let's talk victor, his red gloves, war and the angel.
note: this post is going to get updated over the weekend (15-16/11/2025), as i want to broaden the st michael symbolism and add the context of victor's mother in relation to the colour red and the motif of creation.
I think the anti-war nature of Del Toro's Frankenstein is more than obvious. I also think the near-constant presence of Victor's leather gloves was a great detail. Aaand I'm quite sure I know the angel from his visions. And I may have a theory on how all those things are connected.
At first, I assumed the gloves' symbolism was obvious: red like blood, but also the constant concealment of Victor's palms as a metaphor for detachment, especially since we know how important hand-to-hand contact is in the movie.
But, given the way GDT draws from the Bible, would it be such a great stretch to bring up another (quite famous) pair of metaphorically bloodied hands?
In Matthew 27:24, Pontius Pilate attempts to argue for Jesus' life and save him from crucifixion despite the rioting crowd. Clearly that doesn’t work lol. He gives in, says, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves", and publicly washes his hands as a symbol of ceremonial cleansing/withdrawal of responsibility. Which is. Extremely ironic, given the fact that it is Pilate that confirms Jesus' death sentence. Even if he tries to deny that. And doesn't Victor, too, attempt to shrug off the responsibility for his creation's suffering from the very start?
But, ah. The colour red. Blood, yes, but also — what was the second Horseman of the Apocalypse's horse? Red. And the Horseman was War.
Once again, this movie fucking hates war!!!!!! It depicts it as pointless, monstrous, loathsome!!!!
And do you know who Victor's angel is? The one from the visions?
I know this man because I have been obsessed with him for ages
Judging by his armour and sword, that is most likely Archangel Michael — the "Warrior" Archangel. The one God created to "be like Him" (his name literally translates to, "Quis ut Deus?" a.k.a. "Who is like God?"), the one whose devotion was so absolute he allegedly battled his own brother and was the leading force behind Lucifer's banishment (carrying out their Father's will).
Archangel Michael is the leading patron saint of war. Literally. Of warfare. Of military. Of policemen. Of violence. There is a reason why he's always depicted armoured and wielding a sword.
And... I don't know, I just think there's something to be said about the fact that the embodiment of Victor's ambition, his haughty dreams, his perfect visions is the saint patron of war, all the while the actual creation, the "failure" he comes to loathe, starts his readings with the Bible, the literal creation of man, and ends on Milton's Paradise Lost, which details the fall of Lucifer.
I think there's something to be said about Victor following the supposed call of the archangel of violence, all the while renouncing the tender-hearted creature that, in the novel, famously tells him, "I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel (...)."
edit:
i'd also like to include these excellent additions by @anamelessfool @angelsarecomputers @dark-whimsy and @britsgovernmentmh
aaaanyway, something i find very important is that. right before the act of creation, victor says, "it is finished".
y'know who also says that?? jesus christ, john 19:30, right before dying on the cross.
something something... the same words that have marked the original martyred son's death at the will and hands of god the father... being what frankenstein utters moments before bringing his own accursed creation into this world. marking adam for suffering before he even gains consciousness. dooming him, if you will—
the fact that gdt draws numerous connections between the creature and literary/visual motifs glorified by western culture, as mapped out by shelley in the original novel. his first scene in the forest is littered with skulls (which he doesn't seem to recognise?), obviously the film's anti-war message, but also. the way we get an "alas, poor yorick" reference.
adam echoes adam, and jesus, and shakespeare, and milton's lucifer, and the beauty of nature. all the things at which "cultured" people hum and nod with approval. he is good, and eager to learn, and tender-hearted.
but he is also other. and that is more than enough for people to want to destroy him the second they see his form. even though he embodies all the things they supposedly marvel at and name the very best about this world. just because he is Other, they refuse to recognise the way he embodies humanity.
