Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein": The Idea of Monster and it's Different Adaptations

     In Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", there is a very prominent theme of a monster. The film adaptations that spawn off of the novel also carry this theme. However, a great difficulty in reading or viewing "Frankenstein" is deciphering who the monster of the story really is. What's very interesting is that several adaptations take contrasting routes in portraying the different characters and, therefore, have different portrayals of who the monster is. A prime example of this occurs between the novel itself and the film adaptation that was created in 1931. In the novel, the reader gains insight into the stories of both Victor Frankenstein and his creation. In the film, all the viewer sees is an outside view of the story that occurs between Henry, his family and friends, and his creation. It is in these contrasting settings where the story has the possibility to change shape. 

     Although Mary Shelley's frame narrative plot can be quite confusing, it allows the reader to gain more perspective and gives them the ability to see into the stories of more than one character. Because of this, the reader is able to use their own opinion in deciding the part of the monster. Victor claims that his creation is a monster, but there are many scenes that allow the reader to question this label. The greatest ones come from when the creation is telling his side of the story. The creation says, "Believe me, Frankenstein, I was benevolent; my soul glowed with love and humanity; but am I not alone, miserably alone?You, my creator, abhor me; what hope can I gather from your fellow creatures, who owe me nothing? They spurn and hate me" (page 189). In reality, who is the monster of this novel? The creation or the creator? The creation only became something bad after being abandoned by his creator and, after trying to do good, was rejected by mankind and not allowed to become the good person he was. However, the creator did an evil thing, abandoned and refused to acknowledge his paternity to the resulting consequences, and refused to make a plan to help it after it sought him out. In my opinion, the father abandoned the child, so who is really the one to blame? One definition of a monster is, "a powerful person who cannot be controlled who causes many problems". The creation had the capability of being controlled and reigned in if approached in the correct manner and, because his creator didn't help him, he became labelled as a "monster". However, I believe this is inaccurate. Victor is the monster of this novel. It was Victor who couldn't be controlled by his family, friends, or his teachers. And it was Victor who created the problems in which the novel revolves around. 

     Interestingly enough, the exact opposite may be said for the 1931 film version. Victor is renamed Henry in the film. This is said to be because, "Unlike the book, the film ultimately seeks to redeem Frankenstein's character, making him a more human and sympathetic character" (1). In the filmmakers eyes, Victor appears to be a harsh name whereas Henry is a softer, more relatable mark. The goal of the film seems to be to bring more understanding towards the creator, and more hate towards the creation. They paint Henry to be a man who became a victim of circumstances, who didn't understand what he was doing, and who tried to deal with the problem but failed. They paint the creation out to be this bloodthirty ignorant bozo with the urge to do nothing but kill. Perhaps, for the time period, it was what the audience. Perhaps, due to the stock market crash, an audience could not bear to see that something so horrific as this "monster" would be the humans fault, because they already had so much to deal with. It's harder to watch something that portrays your own species as the monster, especially when things are going on that prove that they are. All in all, it's interesting to see how different viewpoints can change an iconic story and make it their own, changing not only names but the personas of the characters. 

1. http://www.moviemistakes.com/film1886/questions