Changes In Frankenstein

The Monster changes and grows throughout the adapted play by Philip Pullman of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein because of the conflicts he faces. The Monster was created and brought to life by scientist Victor Frankenstein who hoped his experiment would be something that would change the world for the better. However, when he realised that what he had created was not what he planned he abandoned the Monster, leaving it to find his own way in the world. This could be compared to somebody abandoning a newborn child, as babies know nothing when they are brought into the world, neither did he. The Monster educated himself by listening to other people’s conversations in secret. Initially the Monster simply wanted a friend, and for people to accept him,

Evil – you want evil? – then I shall be evil!” (p36). This evidence shows that the Monster changes as a result of the conflicts he faces in the story of Frankenstein. The story of Frankenstein by author Mary Shelley is widely known as the first science fiction novel to ever be written, the adapted play by Philip Pullman follows the same story line as the novel and therefore shares the same genre. We can tell that Frankenstein is a part of this genre by the storyline itself and the themes throughout the story. The idea of using deceased body parts to bring something to life through science is what makes this story a part of the science fiction genre. We learn how Frankenstein has been sourcing the parts for his experiment is not very ethical when he and Clerval are discussing what is in the bag that Clerval retrieved for him. “You dig them up? Good Lord, Frankenstein, how many corpses are there without hands in our graveyard?” (p20), “Not just hands. D’you think I want to do it this way?” (p20). Frankenstein plans to bring his experiment to life using the electricity produced during a gigantic lightning storm, which he succeeds at, however the result is not what he had hoped

We can see the similarities between Frankenstein and Edward Scissorhands from the evidence within the play and movie. A difference between the play Frankenstein based on Mary Shelley’s novel and the movie Edward Scissorhands by Tim Burton is that initially Edward was embraced by his community, whereas the Monster was rejected immediately after his creation. When Peggy first brought Edward down from the castle and into her home the community welcomed him. People were intrigued by him and his talents and wished to befriend him because of this. This is vastly different to the Monster’s experience who was immediately rejected and thought to be a foul creature that needed to be feared as soon as he was brought to life, even by the man who created him, Victor Frankenstein. “And as soon as you saw what you’d done, you turned away in horror and left me to find my own way through the world – a creature everyone turned from in disgust and loathing – a vision from a nightmare!”