Frankenstein: Thinking Activity

1) What are some major differences between movie and the novel Frankenstein?

> Kenneth Branagh's 1994 filmatic adaption of marry Shelly's Romantic novel 'Frankenstein' contains many elements not seem in the original novel. While both the novel and the film open in similar ways, the move does tend to allot the women of the film more power than the novel.

A) Victor's reaction to his mother's death is far more emotionally harrowing in the movie than the text. Shelley's version shows Elizabeth to be far more affected by Caroline's death than Victor. Victor's obsession with the women in his life is far more evident in the film.

B) Branagh seems to wish to highlight the relationship between Elizabeth and Victor far more than Victor and his creature. Given that love has always been a theme important to movie, Branagh brought the love between Victor and Elizabeth to the front of the novel instead of leaving it hidden as Shelley did.

C) One more different that at the end of the novel, Monster run away after the death of his maker, Victor. in the original text, whereas in the movie Branagh shown that Monster die with his creator Victor.

2) Did this movie help you in understanding the plot of the novel?

> Yes, this movie very faithful to give us overall idea about plot construction of the novel. Somewhere Kenneth Branagh tried to make some changes in the plot, we can understand that Branagh leaves out some parts of the story because in about two hours the film director must hold on the attention and the expectation of the spectators with special effect, violence and horror.

3) Who do you think is real Monster?

> As we all know that real monster in the novel is Victor, the maker of creature. Marry Shelley analyzes vital issues in her novel in terms of being able to use science and knowledge for the good of people and not for the satisfaction of personal ambition without even being able to take responsibility for that.

  As the novel goes. the reader realizes that the real monstrous action are made by Victor Frankenstein, first he rejects his own creature, then he simply fees to forget what has happened, then his brother dies as the revenge of the monster and he lets and innocents girls die taking responsibility for this death. Eventually, he loses his best friend and his wife and dies himself. So, we can say that the real monster in the novel is not the creature but the creator himself who dared to undermine the laws of nature and play God.

4) From where Marry Shelley get the idea for the novel Frankenstein?

> In the preface to the 1831 edition of the novel, Shelley wrote that the idea first came to her in the summer of 1816, where she stayed in a manor on Lake Geneva with her future husband Percy Bysshy Shelley and the writer Lord Byron and John Polidory. Byron suggested that each of them write a ghost story. Days passed, but Shelley produced nothing but that "blank incapability of invention which is the greatest misery of authorship".

  Then late one night, after a conversation about the possibility of using electricity to reanimate cadavers, the story came to her in a waking dream in which she saw a "hideous phantasm of a man" being animated by the working of some powerful engine, When Shelley opened her eyes, she saw moonlight entering her room through the shutter, and a story was born.

5) Do you think the search for the knowledge is dangerous and destructive? 

> The danger of knowledge the book Frankenstein is about a man's life that is ruined by his thirst for knowledge. Marry Shelley portrays the quest for knowledge as dangerous. She believes that it leads to self destruction, whether it is minimal of serve. Shelley shows three types of destruction in three characters; Victor, Monster and Walton.

  We can see in novel that Victor dreams about the possibility of creating life using electricity and body parts from dead men. After a long time studying and doing research Victor tell us that after days and night of incredible labor and fatigue led him towards tragic end. The monster also learning experiences and knowledge ultimately leads to failure and anger. Walton also states in his letter that he is lonely and need of a friend because of the demands of his chosen path to fame. 

6) What are some myths used by Marry Shelley in the Frankenstein?

>  There are three types of myths used in the Frankenstein.

     Paradise Lost

     Myth of  Narcissus and

     The myth of Prometheus

7) Write about the narratology of Frankenstein:

>  Narratology, in literary theory, is the study of narrative structure. The nature of the narrative in Frankenstein is inseparably linked to its structure, which combines three different narrative strands;    

• Captain Walton
• Victor Frankenstein
• The Monster
  

    >  Captain Walton writes to his sister Margaret Saville about his adventures, which the readers looks in upon in a typical epistolary novel manner. 

    > Victor recounts his story to Walton, who takes notes and sends them to his sister.

   

   > Then the Monster tells Victor about his or its adventures, which Victor recounts to Walton.