Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley in 1818, is a horror story about the interaction between Dr. Victor Frankenstein and the monster he created.  Many movies have been created based on the book, and in 1994 Kenneth Branagh directed Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.  The movie follows the book fairly closely, but certain scenes are compressed, especially towards the end, and certain scenes are altered, adding some backbone and heroism to the character of Victor Frankenstein.  In 1818 Mary Shelley was the wife of Percy Byron Shelley, one of the brilliant poets who defined the romantic period in British Literature.  In both the book and the movie, the monster is created while Frankenstein is a student at the University of Ingolstadt.  Victor is a highly intelligent, extremely arrogant scientist who believes himself capable of saving the world from death and disease, a desire created from the early death of his mother.  In his mad attempt to solve these problems, Victor loses his humanity through the process of reanimating the corpse of a man, constructed from other corpses.

            At the scene of the reanimation, the novel and the movie diverge.  In the novel, Victor views the reanimation as a catastrophe.  “How can I describe the emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?  His limbs were in proportion, and I selected his features as beautiful”(85).  To Victor, these beautiful features only served to highlight the monster’s deformities, making it more ugly.  At this point Victor flees the scene to escape his waking nightmare for sleep.  “Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had created, I rushed out of the room, and continued a long time traversing my bed-chamber, unable to compose my mind for sleep.  At length the lassitude succeeded to the tumult I had before endured; and I threw myself on the bed in my clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness” (85).  Later that night, Victor awakens to find the monster standing over his bed and for a second time Victor is incapable of confronting his creation.  “He might have spoken, but I did not hear him, one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed down the stairs” (86).

            The movie takes a different approach.  Running electrical current through acupuncture needles reanimates the human corpse, details the book leaves to the imagination.  Once Victor realizes the experiment is successful, he has the courage to confront his creation, and attempts to help the monster stand.  Unfortunately, the monster stumbles into chains, entangles itself, and appears to hang.  Victor makes a journal entry, “Massive birth defects, greatly enhanced physical strength, resulting reanimate is mal-functional and pitiful… and dead”, and then proceeds to go to bed.  Later in the night, Victor is awakened by strange noises.  He gets up to investigate, discovers that the monster has somehow survived, and is chased by the monster through the lab.  During the chase, a voice-over says: “Victor Frankenstein of Geneva, how could you know what you have unleashed?  How is it pieced together?  Bits of murderers and thieves?  Evil stitch to evil stitch to evil.  Do you really think this thing will thank you for its monstrous birth?  Evil will have its revenge.  God help your loved ones.”  The monologue sets the stage for the monster to extract vengeance against Victor.

            The differences in the actions of Dr. Victor Frankenstein point to significant difference in the perception of the character.  In the novel, Victor’s character flaws assert themselves at the moment of his success, and prevent Victor from heroically confronting the monster.  In the movie, the monster’s apparent death gives Victor a good reason to retreat.  The movie’s version of Victor actively investigates the monster during the second encounter. 

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