Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is one of the most popular horror novels. The book tells the story of a fanatical scientist and his frightening creation. Amazingly, it was written by a girl who was only 18 years old. Victor Frankishtein in Mary Shelley's novel is the usual prototype of a modern scientist. At night he goes to the cemetery to find bodies there. He needs dead people to fulfill his crazy plan. This story has become truly iconic. Yes, yes, this is an important part of modern popular culture. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a work written during a special period - radical changes were yet to come. But people already felt that life was changing, so the novel is imbued with rather alarming sentiments.
Frankenstein was written in 1816, during a period of amazing scientific discoveries. This was the emergence of production mechanization. Electricity was discovered and it began to be stored in large batteries to be used in experiments.
In the 18th century, many scientists were interested in new discoveries. They worked on many different aspects of electrical research. This is where it all started. But many doubted that these new scientific developments were aimed at the benefit of humanity. Church representatives feared that scientists would try to change the laws of nature. The idea that a person can become like God and control life with the help of modern technologies fascinated and frightened at the same time. Some people of science were considered almost servants of the devil, whose attempts could ultimately lead to the destruction of humanity.
In the 19th century, anything seemed possible. Of course, the phenomenon of electricity had a powerful impact on the public, who had little understanding of the laws of physics. Such people tend to look for a mystical background in everything. Writers, in turn, reacted very sensitively to any manifestations of scientific and technological progress, and this could not help but worry
The young girl Mary Shelley grew up in turbulent times. Her life was riddled with fear of an unknown future. Creepy stories like her novel were a natural reaction to inexorable scientific progress. It was a serious warning embodied in artistic form.
Even 200 years after the novel was written, the image of Frankenstein's monster is still relevant. In the films based on the books, its creator is personified as an obsessed scientist who has violated the boundaries of what is permitted.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one of the most popular horror stories. This is a timeless work of art. But what inspired the young writer to create such a sinister novel? How did the image of Victor Frankenstein appear in her imagination? In 1816, Mary Shelley and a magnificent community of writers and intellectuals visited Lord Byron at his country house on the shores of Lake Geneva. There, during a time of serious climate change, Shelley's story about Frankenstein was born. After the eruption of a giant volcano in Asia, millions of tons of ash were released into the atmosphere, eclipsing the sun, volcanic ash brought with it destructive storms and dark clouds that covered Europe for a whole year.
Undoubtedly, she influenced the impressionable girl. In her manuscript, Mary Shelley describes the moment when the idea of Frankenstein first occurred to her. This disturbing image visited her during a nightmare. The fact that the prototype of her famous character appeared to Mary Shelley in a dream is known fact. She saw a young scientist, clearly possessed. He bent over his creation in complete confusion. This was a clear example of the work of the writer's subconscious.
Before me lie the incredible manuscripts of Frankenstein. It is a very special feeling to see these pages, these words. After all, this is the most vivid reflection of the work of Mary Shelley’s mind and imagination. She dips her pen in ink and writes: “One stormy November night I saw the completion of my labors. With painful excitement, I collected everything I needed to ignite life in the insensitive creature lying at my feet. The candle is almost burnt out. And then, in its uneven light, I saw dull yellow eyes open. The creature began to breathe and twitch convulsively.” Thus was born the story of Frankenstein's monster.
Mary Shelley's novel was inspired by scholars working in the 18th and 19th centuries. They conducted ethically questionable experiments with electricity in an attempt to bring the dead back to life. Revealing the secrets of existence, these scientists did not disdain grave robbing and occult practices. What drove them to such shocking actions? Where did the idea to resurrect the dead come from? Writers were able to discover historical evidence that the plot of a grotesque monster sewn from parts of corpses was suggested by life itself. This means that the story of Frankenstein was not inspired by myths, but real events. Victor Frankenstein studies the possibilities of electricity, he conducts experiments on human bodies, he visits the cemetery in search of corpses that he needs to create his monster. Of course, this interpretation of the image of a 19th-century scientist evoked a strong response from Mary Shelley’s readers. Frankenstein is a very vivid, very accurate reflection in literature of a process that stems from the science of that time. Shelley showed the worst case scenario. A situation in which a scientist loses control of his invention. Since then, the theme of the unpredictable consequences of progress has become one of the central fictions.
At the turn of the century, many scientists carried out risky experiments. It is believed that at least four famous figures from the world of science inspired Mary Shelley to create Frankenstein. Luigi Galvani was an Italian scientist fascinated by static electricity and lightning. Giovani Aldini is a relative of Galvani and his follower, known for his sinister experiments. Andrew Ure, a Scot whose activities often shocked the public of the time. And Kondrat Dippel, the German explorer most closely associated with the Frankenstein story. All these people carried out horrific experiments on living beings and corpses. They dealt with forces they could not control and operated in the precarious realm between science and mysticism. This was a dangerous path, since the scientists themselves did not even suspect what this search could lead to.
Luigi Galvani was a very famous and influential man. Galvani was a Bolognese doctor. He, like other scientists of the time, was fascinated by a new and mysterious force called electricity. When Mary Shelley wrote her book, she already knew about its existence. In the preface to the novel, the writer cited a conversation with friends during which it was suggested that a corpse could be revived using galvanism. But the revised 1831 edition of Frankenstein was published on Halloween Eve. The preface states that Mary Shelley had an idea of the scientific experiments that were then being carried out. Here she writes that the corpse can probably be revived. Galvanism could suggest a method by which it would be possible to create individual parts of a living being, connect them together and fill them with life-giving warmth.
In the Italian city of Bologna there is an Academy of Sciences, one of the oldest educational institutions in Europe. It was here that Galvani began to conduct his amazing and frightening experiments at the end of the 18th century. At the end of the 18th century, a mass of scientists and researchers gathered in Bologna to study electricity. People have studied this phenomenon in all aspects. They say that one day Senor Galvani was in a bad mood. To distract him, his wife decided to make frog leg soup. Galvani was sitting in the kitchen and suddenly there was thunder. The amazed scientist noticed that every time lightning flashed, the limbs of the amphibians on his plate twitched.
Galvani and his supporters believed that it was a special kind of electricity. The so-called animal electricity differed from artificial electricity, which was produced by machines and devices. It also did not resemble the natural electricity emanating from lightning during a thunderstorm. Luigi Galvani began experimenting with this mysterious force. He made enormous contributions to this field of science. Galvani gained fame after his experiment with a frog. He clearly demonstrated his theory using static electricity. The scientist believed that he could unlock the secret of life by studying the characteristics of biological substances. One day, he touched the frog's ischial muscle with a scalpel charged with electricity.
It was at that historical moment that he saw the dead frog's leg twitch sharply. In 1791, Galvani's research was published in a work that completely changed attitudes to aspects of human and animal physiology. The term galvanism became known throughout the world. Many were shocked by the radical ideas of an Italian scientist who was allegedly able to prove that dead animals could be brought back to life.
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Tags:), as well as a character (acting also under the names Henry Frankenstein, Doctor Frankenstein or Baron Frankenstein) many book, dramatic and cinematic adaptations of its plot.
In the novel, Victor Frankenstein, a young student from Geneva, creates a living creature from inanimate matter, for which he collects the likeness of a person from fragments of the bodies of the dead, and then finds a “scientific” way to revive him; however, the revived creature turns out to be a monster.
Frankenstein as a character is characterized by a desire for knowledge not limited by ethical considerations; Only by creating a monster does he realize that he has taken a vicious path. However, the monster already exists beyond his desire, it is trying to realize itself and holds Frankenstein responsible for its existence.
Frankenstein and the monster he created form a Gnostic couple, consisting of a creator and his creation, inevitably burdened with evil. Reinterpreted in terms of Christian ethics, this pair illustrates the failure of man to take on the functions of God—or the impossibility of knowing God through reason. If we consider the situation in the rational way characteristic of the Age of Enlightenment, then it transforms into the problem of the scientist’s ethical responsibility for the consequences of his discoveries.
The multiplicity and ambiguity of interpretations generated by these images of Frankenstein and his creation created the preconditions for constant attempts to comprehend and rethink them in various artistic forms - first in the theater and then in cinema, where the plot of the novel went through several stages of adaptation and acquired new stable motifs , which were completely absent from the book (the theme of a brain transplant as a metaphor for a soul transplant) or were outlined but not developed (the theme of the Bride of Frankenstein). It was in the cinema that Frankenstein was made a “baron” - in the novel he did not have a baronial title.
In popular culture, there is also a frequent confusion between the images of Frankenstein and the monster he created, which is mistakenly called “Frankenstein” (for example, in the animated film “Yellow Submarine”), which is rich in images of popular culture.
Links
- S. Berezhnoy. “Burden with Evil: The History of the Frankenstein Theme in 20th Century Cinema”
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
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Frankenstein the story “Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus” (1818) by the English writer Mary Shelley (1797-1851). Victor Frankenstein is the name of a young Swiss scientist who, wanting to artificially create a living person in a laboratory, gave life to a humanoid monster that horrified its creator. And he was the first to suffer from his creation - it killed the scientist’s younger brother, and then his fiancee and only friend.
Usually used incorrectly when Frankenstein refers to a monster, an artificially created creature similar to a person. But in Shelley’s story he did not have a personal name, and his creator himself - Victor Frankenstein - called him a “monster”, “demon”, “giant”.
Allegorically: about a man who brought to life forces that he could not cope with, which turned against him, from which he himself suffered. Can serve as an analogue of the well-known expression: The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
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Everyone probably knows who Frankenstein is. Everyone has heard a creepy, chilling story about a scientist obsessed with the idea of victory over death. According to a scientist who went to the cemetery at night and dug up graves in search of a fresh corpse. And then, hiding from everyone in his gloomy laboratory, he conducted monstrous research on the corpses. And then one day the scientist achieves success: his dead creation comes to life. And then - the terrible consequences of this experiment, which Frankenstein worked so hard on.
Photos with images of a monster with a bolt in its head, films of the same name, a literary masterpiece - all this has long been familiar to us. But still one question haunts me. Who is Frankenstein really? Could it really exist or is it just someone's invention?
Writer's fantasy or scientific fact
It’s hard to believe, but this ominous novel was written by a very young girl - an eighteen-year-old writer. It was written in 1816. But, as it turns out, Dr. Frankenstein is not just the imagination of a young writer. This ominous story has very real roots, and the image of the scientist has very specific prototypes.
At that time, in the 17th and 18th centuries, scientific discoveries were made that called into question the long-established foundations of society and the church. Electricity was invented, thanks to which society reached a more high level development. And it seemed to the scientists of that time that absolutely everything was possible with the help of electricity. Even immortality.
It was he who became the inspiration for young Mary Shelley. And at the head of this scientific progress were very real specific individuals.
So, who exactly is Frankenstein?
Luigi Galvani
The scientist was fascinated by lightning and in his scientific works he came to the conclusion that animal electricity is not like that produced by machines. And then the scientist became interested in the idea of resurrecting the dead. He began conducting experiments on frogs, passing current through them. Then horses, cows, dogs and even people were used.
Giovanni Aldini
This is Galvani's nephew, who has become widely known for his monstrous experiments and ideas. Thanks to him, galvanism came into fashion. Giovanni traveled around Europe and demonstrated to everyone his experiments on “revitalizing bodies.”
Andrew Ur
This Scottish scientist is also known for his shocking performances. His “wards” moved various parts of their bodies, made terrible grimaces and could even point their fingers at the viewer who was scared to death. Andrew claimed that he had nothing left before his resurrection, and that he would soon turn the whole world upside down. But, unfortunately or fortunately, this did not happen.
Konrad Dippel
That's what Frankenstein is, Mr. Dippel. Everyone in the area considered him a real sorcerer and alchemist. He lived in an old secluded and sinister castle. And this castle was nicknamed “Drill Frankenstein”. There were rumors among local residents that at night Conrad went to the local cemetery and dug up corpses for his experiments.
I wonder what would happen if one of the scientists managed to “revive” the deceased? But this, as we all know, did not happen. And yet, their experiments brought a lot of useful things to modern medicine. For example, to this day it is used, which is very effective for many diseases, or a defibrillator, which can really bring you back to life.
The day of June 16, 1816 remained in history as the date of birth of the Gothic novel - on this very day writer Mary Shelley came up with a story about scientist Victor Frankenstein and his Beast. The entire year of 1816 is commonly called the “year without summer” - due to the eruption of the Indonesian volcano Tambora in 1815 and the release of large quantity ash in Western Europe and North America for several years, the weather in summer was almost no different from the weather in winter.
In June 1818, Lord Byron, in the company of his doctor John Polidori, a friend of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife Mary, vacationed on the shores of Lake Geneva. Forced to sit at home most of the time, warming themselves by the fireplace, friends came up with entertainment for themselves. It was decided to spend the night of June 16 telling each other horror stories. The result was Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, published in 1818, the first “horror novel”, which made the resurrected dead man invented by the writer the hero of numerous films, books and performances. AiF.ru recalls how the story of the Monster and Frankenstein is told in art.
Movie
The name “Frankenstein” itself is included in the title of most works based on Shelley’s novel, which often causes confusion and makes one think that this was the name of the monster itself - in fact, the creature has no name, and Frankenstein is the surname of its creator Victor.
The Gothic monster gained its greatest popularity thanks to cinema - several dozen films were made about the monster, the first of which, a 16-minute silent short film, appeared in 1910.
The most famous performer The role of Frankenstein's monster continues to be played by British actor Boris Karloff, who first appeared in this role in the film Frankenstein in 1931. True, the screen image differs from the book, starting with the fact that Mary Shelley’s monster is not sewn together from pieces of various bodies and is distinguished by intelligence and ingenuity, while the creature performed by Karloff in terms of its level of development resembles the zombies popular in modern cinema.
Director Tim Burton, each film of which is very close both stylistically and in meaning to the fabulous and frightening Gothic novels of the 19th century, could not ignore the story of Frankenstein’s Monster. There is no picture in Burton’s filmography that exactly follows the plot of the novel, but there are several variations on this theme. It all started with the 30-minute short film Frankenweenie, directed by Burton in 1984 and telling the story of a boy, Victor, who brought his dog to life. In 2012, Burton remade Frankenweenie into a feature-length animated film. One of Burton's most famous "fairy tales" - "Edward Scissorhands" - in many ways also plays on the plot of Shelley's novel, because the hero Johnny Depp- a creature created and brought to life by a scientist.
Frankenstein's monster. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Universal Studios
But the Briton Ken Russell approached the plot from the other side, dedicating the 1986 painting “Gothic” to the history of the creation of the work, that is, that very memorable night on Lake Geneva. The heroes of the film - Byron, Polidori, Percy and Mary Shelley - spend a night in the villa full of terrible visions, hallucinations and other psychedelic experiences. Taking as a basis real story, Russell allowed himself to fantasize about what could have happened on the night of June 16 on Lake Geneva and what events could have preceded the appearance of such literary character, like Frankenstein's Monster. Following Russell, other directors seized on the fertile film plot: in 1988, the Spaniard Gonzalo Suarez shot a picture called “Row with the Wind”, where he played the role of Lord Byron Hugh grant, and the Czech cinematographer Ivan Passer in the same year he presented his version of events called “Summer of Ghosts.”
Literature
Writing your own version of Mary Shelley's novel is an idea that has seemed attractive to several writers. British Peter Ackroyd approached the story from the perspective of Victor Frankenstein himself, on whose behalf the story is told in the book “The Journal of Victor Frankenstein.” Unlike Shelley, Ackroyd describes in detail the process of creating the Beast and all the experiments carried out by Victor in the secret laboratory. Thanks to the atmosphere of dirty, gloomy and dark England of the Regency era very accurately conveyed by the author, Ackroyd’s novel is fully consistent with the traditions of Gothic literature. It is interesting that the same Byron and company with whom Victor Frankenstein allegedly knew appears as characters in the book; there is, of course, a description of the night in Switzerland - according to Peter Ackroyd, the Beast was not a figment of Mary Shelley’s imagination. As for the monster itself, in the book, as in the original novel, he has intelligence, which greatly bothers his creator.
American science fiction writer Dean Koontz dedicated a whole series of works to the Gothic monster, which are a kind of continuation of Shelley’s novel. According to Kunz's idea, Victor manages to genetically reprogram his body and live for more than 200 years, so the events take place in the present day. In 2011, the American film released its sequel to Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. writer Susan Heybor O'Keeffe, known as an author of children's books, Frankenstein's Monster was her first adult novel. O’Keefe fantasizes about what happened to the monster after the death of his creator, and presents the hero as a tragic character who faced a choice - to live the life of a monster or try to become a human after all.
Theater
In 2011 the British film director Danny Boyle staged on the stage of the Royal national theater in London the performance of "Frankenstein" based on the play Nika Dira, which, in turn, is based on the same novel by Mary Shelley. The main roles - Victor Frankenstein and his terrifying creation - were played by actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. The monster here is an unhappy and embittered creature who has vowed to take revenge on his creator for the life to which he doomed him, releasing him into a world where there is nothing but hatred and malice. It is noteworthy that the play was performed in two versions - Cumberbatch and Lee Miller swapped places, so that each got to play both the doctor and the creature.