Landscape and Geography in adaptations of Frankenstein

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Shelley tells the story of Victor Frankenstein and the creation of his monster. She explains the story through different types of imagery with the explanation of landscape and geography as the story moves from one setting to another. The novel has a very thorough, specific description of each setting Frankenstein is placed in. When Frankenstein describes his childhood, he mentions a time when him and his family watched a tree being struck by lightning. The amount of imagery in the book describing just this specific moment is in great detail and I think Shelley has a reason for doing this. I think that Mary Shelley goes into specific detail regarding this memory of Frankenstein’s childhood because it is one of the many geographical descriptions that shows a reflection of Frankenstein’s life over a course of time. The geography and landscape has a direct correlation of his feelings throughout the novel.

            The 1994 version of Frankenstein is very similar in this aspect as well. This adaptation of the novel portrays Frankenstein’s feelings as reflecting of the landscape around him. For example, when Frankenstein is creating the monster, he is holed up in his laboratory and the camera pans out to the landscape of where his laboratory is located. It shows a secluded, grassy area on a cold, stormy night with emotions running high, especially for Frankenstein. Just like the novel, this specific film adaptation has Frankenstein’s feelings reflecting where he is located and what he is doing at that time. I believe that because the movie is obviously a visual representation of Frankenstein that the explanation of the landscape and the geography could be subtle; however, the director of the film took the right path by still making Frankenstein’s feelings parallel to the landscape and the geography. Both the novel and this version of the film defined the landscape and the geography in a way that showed a reflection of Frankenstein’s emotions during specific times.