Who created Frankenstein—Mary Shelley or the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley?
The young hero of the book is called Victor. He is determined, educated, and wants to learn the secret of life on earth at all costs. He creates a most terrible monster, which, by the way, in the book the writer simply calls it a creature.
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Many years later, due to various adapted film productions and free interpretations, the monster itself began to be called Frankenstein, and many do not remember who created it. In the original book, Victor created the monster using science, and did it out of an insatiable curiosity that was not limited by moral principles.
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Who created Frankenstein? The writer and translator Mary Shelley came up with the image and wrote this book, which is largely deep and philosophical, when she was only 19 years old. For a long time it was believed that the author was her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, or their friend, the famous poet Byron.
Since the novel was published without attribution, only with a dedication, there was speculation. But later it became obvious that it was Mary. The girl’s mother and father were both writers, and the girl had a passion for inventing stories since childhood.
Frankenstein Mary Shelley / Frankenstein (1994)
Full length film.
Other titles: “ Frankenstein ” / “Frankenstein” (title translation option), “ Mary Shelley's Frankenstein ” / “Mary Shelley's Frankenstein” (international English title).
USA, Japan.
Duration 123 minutes.
Directed by Kenneth Branagh.
Screenplay by Steph Lady, Frank Darabont, based on the novel by Mary Shelley.
Composer Patrick Doyle.
Cinematographer Roger Pratt.
Genre: drama, horror, melodrama, science fiction
Summary Victor Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh) promises Elizabeth Lavenza (Helena Bonham Carter), orphaned as a child and adopted by his baron father (Ian Holm), that they will certainly get married. However, first the young man has to get an education. At the university, Victor, who does not share the opinion of modern scientists who do not take seriously the legacy of Paracelsus, Albert the Great and Agrippa of Nettesheim, learns that Professor Waldman (John Cleese) is conducting bold experiments, studying the effect of electric current on dead tissue. Frankenstein is inspired by the idea of creating a living person from fragments of the bodies of deceased people. His experiment is crowned with success: a Creature (Robert De Niro) is born, possessing incredible physical strength, capable of feeling, thinking, speaking...
Also starring: Tom Hulce (Henri Clerval), Aidan Quinn (Captain Robert Walton), Richard Briers (Grandfather), Robert Hardy (Professor Kremp), Celia Imrie (Mrs. Moritz), Trevin McDowell (Justine), Gerard Horan (Claude) , Mark Hadfield (Felix), Joanna Roth (Mary), Sasha Hanau (Maggie), Hugh Bonneville (Schiller), Rory Jennings (young Victor), Christina Cuttall (young Justine), Hannah Taylor Gordon (young Elizabeth), Jimmy Yuill ( Grigori), in the episode Patrick Doyle (orchestra conductor at the ball, uncredited).
Evgeny Nefedov, AllOfCinema.com
Review
© Evgeny Nefedov, AllOfCinema.com, 02/05/2016
Author's rating 6/10
(when copying text, an active link to the original source is required)
Out of the darkness
Perhaps Francis Ford Coppola's harsh remarks about the film were dominated by personal resentment. After the resounding success of “Dracula” /1992/, for some time he thought about independently filming another legendary novel, which is one of the inexhaustible sources of inspiration for the creators of horror films. Having decided to entrust the production to a younger, but already established filmmaker (primarily with brilliant film versions of Shakespeare’s works, although one can also recall the excellent neo-noir “To Die Again” /1991/) the master did not avoid serious creative differences. In particular, the director refused to shorten the introductory part, which seemed too detailed and drawn-out to the producer... However, Kenneth Branagh was initially in a less advantageous position than his eminent colleague, since Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus is noticeably superior in artistic merit to Bram Stoker's work. Film playwrights Steph Lady and Frank Darabont balanced, I would like to say, on a razor’s edge, on the one hand, trying to follow the plot twists and turns of the original source as closely as possible, but on the other hand, to present events in such a way that those ideas of Mary Shelley, which today seem outdated, are still sounded convincing. The authors have truly earned the right to claim that their film version is closest to the original - even with obvious borrowings from a number of screen adaptations1, which are read as a tribute to their predecessors.
Poor creature
First of all, one is captivated by how subtly Kenneth feels the worldview of the champions of romanticism, focusing on the truly godless nature of the experiments of his hero - a researcher who rejects the postulates of modern (that is, subordinate to the tasks and limitations of the Enlightenment) science, daring to continue the search for alchemists and mystics of the past. Moreover, at the end of the 20th century, the warning about the dangers that await anyone who sets foot on this dubious path and wanders into a dead end sounds even more terrible. Obsessively striving for the North Pole, Captain Walton, who almost killed himself and his crew, is inclined to consider Frankenstein, encountered in the ice of the Arctic, crazy, being unable to believe what he heard - and only the appearance of a creature torn by despair at the sight of his deceased creator (parent!) makes him come to his senses . Robert De Niro, despite the complex multi-layered makeup that disfigured his appearance, mesmerizingly conveys the power of emotions (from hatred of cruel humanity to... an unquenchable thirst for love), which the character tells Victor about, warning that he is ready for terrible acts if he does not agree to meet him halfway . The culmination of the confrontation occurs when the scientist revives the woman killed by the monster - on her wedding night! - a spouse (was it not these heartbreaking images that captivated Tim Burton, who later chose Helena Bonham Carter as his muse?!), who prefers to perish in flames rather than eke out a miserable existence... Judging by the commercial results of the film at the national box office, where box office receipts amounted to $22 million. – a little less than half of the production budget ($45 million), we will have to agree with the validity of Coppola’s demands. A sophisticated, expensive advertising campaign did not help either! However, outside the United States, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein received a warm reception, bringing in about $90 million - and earning generally flattering (even rave) reviews. In my opinion, this is natural.
.
__________ 1 – From the early short film “Frankenstein” /1910/ to the television film “Frankenstein” /1992/, not excluding the famous duology by James Whale.
Note: this review is being published for the first time.
Materials about the film: Samonov Georgy. Frankenstein drama // Video-Ass Express. – 1995, No. 32. – P. 10-11. G.S. Frankenstein is alive! // Video-Ass Express. – 1995, No. 32. – P. 28. Kudryavtsev S. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein // Video-Ass PREMIERE. – 1995, No. 26. – P. 22. Reizen O. Cute monster // Video-Ass PREMIERE. – 1995, No. 27. – P. 50-52. Kenneth Branagh: Mission Possible? // Video-Assist PREMIERE. – 1995, No. 27. – P. 53-57.
Materials about the film (texts only)
The history of the novel Frankenstein
The novel in notes about the monster and its creator was written in the rainy summer of 1816. That summer, the young poet Percy with his beloved Mary, who was going to become his wife, Lord Byron and two other people lived near the picturesque Lake Geneva. Since the weather was not favorable to swimming, Byron, or perhaps Shelley himself, suggested that the company have fun telling scary stories in the evenings.
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Mary also took part in this competition among writers. Some notes say that she had a strange dream, which she later described in her Frankenstein. It was Mary Shelley who created an entire novel from an ordinary scary story and published it.
There are suggestions that she saw her lover Percy in the role of Victor Frankenstein. The young man was outwardly young and handsome, but inside he turned out to be a hard-hearted traitor.
Frankenstein story
Victor Frankenstein was born into a family of the most eminent citizens of Geneva. His father married his friend's daughter Caroline Beaufort, and became a father "in his declining years." Victor was their beloved and long-awaited first-born, but Caroline wanted to have a daughter. One day, while relaxing on Lake Como, a woman entered a poor hut and saw a lovely blond girl, very different from the other children, black-eyed and black-haired. She turned out to be the child of a German woman and an Italian patriot. Her mother died during childbirth, her father was sent to prison, and the girl remained in the family of a wet nurse. The Frankensteins persuaded the peasants to give them the girl and adopted her. In the future, Elizabeth was supposed to become Victor's wife.
Seven years later, after the birth of their second son Ernest, the Frankensteins gave up traveling around Europe and settled in Geneva, where the youngest William was born. Victor grew up as an unbridled and impetuous young man. His hot temper was balanced by the calm, reserved Elizabeth and school friend Henri Clerval, sociable and dreamy. By the age of fifteen, Victor began to be interested in natural sciences, but soon the young man decided that natural science would never cross the “threshold of true knowledge” and took up mathematics. This change of inclination could have saved Victor from his terrible fate, but Rock turned out to be stronger than the Spirit of Good.
At seventeen, young Frankenstein entered the University of Ingolstadt, where he again became interested in natural history. Before Victor left, his mother died of scarlet fever, leaving the Frankenstein family in Elizabeth's care. Victor took up his studies diligently. It turned out that the works of medieval alchemists, which the young man was interested in, were hopelessly outdated, so he had to study modern natural science, and especially chemistry, from the very basics. Two years later, Victor achieved great success. Having become interested in physiology, he decided to determine “where the vital principle is hidden,” and soon achieved his goal - he discovered a way to revive lifeless matter. To put this knowledge into practice, he assembled a body from various parts found in morgues, crypts and slaughterhouses. Victor dreamed of creating a perfect being, a new breed of people.
On a stormy November night, Victor “saw the completion” of his labors. The enormous creature he revived, with yellow skin, watery eyes and a “narrow slit of a black mouth,” was so terrible that the young man’s nerves could not stand it, and he ran out of the laboratory. Returning in the morning, Victor discovered that the monster had disappeared, but the young man’s nerves were completely upset. In the morning, Clerval arrived at Ingolstadt University to study philology and linguistics, but the arrival of his friend did not reassure Victor. A few hours later he began to have a nervous fever that lasted for several months. All this time, Henri looked after Victor.
The young man recovered only in the spring. Clerval did not inform the family about the young man’s illness, for fear of upsetting his old father. Having come to his senses, Victor read the letter from Elizabeth. Unaware of her fiancé's illness, she talked about family matters, including Justine Moritz, a kind and hardworking, but a little frivolous girl who lived with the Frankensteins from the age of twelve as a member of the family.
After recovery, Victor left his previous activities. He could not look at his tools and instruments without shuddering. Throughout the next year, Clerval remained close to his friend, supporting and entertaining him. Spring came again, the monster disappeared without a trace, and Victor, with a light heart, went home to Geneva. Just before leaving, he received a letter from his father informing him of William’s death. The boy disappeared while walking and was soon found strangled.
Victor arrived in Geneva in the evening, when the city gates were already closed. Tormented by insomnia, he decided to visit the place where William was killed. When Victor got there, a thunderstorm began. In the light of lightning, he noticed a creature of gigantic stature and immediately realized that his younger brother was killed by the monster he had created. At home, Victor learned that Justine was accused of murder, and William’s medallion was found on her. In vain he claimed that the girl was innocent - no one believed him. He did not dare reveal the truth, fearing that people would think he was crazy. A few days later, the unfortunate Justine was convicted and executed.
Victor was tormented by pangs of conscience, undermining his nervous system, which was still fragile after the illness. Seeing his condition, the Frankensteins moved to their country house. Now Victor was looking for “relief from pain in physical movements and changing places.” Hiring a mule, he set off on a journey through the Alps. About two months later, while crossing a glacier covered with deep cracks, he came face to face with his creation. All this time the monster was watching him. The creature chose this deserted place to talk to its creator, and told Frankenstein its sad story.
The monster barely remembered the first hours of its existence; it only felt cold, hunger and thirst. He came to his senses in the Ingolstadt forest, where he lived for some time. He learned to satisfy his basic needs and even learned what fire was by stumbling upon a still burning fire. Occasionally, the monster met people who ran away from it screaming in horror. Some time later he reached the village, but everyone there was running away from him. Finally he took refuge in a small shack attached to a poor village house. Through a small gap in the wall, the monster began to observe the inhabitants of the house. A small family lived there - a blind father with his son Felix and daughter Agatha. Felix often read aloud to his father. Listening to him, the monster learned to speak. These meek and beautiful people aroused the admiration of the unfortunate and lonely creature. They were poor, and the monster tried to help them by collecting brushwood at night and stacking it at the door of the house. Spring came, and Felix’s bride, the “beautiful Arabian” Safiya, came to see him. The young man began to teach the bride his language, not knowing that there was another student present at the lessons. Soon the monster understood everything his benefactors said, and even read a little. The textbook was Volney’s work “Ruins of an Empire”, from which the monster learned about the structure of human society. He began to realize that he was different from other people.
The monster soon learned that until recently the De Lacy family was noble, rich and lived in Paris. Their troubles began because of a Turkish merchant, who was unjustly sentenced to death. Felix fell in love with his daughter Safiya and helped the merchant escape from prison. In return, the Turk agreed to give him his daughter’s hand. The French government sentenced the De Lacy family to exile and confiscation of property. The ungrateful Turk told his daughter to forget about Felix, but the girl left her father and returned to her beloved. She brought some money and jewelry, with the help of which she pulled De Lacy out of impenetrable poverty.
The monster lived in the annex until winter. Having once found a bag of books in the forest, among which was “Paradise Lost,” the monster realized that he, like Adam, was also created by someone. In the pockets of clothes taken from Frankenstein's laboratory, the creature found Victor's notes, from which he learned who his creator was. The unfortunate creature worshiped De Lacy, dreamed of serving them faithfully and receiving a little love in return. The monster thought for a long time about how to appear to these beautiful people and not scare them. Finally, he decided to win over the blind old man, hoping that he would persuade his children to accept the unfortunate creature. He chose a time when the old man was alone, entered and spoke to him, trying to soften his terrible voice. At this time the rest of the family returned. The girls fainted, and Felix grabbed a stick and drove the creature out of the house. Then the De Lacy family hastily rented out the estate and left. That same night, the monster set fire to the house and went to Geneva in search of its creator. Finding the Frankenstein family, the monster killed William and put his medallion in Justine's pocket.
The monster accused Frankenstein of creating him and abandoning him to his fate, and demanded the creation of a female creature. Having found a girlfriend, he intended to go “to the vast deserts of South America,” away from people. The monster threatened to destroy Victor's family if he did not fulfill his demands. Frightened by the threats, Victor agreed. This work was so disgusting to him that he delayed its start as best he could. The creature was constantly watching him. In the end, Victor, accompanied by Henri Clerval, had to leave for England to begin creating a bride for the monster. Returning from England, Victor was to marry Elizabeth. Only this thought supported him.
Frankenstein rented a hut on one of the secluded islands and set to work. Everything was almost ready when Victor realized that he had no right to give life to another creature, because it could turn out to be evil and destroy many people. In addition, two monsters could give birth to children and bring destruction to humanity. At this thought, Victor destroyed all the prepared materials. Upon discovering this, the monster said: “I will be with you on your wedding night,” swore revenge and disappeared. Victor decided that it was he who was in danger on his wedding night and decided to bring it closer.
Victor put all his tools and equipment in a basket, took it out to the open sea at night and drowned it. Feeling relieved, he fell asleep right in the boat. When Frankenstein woke up, he discovered that he had been carried far from the familiar shore. Victor spent many hours at sea. Finally he landed near a small town, where he was immediately arrested. A tragedy occurred in the town - an unknown traveler was brutally strangled, so all strangers were arrested. Seeing the murdered man, Victor recognized him as his faithful friend Henri Clerval. Thus began the monster's revenge.
Victor was again overcome by nervous fever. Two months later he woke up in prison. A month later, a trial took place, at which Victor was acquitted. His father came to pick him up and took him to Geneva, where preparations for the wedding immediately began. Immediately after the ceremony, the newlyweds set off on their honeymoon. They were supposed to spend their wedding night in a secluded hotel. Leaving his wife in the room, Victor armed himself to the teeth and began walking along the corridor. He wanted to sell his life dearly and try to destroy the monster. Suddenly a terrible scream was heard from the room. Having burst in, Victor discovered that his young wife had been strangled. The monster's terrible face could be seen in the open window. Victor fired but missed.
That same night he hurriedly went to Geneva, fearing that the monster would get ahead of him. He found his father alive, but the old man was so weak from the misfortunes that had befallen him that he soon died in Victor’s arms. His despair was so great that Victor was considered crazy and was locked in a solitary ward for several months. After leaving the clinic, he went to the local judge and told the whole truth about the monster, but the judge did not believe Victor, deciding that he was still sick.
After this, Frankenstein went on a journey after the monster, dreaming of only one thing: to destroy it. Pursuing a creature that had incredible strength and endurance, he walked around all the continents of the Earth and ended up near the North Pole, where he was picked up by a ship.
The main theme and idea of the book about Frankenstein's monster
The idea is that the ugly creature created by Victor still had a good human soul, capable of gratitude, good and evil deeds. He needed his creator's guidance, help and training. But the creator was only a frightened young man, who himself was afraid of his creation. The poetic experiment was carried out a long time ago, but its consequences are terrifying.
The topic is ethics of science. Can a scientist arrogate to himself the right to become the creator of life on earth, can he control and develop what he has created? Mary Shelley argues that no, a person is not ready for this role, and will never be ready.
Summary of M. Shelley's novel "Frankenstein"
Preface in letters
Twenty-year-old Robert Walton dreamed of traveling since childhood. He wanted to discover the continent, supposedly located at the north pole of the Earth, with all its wonders and riches. A small inheritance helped make this dream come true. Robert described all the vicissitudes of the journey in detail in letters to his sister Margaret.
Having reached Arkhangelsk, Walton hired a ship with a crew and headed to the North Pole. Soon the ship found itself in an area of solid ice and was forced to drift. Around this time, the team's attention was attracted to a dog sled, on which rode "a creature similar to a man, but of gigantic stature." Soon the ice broke up and the ship moved on. The next morning, Robert saw a man on one of the huge ice floes. He tried to ride a sled with his only dog. Despite his weakness, the stranger asked which direction the ship was heading before boarding.
Victor Frankenstein turned out to be an amazingly smart and subtle person. He was severely frostbitten and exhausted, but when he heard from Walton about the creature on the dog sled, he became inspired and began to recover rapidly. Having recovered a little, he told Robert his story, which he wrote down in detail.
Frankenstein story
Victor Frankenstein was born into a family of the most eminent citizens of Geneva. His father married his friend's daughter Caroline Beaufort, and became a father "in his declining years." Victor was their beloved and long-awaited first-born, but Caroline wanted to have a daughter. One day, while relaxing on Lake Como, a woman entered a poor hut and saw a lovely blond girl, very different from the other children, black-eyed and black-haired. She turned out to be the child of a German woman and an Italian patriot. Her mother died during childbirth, her father was sent to prison, and the girl remained in the family of a wet nurse. The Frankensteins persuaded the peasants to give them the girl and adopted her. In the future, Elizabeth was supposed to become Victor's wife.
Seven years later, after the birth of their second son Ernest, the Frankensteins gave up traveling around Europe and settled in Geneva, where the youngest William was born. Victor grew up as an unbridled and impetuous young man. His hot temper was balanced by the calm, reserved Elizabeth and school friend Henri Clerval, sociable and dreamy. By the age of fifteen, Victor began to be interested in natural sciences, but soon the young man decided that natural science would never cross the “threshold of true knowledge” and took up mathematics. This change of inclination could have saved Victor from his terrible fate, but Rock turned out to be stronger than the Spirit of Good.
At seventeen, young Frankenstein entered the University of Ingolstadt, where he again became interested in natural history. Before Victor left, his mother died of scarlet fever, leaving the Frankenstein family in Elizabeth's care. Victor took up his studies diligently. It turned out that the works of medieval alchemists, which the young man was interested in, were hopelessly outdated, so he had to study modern natural science, and especially chemistry, from the very basics. Two years later, Victor achieved great success. Fascinated by physiology, he decided to determine “where the vital principle is hidden,” and soon achieved his goal - he discovered a way to revive lifeless matter. To put this knowledge into practice, he assembled a body from various parts found in morgues, crypts and slaughterhouses. Victor dreamed of creating a perfect being, a new breed of people.
On a stormy November night, Victor “saw the completion” of his labors. The enormous creature he revived, with yellow skin, watery eyes and a “narrow slit of a black mouth,” was so terrible that the young man’s nerves could not stand it, and he ran out of the laboratory. Returning in the morning, Victor discovered that the monster had disappeared, but the young man’s nerves were completely upset. In the morning, Clerval arrived at Ingolstadt University to study philology and linguistics, but the arrival of his friend did not reassure Victor. A few hours later he began to have a nervous fever that lasted for several months. All this time, Henri looked after Victor.
The young man recovered only in the spring. Clerval did not inform the family about the young man’s illness, for fear of upsetting his old father. Having come to his senses, Victor read the letter from Elizabeth. Unaware of her fiancé's illness, she talked about family matters, including Justine Moritz, a kind and hardworking, but a little frivolous girl who lived with the Frankensteins from the age of twelve as a member of the family.
After recovery, Victor left his previous activities. He could not look at his tools and instruments without shuddering. Throughout the next year, Clerval remained close to his friend, supporting and entertaining him. Spring came again, the monster disappeared without a trace, and Victor, with a light heart, went home to Geneva. Just before leaving, he received a letter from his father informing him of William's death. The boy disappeared while walking and was soon found strangled.
Victor arrived in Geneva in the evening, when the city gates were already closed. Tormented by insomnia, he decided to visit the place where William was killed. When Victor got there, a thunderstorm began. In the light of lightning, he noticed a creature of gigantic stature and immediately realized that his younger brother was killed by the monster he had created. At home, Victor learned that Justine was accused of murder, and William’s medallion was found on her. In vain he claimed that the girl was innocent - no one believed him. He did not dare reveal the truth, fearing that people would think he was crazy. A few days later, the unfortunate Justine was convicted and executed.
Victor was tormented by pangs of conscience, undermining his nervous system, which was still fragile after the illness. Seeing his condition, the Frankensteins moved to their country house. Now Victor was looking for “relief from pain in physical movements and changing places.” Hiring a mule, he set off on a journey through the Alps. About two months later, while crossing a glacier covered with deep cracks, he came face to face with his creation. All this time the monster was watching him. The creature chose this deserted place to talk to its creator, and told Frankenstein its sad story.
The monster barely remembered the first hours of its existence; it only felt cold, hunger and thirst. He came to his senses in the Ingolstadt forest, where he lived for some time. He learned to satisfy his basic needs and even learned what fire was by stumbling upon a fire that was still burning. Occasionally, the monster met people who ran away from it screaming in horror. Some time later he reached the village, but everyone there was running away from him. Finally he took refuge in a small shack attached to a poor village house. Through a small gap in the wall, the monster began to observe the inhabitants of the house. A small family lived in it - a blind father with his son Felix and daughter Agatha. Felix often read aloud to his father. Listening to him, the monster learned to speak. These meek and beautiful people aroused the admiration of the unfortunate and lonely creature. They were poor, and the monster tried to help them by collecting brushwood at night and stacking it at the door of the house. Spring came, and Felix’s bride, the “beautiful Arabian” Safiya, came to see him. The young man began to teach the bride his language, not knowing that there was another student present at the lessons. Soon the monster understood everything his benefactors said, and even read a little. The textbook was Volney’s work “Ruins of an Empire”, from which the monster learned about the structure of human society. He began to realize that he was different from other people.
The monster soon learned that until recently the De Lacy family was noble, rich and lived in Paris. Their troubles began because of a Turkish merchant, who was unjustly sentenced to death. Felix fell in love with his daughter Safiya and helped the merchant escape from prison. In return, the Turk agreed to give him his daughter’s hand. The French government sentenced the De Lacy family to exile and confiscation of property. The ungrateful Turk told his daughter to forget about Felix, but the girl left her father and returned to her beloved. She brought some money and jewelry, with the help of which she pulled De Lacy out of impenetrable poverty.
The monster lived in the annex until winter. Having once found a bag of books in the forest, among which was “Paradise Lost,” the monster realized that he, like Adam, was also created by someone. In the pockets of clothes taken from Frankenstein's laboratory, the creature found Victor's notes, from which he learned who his creator was. The unfortunate creature worshiped De Lacy, dreamed of serving them faithfully and receiving a little love in return. The monster thought for a long time about how to appear to these beautiful people and not scare them. Finally, he decided to win over the blind old man, hoping that he would persuade his children to accept the unfortunate creature. He chose a time when the old man was alone, entered and spoke to him, trying to soften his terrible voice. At this time the rest of the family returned. The girls fainted, and Felix grabbed a stick and drove the creature out of the house. Then the De Lacy family hastily rented out the estate and left. That same night, the monster set fire to the house and went to Geneva in search of its creator. Finding the Frankenstein family, the monster killed William and put his medallion in Justine's pocket.
The monster accused Frankenstein of creating him and abandoning him to his fate, and demanded the creation of a female creature. Having found a girlfriend, he intended to go “to the vast deserts of South America,” away from people. The monster threatened to destroy Victor's family if he did not fulfill his demands. Frightened by the threats, Victor agreed. This work was so disgusting to him that he delayed its start as best he could. The creature was constantly watching him. In the end, Victor, accompanied by Henri Clerval, had to leave for England to begin creating a bride for the monster. Returning from England, Victor was to marry Elizabeth. Only this thought supported him.
Frankenstein rented a hut on one of the secluded islands and set to work. Everything was almost ready when Victor realized that he had no right to give life to another creature, because it could turn out to be evil and destroy many people. In addition, two monsters could give birth to children and bring destruction to humanity. At this thought, Victor destroyed all the prepared materials. Upon discovering this, the monster said: “I will be with you on your wedding night,” swore revenge and disappeared. Victor decided that it was he who was in danger on his wedding night and decided to bring it closer.
Victor put all his tools and equipment in a basket, took it out to the open sea at night and drowned it. Feeling relieved, he fell asleep right in the boat. When Frankenstein woke up, he discovered that he had been carried far from the familiar shore. Victor spent many hours at sea. Finally he landed near a small town, where he was immediately arrested. A tragedy occurred in the town - an unknown traveler was brutally strangled, so all strangers were arrested. Seeing the murdered man, Victor recognized him as his faithful friend Henri Clerval. Thus began the monster's revenge.
Victor was again overcome by nervous fever. Two months later he woke up in prison. A month later, a trial took place, at which Victor was acquitted. His father came to pick him up and took him to Geneva, where preparations for the wedding immediately began. Immediately after the ceremony, the newlyweds went on their honeymoon. They were to spend their wedding night in a secluded hotel. Leaving his wife in the room, Victor armed himself to the teeth and began walking along the corridor. He wanted to sell his life dearly and try to destroy the monster. Suddenly a terrible scream was heard from the room. Having burst in, Victor discovered that his young wife had been strangled. The monster's terrible face could be seen in the open window. Victor fired but missed.
That same night he hurriedly went to Geneva, fearing that the monster would get ahead of him. He found his father alive, but the old man was so weak from the misfortunes that had befallen him that he soon died in Victor’s arms. His despair was so great that Victor was considered crazy and was locked in a solitary ward for several months. After leaving the clinic, he went to the local judge and told the whole truth about the monster, but the judge did not believe Victor, deciding that he was still sick.
After this, Frankenstein went on a journey after the monster, dreaming of only one thing: to destroy it. Pursuing a creature that had incredible strength and endurance, he traveled around all the continents of the Earth and ended up near the North Pole, where he was picked up by a ship.
Continued from Walton's Diary
Frankenstein's story lasted a whole week, during which the ship was surrounded by ice. In the end, the sailors demanded that Walton turn the ship back to England, and he had to agree. A few days later the wind blew, the sea cleared, and the ship was able to turn home. By this time, Frankenstein was completely weakened. Before his death, he regretted only one thing: that he had not caught up with his worst enemy. Entering the cabin where the deceased Frankenstein lay, Walton found a monster grieving over his creator. He told Robert about the pangs of remorse that he felt. To end this torment, he was going to burn himself alive. Having said this, the monster jumped out of the window onto the ice raft and “disappeared into the dark distance.”
Brief summary of the work
So, what is the novel actually about? The story describes the life of a young Genevan scientist, ambitious and wealthy. His name is Victor Frankenstein. He is handsome and has an indomitable, daring character.
He leaves home to study at the university, leaving his young lover, whom he will soon marry, and two younger brothers in the care of his father.
His interests lie in science and alchemy. Victor reads a lot, spends time in solitary studies and tries to recreate life, to become a creator. One day he succeeds. Large and terrifying in appearance, the “beast” comes to life. And Victor becomes so scared of the revived dead body that he runs away from the laboratory and is overcome by a nervous fever.
The creature he created runs away into the forest, taking Victor's cloak with it. He lives in the forest, trying to learn how to get his own food. He then finds an abandoned outbuilding near the people's house, eavesdrops on their conversations and learns from them. Gradually he begins to understand speech, to understand that he was created by someone.
When he learned to read, he was able to read Victor's diary, which remained in the pocket of his white lab coat. He learned hatred for the one who created him without a purpose, created him to experience loneliness and hatred of people and then left him in the cold in the forest.
The creature was good at its core. It did not want to harm anyone, but seeing how the villagers feared and rejected it, it gradually became embittered. And when it finds out where Victor Frankenstein’s family lives, it goes to Geneva and kills his younger brother, William. Then he kills Victor’s bride immediately after the wedding. The father of William and Victor, after a series of deaths of loved ones, dies in the arms of his desperate and embittered eldest son.
Now Victor dreams only of revenge. He heads north in pursuit of the monster and dies on the ship that picked him up from frostbite and physical exhaustion.
Who created Frankenstein? Now it is clear that the main character is an ordinary person, no one created him. It is he himself who is the creator of the mythical creature, which has already become mythologized and acquired the name of its creator.
Card index. Issue 15 “Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus”
The novel has two main characters - Victor Frankenstein and his creation, which he himself calls a monster. Essentially they are doubles - the monster repeats the fate of its creator.
Victor Frankenstein is a young Swiss scientist endowed with great talent and has been interested in natural sciences since his youth. His research leads to the possibility of revival. He creates a human being with extraordinary strength and endurance, but at the same time so ugly that he can cause nothing but horror. This discourages the creator so much that he hastens to relinquish responsibility for the future fate of his creation. The monster does not meet with understanding among people; in response to his good deeds, he meets only hatred and malice. He rebels against his creator and takes revenge on him, successively killing his brother, friend, and fiancée. Creation makes its creator feel the same as he feels - boundless loneliness and restlessness. The Creator sees the death of his loved ones, understands that he himself is to blame for everything and cannot do anything. The only thing left for him is to follow his creation in order to destroy it and thus restore what seems to him to be justice. Many years of wandering lead to the North Pole, where both the creator and his creation perish in the ice. Without one there is no meaning to the existence of the other.
The book is written in the spirit of its time, it combines the features of sentimentalism, romanticism and the Gothic novel. It is overflowing with emotions and experiences: here are endless men’s fainting spells, multi-page landscapes, descriptions of human kindness and tenderness, and typical pathetic speeches of sufferers. But the young writer could not do it any other way - these are the trends of the times.
Another cost of the book is the rapid social adaptation of the creature; he masters both language and culture in a very short period of time. And also that the creation was created from many parts of different people and even animals from the slaughterhouse. But, in principle, this is all a little confusing - this is a fantasy novel, everything is possible here.
Over time, the theme of a scientist and a unique invention, which turns into a tragedy for him and those around him, becomes popular in literature. And with the advent of cinema, this topic and this book, of course, cannot go unnoticed. The first film adaptation of Shelley's novel appeared back in 1910, and then many more films were made based on this book.
Popular film adaptations of our time
The novel about Frankenstein and the monster associated with him was staged in theaters many times and film scripts were written based on it. The 1931 film adaptation is considered the best film; this version was directed by James Whale.
Many other films and TV series have also been shot:
- "The Evil of Frankenstein" 1964
- "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" 1969
- "House of Dracula" 1945
- "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" 1972
- "I am Frankenstein!" 2013
- And one of the newest and most popular versions is Victor Frankenstein, starring James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe. 2015 film.
And in the now popular TV series “Once Upon a Time”, the image of Frankenstein is also found in season 2. The TV series “Boulevard of Horrors” was also based on the novel.
Reviews of the book “Frankenstein, or the modern Prometheus”
Mary Shelley's book is still popular. Science fiction fans buy and read it. People love this piece. This is not just a “horror” story, the book is filled with meaning and reasoning. After reading it, it becomes clear who created Frankenstein. The doctor's name is Victor, and anyone who has read the original will never fall into the trap of cinematography, which sometimes creates distortions. Many readers note that the original version is much more interesting than its re-shot counterparts.
Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein has become a classic of popular science literature. All the books that were written before were based on reality or magical plots, where the main characters are wizards. But after this novel, science fiction writers began to try to use scientific facts to create a plot that differs from our reality. The writer continued to create short stories and novels, but none of them became as famous as her first work.
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus - Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary Shelley.
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus
LETTER FIRST
To England, Mrs. Szwill,
St. Petersburg, December 11. 17..
You will be glad when you hear that the enterprise that gave you such gloomy forebodings has begun quite favorably. I arrived here yesterday; and I hasten, first of all, to assure my dear sister that everything is fine with me and that I am increasingly convinced of the happy outcome of my case.
I am already far north of London; Walking through the streets of St. Petersburg, I feel the cold north wind on my face, which invigorates and makes me happy. Will you understand this feeling? The wind coming from the regions where I am heading already gives me a foretaste of their icy expanse. Under this wind from the promised land, my dreams become more vivid and fiery. I try in vain to convince myself that the pole is the abode of cold and death; it appears to my imagination as a kingdom of beauty and joy. There, Margaret, the sun never sets; its disk, barely rising above the horizon, radiates eternal radiance. There - for you will allow me to at least somewhat trust experienced sailors - the power of frost and snow ends, and along the waves of a calm sea you can reach a country that surpasses in beauty and wonders all the countries hitherto discovered by man. The nature and riches of this unexplored country may turn out to be as outlandish as the celestial phenomena observed there. What can you expect from the land of eternal light! There I will be able to discover the secret of the wondrous power that attracts the magnetic needle; and also check many astronomical observations; one such trip is enough for their apparent contradictions to once and for all receive a reasonable explanation. I will be able to satiate my greedy curiosity with the spectacle of previously unknown lands and walk through the land where no man has ever set foot. This is what attracts me - conquering the fear of danger and death and filling me, before starting a difficult path, with the joy with which a child, together with his playmates, floats in a boat along his native river, to discover the unknown. But even if all these hopes are not justified, you cannot deny that I will render an invaluable service to humanity if I at least pave a northern route to those regions where it now takes many months to sail, or discover the secret of the magnet - after all, if it can be discovered at all , then only with the help of such a journey.
These reflections dispelled the anxiety with which I began to write to you, and filled me with soul-elevating delight, for nothing soothes the spirit as finding a solid goal - a point to which our inner gaze is directed. This expedition was the dream of my youth. I voraciously read books about the voyages undertaken in the hope of reaching the North Pacific Ocean through the polar seas. You may remember that stories of travel and discovery formed the entire library of our good Uncle Thomas. No one was involved in my education; but I became addicted to reading early. I studied these volumes day and night and increasingly regretted that my father, as I learned while still a child, before his death, strictly ordered my uncle not to let me into the sea.
Dreams of the sea faded when I first became acquainted with the works of poets who delighted my soul and lifted it to heaven. I myself became a poet and lived for a whole year in the Eden created by my imagination. I imagined that I too was destined for a place in the temple dedicated to Homer and Shakespeare. You know the failure that befell me and how hard I experienced this disappointment. But just at that time I inherited our cousin’s fortune, and my thoughts turned again to the dreams of my childhood.
It has been six years since I conceived my current venture. I still remember the hour when I decided to devote myself to this great goal. First of all, I began to strengthen myself. I accompanied whalers to the northern seas; I have rather exposed myself to cold, hunger, thirst and lack of sleep. During the day I often worked more than the sailors, and at night I studied mathematics, medicine and those areas of the physical sciences that a sailor might most need. I was hired twice as skipper on Greenland whaling ships and did an excellent job. I must admit that I felt proud when the captain offered me the position of his first mate and spent a long time trying to persuade me to accept: he appreciated my service so highly.
Now tell me, dear Margaret: am I really not worthy to accomplish something great? My life could have been spent in contentment and luxury; but I preferred fame to all the temptations of wealth. Oh, if only someone’s voice could sound for me! My courage and decision are unshakable; but hope and cheerfulness fail me at times. I am embarking on a long and difficult journey that will require all my fortitude. I will have to not only maintain cheerfulness in others, but sometimes in myself when everyone else loses heart.
Now is the best time of year to travel around Russia. The local sleighs rush quickly through the snow; This method of transportation is pleasant and, in my opinion, much more convenient than the English mail coach. The cold is not terrible if you are wrapped in furs; I have already acquired such clothes, because walking on the deck is not at all like sitting in place for hours without warming the blood with movement. I have no intention of freezing on the postal route between St. Petersburg and Arkhangelsk.
I will go to the last of the cities I named in two or three weeks; and there I’m thinking of hiring a ship, and this is easy to do by paying an insurance amount for the owner; I also want to recruit the number of sailors I need from those who are familiar with whaling. I don’t think I’ll set sail until June, but when will I return? Ah, dear sister, what can I answer to this? If we're lucky, we won't see each other for many months, maybe even years. If you fail, you will see me soon - or you will never see me.
Farewell, my dear, kind Margaret. May God bless you and keep me alive so that I can thank you more than once for your love and care. Brother who loves you.
R. Walton.
LETTER SECOND
To England, Mrs Saville
Arkhangelsk, March 28, 17..
How long time drags on for one who is shackled by frost and ice! However, I took one more step towards my goal. I have hired a ship and am recruiting sailors; those whom I have already hired seem to me to be reliable people and, undoubtedly, courageous.
I am missing only one thing - I have always been missing, but now I feel the absence of this as a great evil. I have no friend, Margaret; no one who could share my joy if I am destined for the happiness of success; no one to hold me up if I get discouraged. True, I will commit my thoughts to paper; but it is of little use for conveying feelings. I need the company of a person who would sympathize with me and understand me perfectly. You may think me overly sensitive, dear sister, but I feel the absence of such a friend with bitterness. Near me there is no one with a sensitive and at the same time fearless soul, with a developed and receptive mind; there is no friend who would share my aspirations, who could approve my plans or make amendments to them. How much could such a friend do to correct the faults of your poor brother! I am too hasty in action and too impatient in the face of obstacles. But an even greater evil is that I was self-educated: for the first fourteen years of my life I drove around the fields and read only books about travel from the library of our Uncle Thomas. At this age I became acquainted with the famous poets of my country; but too late I became convinced of the need to know languages other than my native one, when I could no longer derive any true benefit from this conviction. Now I’m twenty-eight, and yet I’m more ignorant than many fifteen-year-old schoolchildren. True, I have thought more than them and dream about more; but these dreams lack what artists call “correlation,” and I really need a friend who is intelligent enough not to despise me as an empty dreamer, and loving enough to guide me.
However, all these complaints are useless; what kind of friend can I find on the ocean expanses or even here, in Arkhangelsk, among merchants and sailors? True, even with all their outward rudeness, noble feelings are not alien to them. My assistant, for example, is an extremely courageous and enterprising person; he passionately desires fame, or, more accurately, success in his field. He is an Englishman by birth and, despite all the prejudices of his nation and his craft, not softened by enlightenment, he has retained many of the noblest human qualities. I first met him on board a whaling ship: having learned that he was now unemployed, I easily persuaded him to participate in my enterprise.
Film-biography of Mary Shelley herself
In 2021, a film was released about the writer Mary Shelley and how and under what conditions she wrote her novel. In the Russian translation, the film is called “Beauty for the Beast.”
Starring Elle Fanning (playing Mary) and Douglas Booth (playing Percy). The director of the film is Haifa Al-Mansor.
The film shows how difficult Mary’s fate was and how such a terrible image of a monster created by her main character, a scientist, “settled” in the soul of a still young person.
