Hi there! I hope you guys don’t mind me info dumping!!! I have this class that I’m taking in school called Monsters and Madness, and we’re reading Frankenstein right now, and I just wrote this long-ass response to the question my teacher poised and I’m really proud of my response so I wanted to share it here ^-^
Question: Using examples from chapter 17 (and/or the rest of the story) to support your response, do you believe the creature when he says his anger with humanity will subside if Victor creates a mate for him? Explain in 4-5 sentences minimum:
My response:
When the creature demands Victor create him a mate- an Eve to his Adam- I can understand his rationale, though the idea itself might not necessarily be true.
Throughout the creature's life, he has been utterly alone. Though he is made of human parts, he isn’t necessarily human; given that he was “created” in a different way, he has “superhuman” speed and strength, and that he looks vastly different from humans, (large stature, funky eye and skin color.) And given how different his appearance is, he has no one who relates to him; who understands his struggles. The world of man will have nothing to do with him, “but one as deformed and horrible as myself would not deny herself to me,” (Shelly 128.) The creature’s rationale for wanting a female of the same species created is simple and understandable: I am alone in a world that despises me, the least you could do is bestow upon me another of my kind, so we can share our tribulations and care for one another. It is different, however, to see if that idea works in reality.
Victor’s two main concerns while creating whom I will refer as “The Bride” for the rest of this response, are as follows:
That The Bride and The Creature will not get along and now there are two angry monsters on the loose
The Bride and The Creature like each other a bit too much and now there’s a super-race that’s capable of conquering the world and wiping out mankind.
Though there is a simple way to quash that second concern, Victor ends up destroying The Bride’s body before he is even finished making her, thus bringing the wrath of The Creature upon him and those he holds dear.
However, what would the result be if Victor brought life to The Bride? The 1935 classic Universal monster movie, The Bride of Frankenstein, explores this idea slightly. Despite the movie itself being called The Bride of Frankenstein, The Bride herself barely has five minutes of total screen time, [1:09:12 (when her hand first moves)-1:13:02 (the last shot we see of her before The Creature blows up the laboratory)] Though the time we see Elsa Lanchester’s Bride and Borris Karloff’s Creature interact with one another is limited, the results are the same as Victor’s primary concern. Once being brought to life and removed from her bandages, The Bride looks around curiously- like a child. She stares at Henry* and Dr. Pretorius**, walking to them and falling into their arms. The Creature soon runs up to the laboratory, wanting to see his mate. He smiles and walks slowly up to her, calling her “friend.”*** She smiles at first, but when The Creature goes to touch her arm, she screams. She then stares at Henry, and he walks her to the couch, where she collapses. The Creature tries again to touch her hand in an attempt to comfort her, but she once again screams, and falls into Henry’s arms. The Creature, seeing no other option, goes for the switch that activates the electricity in the laboratory. Elizabeth bangs on the laboratory door- and the creature allows Henry to escape, and brings demise to himself, The Bride, and Dr. Pretorious.
With this movie’s existence, it displays how in the scenario of giving life to The Bride, that the two would not get along, and thus cause problems for the human race, (Though in reality it only caused problems for Dr. Pretorious.)
However, when it comes to Victor’s second concern, I see a different outcome if it were true. I see that if The Creature and The Bride had gotten along on their first meeting, The Creature would keep his promise, and the two would leave Geneva to live in a remote location. Now with one of his kind, The Creature would thus teach her everything that he knows; how to cultivate fire, how to read, and how to formulate sentences, among other things. I believe that they would be happy with one another, and stay as far away from the human race as possible, as I am sure The Creature would tell The Bride of all the pain the human race has brought him, and that they must keep away from them, but not to hate or kill them. And if, for some reason, The Creature and The Bride were able to procreate, I’m certain that The Creature would teach his children the same as he taught The Bride, and that they as a familial unit would live a harmonic life secluded from the human race. If they would happen to be seen by humans, if they are hunters from a native tribe, or explorers looking for ancient ruins, I believe they would flee, and essentially become a Sasquatch-like cryptid to the humans of the area.
Given that Victor has fulfilled his desire for someone of his kind, he wouldn’t exactly forgive and forget the pain humans have brought him, but he would not hurt nor interact with them anymore, and he would likely have his heart and soul filled with benevolence once again.
* In the classic Universal Monsters™ movies, Victor’s name is swapped with Henry Clerval’s name. (Victor Frankenstein becomes Henry Frankenstein; Henry Clerval becomes Victor Clerval- I have no clue why they made this change.)
** In The Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Pretorious was one of Henry’s professors at college, who also had a penchant for creating life. Unlike Henry, he started building his creature’s small, and has them stored in little glass containers. He tries to persuade Henry to help him with a new project, but he refuses. Dr. Pretorious soon meets The Creature, who is now capable of forming sentences. He then manipulates The Creature, making him threaten Henry with his and Elizabeth’s lives if he does not make him a “friend.”
***A trend which originated from the Universal Monsters™ franchise, the Creature is not very intelligent, and forms sentences like a kindergartener, unlike his novel counterpart.
Like I said I know this is so long but I’m super proud of it and I hope you don’t mind reading it!!! I just love gothic lit and classic monster movies!!!!
