frankstein

There are a multitude of differences between the novel and movie of Frankenstein that have distorted much of the original work of Mary Shelley. Many of the original intentions and details of the novel have been altered for the 1994 Kenneth Branaugh version of Frankenstein. Although these alterations are not as severe as the common changes of earlier Frankenstein films, they do restrict Mary Shelley's imaginative descriptions and deeper messages of her novel.
Throughout the movie there are many changes in the plot and vision of main characters. First of all, the movie never portrays Caroline Beaufort as being the daughter of the unfortunate merchant, Beaufort. In the novel, once Beaufort dies, Alphonse Frankenstein weds his daughter, Caroline. The movie also leaves out the adoption of Elizabeth. This leaves the viewer wondering why Victor is marrying his sister and why they are so intimate. The movie also seems to portray Elizabeth's appearance very differently than the novel's description. In the novel, Elizabeth Lavenza is an adopted daughter of Caroline and Alphonse. She is described as having an angelic glow around her body and beautiful blonde hair. In the movie, Elizabeth has ugly, brown, curly hair and a very pale complexion. Elizabeth appears nothing like Mary Shelly had intended the reader to visualize her.

Another stark difference within the movie is how Caroline dies. In the novel, Caroline dies of scarlet fever after nursing her beloved Elizabeth back to health. In the movie, Caroline dies while she is giving birth to Victor's little brother, William. In the novel, when Victor goes to school in Ingolstadt, he is never visited by Elizabeth. Instead he is isolated from his friends and family for close to six years. The movie really seems to dampen the theme of isolationism by showing Elizabeth and Henry Clerval visiting Victor in Ingolstadt. After the monster is created, Victor falls ill. In the novel, only Clerval arrives in Germany to nurse Victor