"Contrasting Interpretations of Frankenstein in Film"

     Elizabeth's severed head, poorly sewn onto Justine's body.  The monster, tucked in bed with his Wall Street Journal, anxiously dreading the arrival of his new bride.  The suicide of the second monster, burning her flesh in the flames of the broken kerosene lamp.  Frederick and Inga making love on the slab where the monster was created.  These scenes, while treating similar subjects, interpret the basic storyline of Frankenstein in very different ways.  Young Frankenstein and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein are particularly engaging adaptations of the novel because they take the same events and emphasize divergent aspects of each. 

     In particular, the aim of Young Frankenstein is to expose the underlying issues and, by satirizing them, bring them into focus.  Within the first twenty minutes of the film, the audience encounters just such an instance: when Frederick leaves Elizabeth, his speech is romantic, loyal, and loving.  He swears to wait for her, reunite with her, and love her forever.  At this time, Elizabeth decides that she can't hug or kiss him for fear of ruining the state of her clothing.  She is a petty, materialistic girl whose love is both shallow and uncertain.  At the same time, Frederick's resolve is shaken quickly by Inga's offer of "a roll in the hay" when he arrives in German.  These scenes serve to poke fun at the relationship enjoyed by Frederick and Elizabeth in the novel and contrast them with a more modern view of lovers' tendencies to stray when separated from their beloved. 

     Not so with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.  This movie emphasizes a problematic aspect of Victor and Elizabeth's relationship as well, but it does not treat the relationship comedically.  Instead, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has Victor repeating his sentiment that Elizabeth is his "sister" and that their erotic love is familial as well.  By underscoring the incestuous dimension of Victor and Elizabeth's proposed marriage, this film can throwthe otherwise idyllic aspects of the relationship into sharp contrast to the unhealthy influence it exerts upon both characters.  This parallels other influences in Victor's life, especially his desire to succeed in scientific pursuits.  Although admirable in itself, the ambition Victor injects into his studies is corrupted by one property: the effect he is trying to achieve is inherently immoral and dangerous.  In the same way, Victor is involved in a relationship that would be beautiful if not marred by the fatal fact that he is betrothed to a member of his family.

     This emphasis on relationships is carried over into the subject of Elizabeth's fate, another section of the novel in which and Young Frankenstein and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein differ.  Interestingly, they both also diverge from the novel at this point.  This difference is of exceeding importance, because each of Elizabeth's ends seems to speak to a different set of issues.  Where the novel treats Elizabeth's death as the final spark that impels Victor to hunt the monster into the Arctic, the film version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein uses Elizabeth's murder to show Victor's egocentricism.  And, of course, in Young Frankenstein, Elizabeth gets married. 

    In the novel, Victor's decision to cease creating monsters is absolute; we have no reason to disbelieve his words when he tells the monster why he will not create a bride.  It appears that, on at least some level, Victor is not going to build the monster a bride because he has actually developed a moral opposition to the reanimation of dead body parts. His concern for the world is real.  He truly believes that if he creates a second monster, the pair will disregard the monster's pact and terrorize the world of humans.  Not even Elizabeth's death can change perception.  Instead, Elizabeth's death engenders a desire for Victor to terminate the gift he had given to the monster: he prepares himself for a cross-continental journey and begins to chase the monster.  His only desire remaining is to rid the world of the abomination he has created. 

     When this is contrasted with Victor's actions in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the self-centered desires embodied in Victor come to teh fore.  In the film, the monster tears Elizabeth's heart from her body on her and Victor's wedding night.  Emotionally ruined, Victor takes the body back to his laboratory, where he attaches Elizabeth's head to Justine's body.  After copleting the body, he operates his machinery again, bringing a second creature to life, this one equipped with Elizabeth's brain.  However, the monster appears, insinuating that perhaps Elizabeth's murder was a twisted ploy to force Victor to make the bride he had earlier refused.  torn over her monstrous form and previous love for Victor, Elizabeth is unable to choose between her suitors and instead immolates herself with a nearby kerosene lamp.  What is important about this scene is that Victor has sworn not to make another monster, and instead of holding to his promise has made himself an exception, with disastrous consequences.  In the end, his high-minded talk of the elimination of disease, death, and sadness is rooted in self-aggrandizement.  He wants to fix his own problems, not contribute to society.

     As for Young Frankenstein, Elizabeth still does not end up married to Frankenstein.  Instead, Frederick opts for Inga and Elizabeth finds love with the monster, whose sexual prowess is presumably the main criterion.  This is another subtle poke at modern lovers, but it is a good-natured one.  Young Frankenstein is a comedy, and all good comedies end with happiness for all the characters.  Regardless of Elizabeth's fickle lack of depth, she is still a person, and in this version avoids becoming a victim of the terrible power play between the monster and his creator.  This sense of victimhood is an unspoken undercurrent in both the novel and the recent film adaptation, and one which Elizabeth happily dodges in the comedic satire. 

  ——John Minser