Line #10 YMMV/Frankenstein


1	!!General:
2	* CommonKnowledge:
3	** [[IAmNotShazam Everyone "knows" that Frankenstein is the creature]], or at least used to. Nowadays it's fairly common in fiction to hear one character snootily correct another about it being the name of the scientist and not the monster. This leads to the quip, "Knowledge is learning that Frankenstein isn't the monster -- wisdom is understanding that Frankenstein ''[[ParentalAbandonment is]]'' [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters the monster]]". One could FanWank that the monster is effectively Victor's son, therefore inherits his surname, and therefore Frankenstein ''is'' the monster's name -- but whether this implication was intentional or not, the text never actually refers to him as such.
4	** An even more pedantic piece of trivia is that technically, there's ''no'' "Doctor Frankenstein" in the novel. Victor made the monster as an undergraduate student (albeit one of prodigious talent and knowledge as described by his professors and himself) and the novel never confirms whether he actually got his doctorate or even any sort of degree.
5	** Everyone "knows" that Victor sewed together bits and pieces of several corpses to make his creature and brought it to life with electricity. While Mary Shelley/Victor does make reference to galvanism and it quite likely inspired Shelley while writing her story, the book itself is vague on the exact process. Deliberately so; Victor outright says he's [[AndSomeOtherStuff not going to explain]] how he did it, for fear of someone else duplicating his mistakes. The most the reader knows for sure is that he dug up bodies and cut up cadavers for research; whether or not he actually built the creature out of them is never made clear, as is how he actually brought the creature to life.
6	* FriendlyFandoms: With {{Dracula}}. Both the books have been compared to one another from the time ''Dracula'' was published, as both of them are {{Scrapbook Stor\|y}}ies that took old-school horror tropes and placed them in modern (at the time) settings with modern (at the time) technologies, to great effect. In addition to this is the [[Franchise/UniversalHorror Universal]] and [[Film/HammerHorror Hammer]] movies, that has ensured that the two works remain widely associated with each other to this day.
7	* MemeticMutation: Whenever someone [[IAmNotShazam incorrectly refers to a work's main character with the work's title]], it's common to "correct" them with "No, their name is [work name]'s monster", in reference to the common confusion with Frankenstein and Frankenstein's Monster.
8	** "Frankenstein was the monster"/"Frankenstein was the scientist"/"Frankenstein was the monster" [[labelnote:Explanation]]A common joke (usually involving increasing intelligence) playing on the [[AmbiguousSyntax ambiguity]] of saying "Frankenstein was the monster". The first use of the "Frankenstein was the monster" refers to the common [[IAmNotShazam mistake]] made by those unfamiliar with the work. The second use reflects the common view among those who have read the book that Victor Frankenstein was the [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters real monster]] rather than his creation.[[/labelnote]]
9
10
11	!!The novel:
12	* AlternateAesopInterpretation: The intended Aesop of the story was "don't play God", but it is easy to instead come to the conclusion of some other Aesops: "take responsibility for your actions, and if you've got an unpleasant but necessary task to do, see it through to the end and don't waste time moaning about it". This would later be supported by ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'', where Frederick Frankenstein takes responsibility for ''his'' creation and saves him from going down the same dark path as Victor's creation, resulting in a happy ending for both Frederick and the monster.
13	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Where to start?
14	** Victor Frankenstein is either a tragic and naive scientist who, in his enthusiasm, bit more off than he could chew and paid a terribly high price for it and has every right to be emotional about it, OR a selfish asshole who tried to keep his reputation intact by abandoning the monster and letting an innocent woman be executed when he could have saved her, and got what was coming to him, as well as being exceptionally whiny about things that are entirely his fault.
15	** The monster is either a far bigger [[TheWoobie woobie]] than Victor could ever hope to be, abandoned by the only person he could possibly consider a parent, or a [[{{Wangst}} wangsty]] murderer whose FreudianExcuse does [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse not excuse]] his [[RevengeByProxy actions]].
16	** The monster is nothing but a figment of Victor's imagination, embodying everything bad in himself. Of course, this would work better if the entire novel was from Victor's POV.
17	** Victor Frankenstein is actually a misogynistic gay man and his endeavor to create the ideal man was his attempt to make a companion for himself and remove women from the process of reproduction. [[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow Saaaayyyy...]]
18	** Who is the real monster? Is it Victor for being irresponsible and neglectful towards his creation and then refusing to create a companion for him, inadvertently leading to the monster killing his friends and family? Is it the monster, for actually causing the deaths? Or are they both to blame for being unwilling to accept the consequences of their actions?
19	** Was Victor’s childhood truly idyllic, or is it just a combination of grief and NostalgiaFilter clouding his memories?
20	** In a meta example, ''Mary Shelley herself''. When she gave birth to a premature child, her husband rejected him and instead left for an affair with Shelley's stepsister. Moreover, the character of Victor Frankenstein shares a lot of bio details with Percy Shelley, including his interest in chemistry and his experiments in college. Considering those reasons, many people have come to believe the entire story was actually an elaborated, well-argumented TakeThat from Mary to her husband.
21	* {{Anvilicious}}: Shelley's viewpoint that creating life specifically is hubris and fundamentally flawed is heavy-handedly hammered into the reader.
22	* CrackPairing: Creature/''Everything.'' [[SenseFreak You saw it coming.]]
23	* CryForTheDevil: The creature's lament at the end of the novel demonstrates that he still has the capability to feel remorse for his actions and that he was formed by his surroundings, rather than born evil.
24	* DracoInLeatherPants: The Creature/Adam Frankenstein/The Monster, whatever you want to call him. In most adaptations of Mary Shelley's novel, he often does get treated much more sympathetically, most notably in the original film, which makes him into a clueless monster that doesn't know its own strength. In the novel itself, while he is a tragic figure who feels remorse by the end and commits suicide, he is much smarter and uses said intelligence to willingly commit several premeditated murders and frame an innocent for one of them.
25	* EnsembleDarkHorse:
26	** Despite being pretty insignificant to the overall story, Justine's meek personality and NiceGirl status has made her quite popular to the fans, who think her death is one of the most tragic parts of the book and the point at which Victor [[MoralEventHorizon crosses the line from self-absorbed and troubled to irredeemable and evil]], since he makes no effort to save her and is arguably just as responsible for her execution as the Creature.
27	** Henry is beloved for his cheerful personality and strong bond with Victor.
28	* FanNickname: Since the creature is never given a proper name, neither from Victor nor from himself, fans of the novel occasionally refer to him as "Adam" due to him comparing Victor's attempt to make him to God's creation of humanity. He is also refered as "Adam Frankenstein", with the logic being how he is technically Victor's son and thus heir of his surname.
29	* FandomEnragingMisconception:
30	** Referring to [[FrankensteinsMonster the monster created by Victor Frankenstein]] as "Frankenstein" does not sit well with those who have actually read the book. The monster has no confirmed name, but he does tell Victor "I ought to be thy Adam", referencing the first man created by {{God}} in ''Literature/TheBible''. As a result, you can call the monster "Adam Frankenstein"; just remember it's a {{fanon}} alias for him and not [[{{Canon}} canonical]].
31	** Thinking the monster is a low-intelligence brute. The misconception arises from the monster's AdaptationalDumbass portrayal in [[Film/Frankenstein1931 the 1931 film]]. In the original novel, the monster is quite intelligent and can speak eloquently.
32	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments:
33	** In an amusing {{meta}} moment, Victor stops during his explanation of the whole "creating life" thing, and instead spends a good page or so contemplating the nature of pride and hubris, and how it led to his downfall, before we're suddenly reminded that, oh, yeah, he's speaking this story out loud to somebody... who rather wishes he'd get on with it!
34	--->'''Victor:''' But I forget that I am moralising in the most interesting part of my tale, and your looks remind me to proceed.
35	** The moment when Frankenstein and the creature finally meet face-to-face for the first time since its creation is unexpectedly funny. William has been murdered, Justine has been executed for the crime, Victor knows the creature is responsible, and while he's hiking in the Alps he spots it sprinting across the ice directly at him. Victor, brimming with rage, viciously curses it out, calls it a devil and an insect among other insults, and prepares to battle it to the death. The creature, whom at this point in the story we don't even know to be capable of speech, just says:
36	---> '''Creature:''' I expected this reception.
37	* HilariousInHindsight: A central monstrous character whose real AllThereInTheManual name is Adam, who ended up wanting someone to love despite thinking no human could love him. Are we talking about Adam Frankenstein or [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Prince Adam]]?
38	* HollywoodHomely: It's never made clear exactly why the Creature is so hideous, other than he's eight feet tall, he has watery eyes, black lips, and yellowish skin. Also, his veins and organs are vaguely visible under his skin. Victor designed the Creature to be an ideal human specimen, and the [[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frontispiece_to_Frankenstein_1831.jpg in the earliest illustrations]], he looks like Series/{{Poldark}}.
39	* HoYay:
40	** Victor describes Henry Clerval in a way someone would describe their love interest. Heck, his descriptions of Henry are more thorough than those of his fiancée, Elizabeth. [[spoiler:And he reacts to Henry's murder more strongly than Elizabeth's murder, too! When Elizabeth gets murdered, he is 'merely' heartbroken, much like with William. When he finds out Henry is dead, he goes into hysterics and is bedridden with a deadly fever for 2 months!]] This is in addition to the fact that Victor's main beef with his creation is that he wasn't as hot as he wanted him to be. His entire experiment could be read as an attempt to make the perfect male partner for himself.
41	** Walton goes on about how perfect Victor is and how he adores him.
42	** More than one commentator has noted that the monster's threat when Victor won't make a mate for him, "I will be there on your wedding night", can be read in ''so'' many different ways.
43	* IAmNotShazam: Frankenstein is not the creature. Frankenstein is the doctor who created the creature. See the CommonKnowledge section of this page for more information.
44	* JerkassWoobie:
45	** The monster may have killed many people, but he has quite a sad backstory. He's also capable of genuine empathy and remorse, showing that he probably wouldn't have become evil if the world (and more specifically, his creator) hadn't been so shitty to him. FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse, but still, it's hard not to feel sorry for him.
46	** Victor himself qualifies as well. By the end, he's lost everything and has dedicated himself to killing his creation, and is overall such a pathetic wreck that you might pity him a bit, even if he did bring it almost entirely on himself.
47	* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: It's not hard to find fans who see Victor Frankenstein as worse than The Monster he created. The Monster may have killed a number of innocent people, but given that he only became homicidal after being abandoned by his "father" and ostracized from society just because of his appearance, many viewers end up feeling sorry for him. Meanwhile, Victor is the one who created The Monster and then abandoned him in the first place, kept The Monster's existence secret from his friends and family even after he knew that The Monster was hunting them down, allowed an innocent woman to take the fall for The Monster's first murder, and then had the audacity to insist to Robert Walton that ''he'' was the primary victim in all of this. If you mention that [[IAmNotShazam Frankenstein isn't the monster]] on any online forum nowadays, you're likely to quickly get a response from someone insisting that, [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters actually, Frankenstein]] ''[[HumansAreTheRealMonsters was]]'' [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters the monster]].
48	* MagnificentBastard: [[FrankensteinsMonster The Monster]], also known by the {{fan nickname}} "Adam Frankenstein", is the creation of scientist Victor Frankenstein and abandoned by his master. Searching for a place in the world, shunned and persecuted for his nature, the Creature grows to loathe Victor and blame him for his ills, returning to destroy him. First murdering Victor's younger brother William and framing his friend and governess Justine for the act, The Monster promises to leave Victor in peace if Victor will make him a companion and mate. When Victor goes back on the deal, The Monster vows to return on Victor's wedding night, leading to Victor think he is in danger while The Monster murders Victor's wife Elizabeth, luring Victor into the cold wastes of the north to suffer alongside him in an endless pursuit. Upon Victor's final end, The Monster can only feel sorrow and resolves to end his own life so that another like him will never exist again, declaring a farewell to the world and to Victor Frankenstein.
49	* MainstreamObscurity: The work has had a lot of influence in pop culture. However, only a small portion of those who have quoted or referenced the character have read the novel, and the Universal movie adaptations and their several modifications became the first thing associated with the story in the minds of a large part of the public.
50	* MemeticLoser: A lot of the fandom likes to pick on Victor, partially because everything bad that happens in the novel is pretty much his fault, and partially because his dramatic monologues and ego make it ''incredibly'' easy. Jokes about Victor being a terrible parent and a whiny twat who married his adopted sister abound. It's also rather common for fans to make digs at the fact that, technically, Victor isn't even ''Dr.'' Frankenstein, since he was an undergrad when he built the creature.
51	* MisaimedFandom: Possibly the most triumphant example in all of fiction. To this day, there are still people who view the Creature as NotEvilJustMisunderstood even after killing innocents, including children. Even the Creature himself recognizes what a monster he really became and is DrivenToSuicide.
52	* MoralEventHorizon:
53	** In spite of his tragic backstory, it becomes increasingly difficult to sympathize with the creature once he starts racking up the monster points by taking vengeance on Victor's innocent and completely clueless family members, going so far as to frame Justine for one of the murders, an act which clearly demonstrates malice aforethought.
54	** Victor lets Justine take the fall for William's murder, even though he knows that she's innocent and could prove it if he tried, because he fears people might think he is crazy or guilty if he voices his suspicions about who the real killer is. Sure, it might be that no one believes him, but he's a smart man and could surely think of something, especially since the trial lasts for several weeks with plenty of time for him to come up with a plan; if nothing else he could have suggested that Justine was framed ''without'' any need to mention his creation. This is the point where Victor starts going downhill.
55	* RonTheDeathEater: To hear most fans talk, one could be forgiven for assuming that Victor Frankenstein is one of the worst protagonists in classic literature from a moral standpoint. However, the narrative makes it clear that Victor is ''supremely'' out of his depth even before his Creature is brought to life and is in no way emotionally stable enough to become any kind of parental figure, with even the Creature himself noting as a TakeThat to Victor that he probably wouldn't have turned out much better had Victor actually tried to raise him. The claim that "[[HumansAreTheRealMonsters Victor is the monster]]" also tends to downplay the Creature's intelligence and his own acknowledgement that the majority of the evil deeds he commits once he begins targeting the Frankenstein family were performed under the full awareness that what he was doing ''was'' morally wrong, [[ThenLetMeBeEvil he just no longer cared]] since he convinced himself that he was now [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse entitled to target innocents in order to wreak vengeance on Victor]].
56	* SlowPacedBeginning:
57	** The first few chapters detail the backstory of the sea captain who met the titular Doctor on his expedition to find the North Pole. If you didn't know that the novel was a Story Within a Story (Within a Story) you would read the opening thinking "Get to the unholy abominations against nature, already!"
58	** There's a long segment where the Monster watches a family for about a year - his yearning for a mate comes from the young man being betrothed to [[LikesOlderWomen an older woman from some exotic place,]] as well as his identification with Adam's desire for a mate in Milton's ''Literature/ParadiseLost''.
59	* TearJerker:
60	** [[spoiler: After Victor dies of exhaustion, the monster comes to the realization that his misdeeds [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty haven't brought him closure.]] Knowing now that all the suffering he caused was for nothing and that [[IAmAMonster a monster like him can never know peace,]] he resolves to commit suicide. As unforgivable as the monster's actions are, his despair is actually pretty poignant, as is his final voyage into the mist and darkness on a floating piece of ice.]]
61	** Justine's execution, the lead-up to it, and the aftermath. Elizabeth is heartbroken at the death of her adoptive sister and cannot see or enjoy the beauty of the world, and Victor's guilt breaks new heights, only being topped after [[spoiler: Clerval's death]]. It's especially hard to see Justine thanking Victor, who's responsible for her unjust death, grateful that he believes in her innocence, and claiming that this belief will help her accept her death in peace.
62	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Oh, come on, a race spawned from the Creature and a man-made Bride would have been ''awesome''. But, alas, Frankenstein [[spoiler:had to destroy her body before she could be awakened.]] Though Shelley was probably more concerned with [[AnAesop her story's message]] than a rad story.
63	* ValuesDissonance:
64	** The idea of Victor falling in love with, courting, and marrying his adoptive ''stepsister'' can come across as this nowadays. This was itself an AuthorsSavingThrow against growing social taboos on incest - in the original 1818 manuscript, Victor and Elizabeth were KissingCousins.
65	** The entire reason for AlternateAesopInterpretation and DracoInLeatherPants mentioned above. The intended Georgian audience would've been more ready to agree a creature (even initially gentle and intelligent) was inherently evil. Georgian morals were more essentialist, not to mention harsher on crime and punishment. The more modern questions of what social factors motivate crime are unlikely to have influenced the author, so a sympathetic reading of the Monster (or at least a strong negative reaction to automatic rejection of a thinking creature as INHERENTLY monstrous, especially by what is for all intents and purposes its father) would have been unintuitive to both the author and the average reader of the era.
66	* {{Wangst}}:
67	** Once Frankenstein starts kicking himself over having made the Creature and the Creature's actions, the emotions he expresses can seem so [[PurpleProse overwrought]] that they become this. This is especially true considering his until-now perfect life that only falls apart because of his own stupidity.
68	** Once he made the Creature, almost every inner monologue or conversation is Frankenstein going "woe is me" at length. This goes on for the rest of the book and never stops. It sails past "sympathetic" to just plain "pathetic".
69	** The Creature has shades of this as well. Although he is a much more sympathetic character than Victor considering his harsh upbringing, he continues to play the victim even as he's picking off Victor's innocent loved ones. After a while, one can only shed so many tears for his fate.
70	* TheWoobie:
71	** Justine. Pure-hearted, but gets executed for a murder she didn't commit. To make matters worse, the victim was a child who she loved as a brother, and she died without ever knowing who actually killed him.
72	** Elizabeth is kind and faithful, and a complete innocent in this whole mess, but gets dragged into it by Victor's arrogance and the Creature's thirst for revenge and ends up dead.
73	** Henry Clerval gets murdered by the Monster, for no other reason than he was buddies with Victor.
74
75	!!Other adaptations:
76	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: ''Frankenstein: A New Musical'' isn’t well known but has some gems:
77	** ''Birth Of My Creation'' makes Victor bringing The Creature to life epic.
78	** ''Amen'' is an amazing duet between Victor and the prisoner who will become The Creature.
79	** ''Why?'' makes the already heartbreaking scenes of William’s and Justine’s deaths even worse.
80	* MemeticMutation: "Dude! Let me in! I'm a fairy! Don't you believe in fairies?"[[labelnote:Explanation]]An edited pair of panels from the Creator/JunjiIto manga adaptation of the novel, specifically the scene where the Creature taunts Victor after the deaths of Elizabeth and Alphonse. The tonal contrast between the grotesque, gothic imagery and the flippant dialogue resulted in the edit becoming a popular subject of parody online, usually swapping out Victor and the Creature with characters from other works.[[/labelnote]]
81	* TearJerker: ''Frankenstein: A New Musical'' kicks the sorrow into full gear with the number ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGI7VPfAgTA Why?]]'', recounting the death of William Frankenstein and the trial of Justine. It starts off with Justine and William playing innocently, William asking questions about the world, and Justine playfully answering them. Then it cuts abruptly to Justine's trial, her desperately pleading her innocence while the court refuses to listen. Meanwhile, the Creature is gloating to Victor about the murder, while Victor is horrified and asks why the Creature would murder a sweet and innocent child. The Creature answers that he, too, was a child when Victor abandoned him to die.
82	-->'''Victor:''' Why did you do it? Kill a child?\
83	'''Creature:''' Why did you leave me there to die?\
84	'''Victor:''' So full of promise, full of wonder!\
85	'''Creature:''' Have you forgotten that so was I?
86	** The flashback in the trial section of the song is also heartwrenching, because William is so innocent (whereas the book version was a bit of a brat), and you know what will happen.
87	-->'''William:''' Who are you sir? Do you know me?\
88	'''Creature:''' [[SinsOfOurFathers I know too well your wretched family.]]
89	** The 1981 anime version, despite being a very loose retelling of the novel, is one horrifying tear-jerker after another for its final 10 minutes. Even more heartrending is the fact that it introduced a [[CanonForeigner child character]] - Victor and Elizabeth's nine-year-old daughter, Emily - to befriend the monster (called "Franken" in this film), and she is a witness to all of this. First, Elizabeth dies and her father is seriously injured in a house fire, for which Franken is blamed. Emily's best friend and sweetheart, Philip, is then killed accidentally while trying to shoot Franken. Emily blames Franken for all of this, turns against him, and tries to shoot him herself, but then learns the truth from her grandfather: Franken actually saved him from being crushed to death by a falling beam during the fire, and tried to save Elizabeth too but was unable to reach her in time. Emily finds Franken, manages to stop her father from killing him, apologizes, and embraces the monster. However, she's then unable to stop Franken ''and'' her father from ''both'' committing suicide ''before her very eyes''. [[BreakTheCutie The poor girl is likely to be traumatised for life]]. Talk about your [[DownerEnding Downer Endings]]...
90	* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: The 1981 Creator/ToeiAnimation TV special was aimed at kids by Japanese standards of children's programming and is well-made in terms of animation quality and production values, but by Western standards, it's shockingly violent, bloody, bleak, and depressing. The last ten minutes of the special alone feature two accidental deaths, one serious injury, two suicides, and one cute nine-year-old girl who witnesses it all and is likely going to need therapy for the rest of her life. Even more jarring is the attractive and occasionally cartoony and cute character designs provided by Toyoo Ashida, very reminiscent of ''Anime/MagicalPrincessMinkyMomo'', which Ashida would work on a year later (Victor himself is virtually a dead ringer for Momo's [[MuggleFosterParents Muggle Foster Dad]]; as if that weren't enough, Emily and the original Momo have [[Creator/MamiKoyama the same Japanese voice actress]]). Surprisingly the US and UK VHS release of the anime had minimal editing.

Context YMMV / Frankenstein