Victor Frankenstein Comparison Essay

Movie adaptations of popular books can often be disappointing and even ruin stories because of their flashy and inaccurate plots. However, this is not always the case. The movie Victor Frankenstein, published in 2015 by 20th Fox Century Studios, is an adaptation of the original Frankenstein novel, written by Mary Shelly in 1815, that shines a new light on the story’s main character, Victor Frankenstein. In other words, the movie gives the spotlight to the often forgotten character, Victor Frankenstein, and his captivating story that gets dismissed in the original Frankenstein novel. The three main components to affect the characters memorabilia are the stories’ points of view, the stories’ plots, and the stories’ endings.

Victor Frankenstein

Firstly, the novel is presented from Victor Frankenstein’s perspective. This means the reader gets to learn Frankenstein’s background and dive deep into his scientific mind as well as learning his motives for the creation of the beast. However, abundant foreshadowing, as well as Frankenstein being an unreliable narrator makes the story feel predictable and makes the scenes that are supposed to shock the reader become dull and uninteresting. Victor's dedication and determination to create life is evident, emphasizing his predictable ambition and pursuit of scientific achievement. This is highlighted when he says: “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body". Victor is manifesting his goal and quite frankly tells the reader exactly what to expect making the following scene, the creation of the monster, predictable. Also, Victor is an “unreliable narrator” that is secretive and irresponsible. Although this adds to his “mad scientist” description, this simply doesn’t work when the story is written from his perspective as it makes Victor seem almost idiotic and creates confusion with the reader. “I avoided explanation and maintained a continual silence concerning the wretch I had created. I

With that said, this movie has the perfect balance of cinema magic as well as novel accuracy that allow it to bring something new to the Frankenstein franchise as well as keeping it entertaining. After all, the goal of this movie was to highlight Victor Frankenstein with the director even saying the following; “Sometimes the story gets lost in Frankenstein. Sometimes people try to make the movie about the monsters. It's actually about the human's making the monsters” The movie tries to showcase the madness and feverish traits of Victor Frankenstein that were not well displayed in the original novel. Whether it is his mysterious persona, his short and erotic dialogue, or his wacky interactions with Igor, Victor Frankenstein’s mad scientist persona is truly exposed and highlighted in the movie. An example of this being in the scene where Victor and Igor have just had a failed experiment and Frankenstein says the following: “We made progress today!... You were right Igor, the beast was dangerous, but now we have the opportunity to show our work!” (0:49:56). His complex mind can truly be explored by the viewer and his obsession regarding the creation of life is showcased in a way that truly adheres to his mad scientist persona.