Preview

Frankenstein: The Monster's Human Nature

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
740 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Frankenstein: The Monster's Human Nature
The Monster's Human Nature Summary Essay Hollywood has played a big part is our lives. Growing up we've seen numerous movies, some that scared us others that touch us, and those images stayed with us forever. So what happens when Hollywood takes a classic piece of literature such as Frankenstein and turns into a monster movie. It transforms the story so much that now some 50 years later, people think of Frankenstein as the monster instead of the monster's creator. It became a classic monster movie and all the high values of the original were forever lost.
Hollywood has managed to reeducate the world of the timeless and classic literature by altering the story to the point beyond recognition. Starting back with 1931 Frankenstein, where producers took a simple strategy and altered the theme of the story in a way they thought audiences would enjoy more. An ambitious man of science that tries to play a god by creating a man of his own vision. The sequel followed in 1935 named The Bride of Frankenstein, which took off even farther form the original novel by introducing audiences to the author Mary Shelly, and her husband Percy. In the original text Victor Frankenstein, whose name in the movie was changed to Henry, was never guilty of abusing technology to become god. He tired to revive life, in which he party succeeded. From the speech in his deathbed, Victor tells Walton that his intentions were only to help life, and he hoped that others would succeed where he has failed. Hollywood has disregarded this crucial part of the story and turned Victor into a mad scientist.
Other versions of the film followed, one even explained monster being evil because Victor puts a crazy brain into him. Some critics argue that American audience just can't comprehend intellectual complicity and they would just rather see a classic horror movie, then put some thought into one. Besides altering Victor, Hollywood altered the monster as well, making him seem even more

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Frankenstein has been written and rewritten, imaged and re-imaged many times in both movies and books. The countless versions deal with the events in various ways and have different endings, although most of the modifications were minor and didn’t change the story line too much. In Paul McGuigan’s 2015 movie version of “Victor Frankenstein”, we see a more updated version with dynamic and thrilling turns, also showing just a portion of Victor’s life starting from adulthood. It shows events that led up to the creation of the monster, through the eyes of Igor, with their friendship being the focus of the film. The true monster of the Frankenstein story is Victor the scientist because he refuses to show compassion. When humans refuse to be compassionate,…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Analyse how Frankenstein and Blade Runner imaginatively portray individuals who challenge the established values of their time.…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Textual form is an issue which divide many critiques and audiences. Some view texts as a form being superior and more expressive, whereas others may view film as to be losing its credibility of expression. Never the less it is adamant that through a comparative study of two differing forms exploring similar ideas it becomes clear that one form isn’t always superior over another. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) mirror this thesis. Whilst being composed more than a century apart, each explore similar ideas but approach them from different perspectives. Shelley’s epistolary novel reflects a period of Romanticism and Enlightenment through its glorification of nature, as well as its cautionary like tale of social responsibility and exploration of creator verse created. Scott’s science fiction film Blade Runner conveys the many fears surfacing from the United States in the 1980 by warning of the possible dangers associated with environmental deterioration, scientific advancements and genetic engineering. Scott scrutinizes such concepts as a world without true nature, and, like Frankenstein, the consequences of a lack of social responsibility. Shelley masterfully uses literary techniques to create her timeless classic. Similarly Scott achieves a similar prestige through his use of filmic techniques.…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poor casting decisions and a lackluster script never allow Victor Frankenstein the opportunity to thrive. With that said, the only other thing to look forward to in such a film is the eventual reveal of Frankenstein’s monster – which is also under-whelming and flat-out disappointing. The build-up to such a creation is haphazardly executed, and when the moment finally arrives – it does so with a hearty yawn, followed by an aggressive should shrug. But, hey – at least the top of his head was…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Frankenstein is a 19th century novel written by a romanticist, Mary Shelly. Frankenstein explores the main issues such as nature, relations, need for freedom, fear and artificial life. All these are reflected into the movie Blade Runner (1982) that reflects 20th century fears of cloning and advancement in technology, that views the aspects of all which is portrayed within Frankenstein. These are relevant to the modern audience as regardless, living in the 21st century, the need for love, the advancement of sciences and artificial life, the nature still lives on and are expressed indicating the development of society’s understanding and knowledge from the 19th century to the 21st century.…

    • 1742 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    James Whale once said, “I've spent much of my life outrunning the past, and now it floods all over me”. This quote resembles the character Victor in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Victor Frankenstein runs from all of his problems until he ends up with terrible consequences. James Whale, the film director for the movie phenomenon Frankenstein was not only an artist, but also a man who had a vision. The movie Frankenstein is based off Mary Shelley’s work of art, Frankenstein. After 85 years, the movie Frankenstein is still greatly appreciated, it implies a society we know nothing about and have a strange curiosity towards. James Whale is truly a genius for creating Frankenstein the film because he put an immense amount of effort into…

    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Frankenstein is seen in movies, cartoons, and short stories. Edison Studios filmed the first Frankenstein film in 1910.The film was written and directed by J. Searle Dawley. The sixteen- minute Short film was the first motion picture was based on Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. The Second Frankenstein film released in 1931 is an American horror monster picture from Universal pictures. James Whale directed the film. Mary Shelley based the film on the novel. The Main character is Henry Frankenstein, which creates a creators life from body parts. The Third Frankenstein film released in 1994 was an American horror film directed by Kenneth Branag. TriStar Pictures, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The film opens up with a few words from Shelly’s Frankenstein The Film is very similar to Shelly’s Frankenstein novel, because “Victor Frankenstein Uses Experiments from a Brilliant Scientist. He was able to bring a creature to life from old dead body parts. Once the creature came to life, he realized how destructive his experiments had become a disaster”(). Lastly, The 2015 Victor Frankenstein film is based on Mary Shelly’s 1818 Novel Frankenstein. It is directed by Paul McGuigan and written by Max Landis. The main characters of the film are James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe. This film was released on November 25, 2015.” This film is different then the Mary Shelley film in 1994. “This will show more trouble with the creature from assistant’s dark origins and his redemptive friendship with young medical student Victor Frankenstein (McGuigan, P 2015).…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The story of Frankenstein is well known and often remade inaccurately. Looking at the original story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and the movie that is most accurate, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, it is seen that there are many similarities and differences. The movie’s abundant similarities to the novel allow for the movie to carry the name Frankenstein and even include the original author’s name. The book and movie share a similar storyline, but the movie strays from the novel in certain scenes and in details of various characters.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When Victor Frankenstein made the monster his first reaction was “Beautiful! – Great God!” (35). In this moment he was proud and then disgusted in the same instant. He saw how awful the monster looked and ran to get away from him. On further reading we find out the monster was ready to be good and loving to everyone if Victor accepted and loved him. Victor chose not to and sent the…

    • 861 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the principles of Romanticism that Shelley critiques in Frankenstein is the natural goodness of man. Jean Rousseau, a notorious French philosopher during the eighteenth century, advocated the notion that man, in a free state of nature, were good and innocent while those who live within civilization are corrupted. Pursuing this further, Rousseau believed that those who are in a state of isolation are content and wise. However, Rousseau’s notion in the ‘goodness of man’ contradicts with Shelley’s character Victor. While Rousseau may praise Victor’s admiration for nature and his pursuits for crafting a creature for the greater good, an indication of his individualism, it is that moment of extreme isolation that is beginning of his collapse.…

    • 148 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein" is heavily influenced by romantic themes that present themselves throughout the text. Pressures brought on by the industrial revolution set in motion many significant changes to civilization at that time and created the movement know as romanticism. These social and political issues of the time in which the story was written played a large part in the overall subject matter. Environmental changes brought on by large populations congregating in cities with unhealthy living conditions along with the destruction of natural habitat led to disenchantment with the modern age. People began to revere nature and viewed it as the zenith of existence, whereas previously establishments such as religion or government…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    An understanding can also be gathered and influenced by the personalities and wishes of both Frankenstein and Victor. At first Victor’s mistake was to create this being of horror. It portrayed Frankenstein as the monster when actually Victor is refusing him of the only thing he wants and needs to live through this life which was not his choice to…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The main theme is religion. In the beginning, the narrator introduces the theme of creation relating that Dr. Frankenstein wants to create a man after his own image. He wants to destroy and then recreate human life. He thinks he is God, and when the monster moves its hand, he says: “Now I know what it feels like to be God.” It is about god-like power and immortality. At the time when this movie was made, science was still seen by most of the American public as a dangerous philosophy rather than as a rational discipline. It was considered to be a defying divine provenance (mad scientists were always defying taboo areas – attempting to raise the dead, to prolong youth, and so on). In this version there is a wonderful sense of…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Classic works of literature become part of the history of ideas; they also influence this history, enabling readers to make connections, discover the influences of other writers” (Grade saver). There have been many movies, and books written and created based off of this book, but it is portrayed in different ways. For instance today most people think the monster was named Frankenstein, but really he didn’t have a name. The creator’s name was Victor Frankenstein and he just called his creation monster, wretched, devil, and horrendous. “Devil,” I exclaimed, “do you dare approach me”(Shelley, 86). However, they are still similar in some ways for instance the monster is still wretched, but their emotions are all different. The movie I Frankenstein similar to the book portrays how the monster went mad when his creator abandoned him, and eventually killed him. However, this movie basically portrays what happens after the monster has killed Victor Frankenstein. "There is none, unless you can animate that corpse. Naberius has been planning this for centuries. Victor Frankenstein just made it possible"(Ranker.com). Evidence above shows how in this movie the monster knew the price of the creation so he worked hard to keep it in the wraps so no one else has to go through it. Authors like to keep some of the same content from the original piece and connect it to their pieces of…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The story of Frankenstein came to life when Mary Shelley once along with her husband, stayed at shore of Lake Geneva at the house of Lord Byron. One night, Lord Byron dared everyone to make up ghost stories and that was the night when Mary’s dreams gave birth to the character of Frankenstein. She, encouraged by her husband, began working on it and formed the first modern work of literature in science fiction genre. In his book, Billion Year Spree, Brian Aldiss claims ‘Frankenstein represents the first seminal work to which the…

    • 1699 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays