated gentleman — complete with a musical number.
This is obviously a much softer take on the once terrifying monster and it led to many different interpretations of the monster in the coming years. Frankenstein was mostly used strictly for comic relief or his sexuality. As he was increasingly put in situations that are far removed from Mary Shelley’s original vision people saw him become less a horror icon and more of a figure in counterculture.
It was not until the 80’s and 90’s that the narrative began to return to something closer to Shelley’s work. The Broadway play Shelley’s Creature (1985) and films Frankenstein Unbound (1991) and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) all did a great job of blending the old concepts of the monster with a more modern understanding, making the monster appear more human.
What made this so unique is that all of these projects featured a very intelligent monster, something that was stripped away from Shelley’s original monster during the original motion picture. By adding this intelligence back into his character, the monster becomes that much scarier to a modern audience that was not easily frightened by brute strength and reanimation anymore.
Frankenstein in Horror
The transition of “Frankenstein” from print to video, and the evolution of the story from the first video in 1910 to modern day, reveals as much about the story of Frankenstein as it does about modern society itself.
The first “Frankenstein” was directed by J. Searle Dawley and was released in 1910 by Thomas Edison’s studio, and is now dubbed the “first horror” movie. Interestingly, this movie was a silent film but they chose to remove the most ‘monstrous’ aspects of the film. Frankenstein’s creature doesn’t murder anyone, instead haunting Victor as he travels around Europe. At the end, much to the surprise of the novel’s readers, Frankenstein confronts his monster and, “the creation of an evil mind is overcome by love and disappears”(11:16 in movie below).
This suggests that in 1910 the most socially acceptable aspects of monstrosity contained within the novel pertained not to physical violence, but the way in which the monster challenged Frankenstein’s humanity. The monster is grotesque and imposing, yes, but any violence is implied and not physically realized. Perhaps in 1910 it was scarier to identify with Victor Frankenstein and his willingness to affront to God than to fear any physical harm or destruction from a devilish creation.
Perhaps the most iconic version of Frankenstein is the 1931 version directed by James Whale. Set in black and white this version has sound and the audience is shown a much more monstrous version of both Frankenstein and his monsters. Becoming an iconic scene in film history, when Frankenstein brings his monster to life in front of a small audience, we see a crazed Victor Frankenstein yell out, “It’s alive, it’s alive! Now in the name of God, now I know what it feels like to be God!”. Embracing Shelly’s fears of humanity’s hubris towards God and science, the scene perfectly encapsulates the mad Victor Frankenstein and the monstrosity of his creation.
In his book, Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic Mark Vieira reveals that when Whale’s version of Frankenstein was originally released it was censored in many states. Gone from the film is the death of the little girl and Victor Frankenstein’s bold proclamation that he knew what it felt like to be God. Staying closer to the novel than the 1910 version, perhaps this version was still too monstrous for 1931. Only later was the original footage discovered and the scenes added back.
In 1994 Francis Ford Coppola’s Frankenstein was released, staying closer to the source material written by Mary Shelley. By remaining true to the source material Coppola demonstrated that American society at least was ready to visually see what Shelley had first put to paper in 1818.
In Coppola’s version, Frankenstein’s creature, played by Robert Deniro, pounces on a sleeping Elizabeth Lavenza and rips out her heart in a grisly display of gore and violence. Here, Frankenstein’s creature murders Elizabeth and violates her physical body by placing his hand inside of her chest (all while pinning her down in bed), showing her still beating heart to Victor as he barges in.
While this differs a bit from the original book, it is interesting that we have come so far from the 1910 version. Once, the on-screen death of the ghastly creature was considered too gruesome for movies; then, twenty-one years later throwing a child into a lake was considered too much for a motion picture; and finally, sixty-three years later still, the creature’s act of forcing his hand into a woman’s chest cavity and ripping out her still beating heart is acceptable. If monsters do really lurk at the borders, as Cohen states, it is clear from a quick analysis of the film history of Frankenstein that the border of monstrosity has moved quite a bit from when the book was first published.
No other figure in literature has had a life like Shelley’s Frankenstein monster. Outside of maybe Dracula, no other monster has lasted 200 years and been reinterpreted into everything from a time-traveler to children’s cartoon to murdering psychopath. Now, slowly becoming a sex symbol, maybe we will see him undergo another major change in the next decade or maybe there will be a return to Shelley’s original adaptation. Regardless one thing is for sure, he will be around for many years to come — regardless of appearance.
