Over the years, Hollywood has done, redone, overdone, and done again the story of Frankenstein. As the story has been told in different ways, it's changed. We now associate the name Frankenstein with the monster, but as the novel tells us, Frankenstein is the name of the doctor who created the monster. Why do you think the monster was never given a name in Shelley's novel? Why do you think Hollywood decided to name the monster Frankenstein? Compare the Frankenstein of Hollywood to the Frankenstein we see in Shelley's novel. What are the similarities? differences? How did your preconceived notions of Frankenstein affect your reading of the novel? Discuss anything that relates the novel to the images of Frankenstein we see in the media.
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Austin Koch - Question 3 Frankenstein
ReplyDeleteThe way Hollywood portrays Frankenstein and the way Shelley portrays it isn’t completely different, however, they do have some differences. Shelley gives a lot of detail about the monster saying things about lightning, the monster, and of course how Victor Frankenstein created him. The reason Hollywood calls this monster Frankenstein is simply because Victor is the one who created it. He wasn’t given a name in the novel because naming him after his “master” makes his name Frankenstein. The similarities to Frankenstein in Shelley and Hollywood are that he is a ugly monster created by Victor, his master. The reason the movie and book are so connected is the ways they both describe the monster (Frankenstein) consistently. Of course, a lot of things happen in the book that happen in the movies, and the book gives a lot more description and seems to tell the whole story better.
I think the reason the monster was never given a name is because his master (Victor Frankenstein) abandoned him right when he was created. He couldnt be given the name Frankenstein because that would make Victor look like a monster as well. The reason Hollywood gave the monster the name Frankenstein was because hes the central character instead of the doctor and everyone portrays him as the vilon. Frankenstein in Hollywood was a monster that was evil but fankenstein described in the book was seeking revenge on Victor his creator. The similarities are that he was created by strange chemicals and old body parts. I always thought Frankenstein was some evil, gigantic monster out to destroy things but after reading the book he had an adult body but a childs mind. But it turns out he just didnt want to be abandoned by his master.
ReplyDeleteBefore I read the book I thought that Victor Frankenstein was actually a mad scientist that wanted to create a monster to kill people. After reading the book I know that that is obviously not true, and that the monster itself didn't really want to kill people. He just wanted to be liked by people and was hurt because of being deserted by Victor and treated the way he was by humans. I think that Hollywood gave the monster the name Frankenstein so that it would be able to focus on it rather than Victor. I think that Shelley didn't name the monster because it would of taken away from Victor's part of the story and made it seem like the story focused on the monster rather than Victor
ReplyDeleteyes, i was confused when I saw the name Frankenstein for the first time used for Victors name because I had always believed the monster to be Frankenstein. Also hollywood seems to have dumbed down the monster, in the book he is protrude as a very smart and intellectual creature. I bet Mary Shelley did not give the monster a name to add to the fact that he is a monster trying be more like a person and find out who he is in the world and his propose for life. By not giving him a name it shows his struggle to have an identity and propose, so in a sense he is searching for his name.
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