Frankenstein creation. Who is Frankenstein: fantasy or scientific fact? In other works

Day June 16, 1816 remained in history as the date of birth of the Gothic novel - on this day writer Mary Shelley came up with a story about scientist Victor Frankenstein and his monster. The whole of 1816 is called the “year without a summer” - due to the eruption of the Indonesian volcano Tambora in 1815 and the release of a large amount of ash in Western Europe and North America for several years, the weather in summer almost did not differ from the weather in winter.

In June 1818, Lord Byron, in the company of his physician John Polidori, a friend of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, and his wife Mary, were vacationing 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 scary stories to each other. The result was Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, published in 1818, the first "horror novel" that made the resurrected dead man invented by the writer the hero of numerous films, books and plays. AiF.ru recalls how the story of the Beast and Frankenstein is told in art.

Movie

The very name "Frankenstein" 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 the greatest popularity thanks to the cinema - several dozen films were shot about the monster, the first of which - a 16-minute silent short film - appeared in 1910.

The British actor Boris Karloff, who first appeared in this image in the film Frankenstein in 1931, remains the most famous performer of the role of Frankenstein's monster. True, the screen image differs from the book image, starting with the fact that Mary Shelley's monster is not sewn from pieces of various bodies and is distinguished by intelligence and quick wits, while the creature performed by Karloff resembles zombies popular in modern cinema in terms of development.

Directed by Tim Burton, each film of which both stylistically and in meaning is very close to both fabulous and frightening gothic novels of the 19th century, could not ignore the story of Frankenstein's Beast. There is no picture that exactly repeats the plot of the novel in Burton's filmography, but there are several variations on this theme. It all started with the 30-minute short film "Frankenweenie", filmed by Burton in 1984 and telling about the boy Victor, who brought his dog to life. In 2012, Burton re-shot Frankenweenie and turned it into a feature-length cartoon. One of the most famous Burton "fairy tales" - "Edward Scissorhands" - in many ways also beats the plot of Shelley's novel, because the hero Johnny Depp- a creature created and animated by a scientist.

Frankenstein's monster. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Universal Studios

And here is the Brit Ken Russell approached the plot from the other side, dedicating the painting “Gothic” of 1986 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 real history as a basis, 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 a literary character as Frankenstein's Monster. Following Russell, other directors seized on the fertile movie plot: in 1988, the Spaniard Gonzalo Suarez made a picture called “Rowing with the wind”, where the role of Lord Byron was played by Hugh grant, and the Czech cinematographer Ivan Passer in the same year he presented his version of events under the title "Summer of Ghosts."

Literature

Writing your own version of Mary Shelley's novel is an idea that has appealed to several writers. British Peter Ackroyd approached the story from the side of Victor Frankenstein himself, on whose behalf the narration is conducted in the book "Journal of Victor Frankenstein". Unlike Shelley, Ackroyd describes in detail the process of creating the Beast and all the experiments conducted by Victor in a secret laboratory. Thanks to the author's very accurately conveyed atmosphere of dirty, gloomy and dark England of the Regency era, Ackroyd's novel is quite consistent with the traditions of Gothic literature. Interestingly, the same Byron and company that Victor Frankenstein was supposedly familiar with appear as characters in the book, there is, of course, a description of a night in Switzerland - according to Peter Ackroyd, the Beast was not a figment of Mary Shelley's fantasy. As for the monster itself, in the book, as in the original novel, he has a mind, which is very annoying to his creator.

American science fiction writer Dean Koontz devoted a whole series of works to the gothic monster, which are a kind of continuation of Shelley's novel. As conceived by Kunz, Victor manages to genetically reprogram his body and live for more than 200 years, so that events are already taking place today. In 2011, the sequel to "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus" was released by the American writer Susan Haybor O'Keeffe, known as the author of children's books - Frankenstein's Beast was her first "adult" novel. O'Keeffe fantasizes about what happened to the monster after the death of its creator, and presents the hero as a tragic character, faced with a choice - to live the life of a monster or try to still become a man.

Theater

In 2011 the British film director Danny Boyle staged at the Royal National Theater in London the play "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 unfortunate and embittered creature, sworn to avenge its creator for the life to which he doomed him, releasing him into a world where there is nothing but hatred and anger. It is noteworthy that the performance was played in two versions - Cumberbatch and Lee Miller changed places, so that each had a chance to play both the doctor and the creature.

Victor Frankenstein- the main character of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, or Modern Prometheus (1818), as well as a character (including under the names Henry Frankenstein, Charles Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein or Baron Frankenstein) many book, dramatic and cinematic adaptations of its plot.

Characteristic

In the novel, Victor Frankenstein, a young student from Geneva, creates a living creature from dead matter, for which he collects the likeness of a person from the fragments of the bodies of the dead, and then finds a "scientific" way to revive him, realizing the concept of "creating life without women"; however, the revived creature turns out to be a monster.

Frankenstein as a character is characterized by a desire for knowledge that is not limited by ethical considerations; only having created a monster, he realizes that he has gone a vicious path. However, the monster already exists beyond its will, it is trying to realize itself and makes 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 couple illustrates the failure of man's attempts to assume the functions of God, or the impossibility of knowing God with the help of reason. If we consider the situation in a rational way, characteristic of the Age of Enlightenment, then it is transformed into the problem of the scientist's ethical responsibility for the consequences of his discoveries.

Some sources suggest that the German scientist Johann Konrad Dippel (1673-1734), who was born in Frankenstein Castle, served as the prototype of Frankenstein.

In other works

The multiplicity and ambiguity of interpretations generated by these images of Frankenstein and his creation created the prerequisites 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 in the book (the theme of brain transplantation as a metaphor for soul transplantation) 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, and could not have, if only because he was a Genevan (after the Reformation, the canton of Geneva did not recognize titles of nobility, although noble families formally remained).

In popular culture, there is also often a mixture of images of Frankenstein and the monster he created, which is mistakenly called "Frankenstein" (for example, in the animated film "Yellow Submarine", saturated with images of popular culture). In addition, the image of Frankenstein gave rise to many different sequels - various sons and brothers appeared, speaking under the names Wolf, Charles, Henry, Ludwig, and even daughter Elsa.

Indirectly (and in some series openly) the idea of ​​​​creating life from non-life, exactly how Frankenstein created the monster, is found in the movie "Oh, this science" and the remake series "Wonders of Science". This is shown in the very first episode, where the guys were inspired to create an artificial woman by the movie Bride of Frankenstein. And in the first episode of season 4, they do meet in person with the doctor and his monster.

In the Once Upon a Time series, in episode 5 of season 2, it turns out that Dr. Weil is from another, black and white world and is none other than Victor Frankenstein. This is a scientist who dreamed of reviving people. By using

Who is Frankenstein, probably everyone knows. Everyone has heard a terrible, chilling story about a scientist obsessed with the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bvictory 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 studies on the corpses. And then one day the scientist succeeds: his dead creature comes to life. And then - the terrible consequences of this experiment, over which Frankenstein worked so hard.

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. However, one question still haunts. Who is Frankenstein really? Could it actually exist or is it just someone's invention?

Fantasy writer or scientific fact

It is hard to believe, but this sinister 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 quite definite prototypes.

At that time, in the 17th-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 higher level of development. And it seemed to scientists of that time that absolutely everything is possible with the help of electricity. Even immortality.

It became the inspiration for the young Mary Shelley. And at the head of this scientific progress were quite real concrete individuals.

So who is Frankenstein really?

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 caught fire with the idea of ​​​​resurrecting the dead. He began to conduct experiments on frogs, passing a current through them. Then horses, cows, dogs and even people went into action.

Giovanni Aldini

This is the nephew of Galvani, who became widely known for his monstrous experiments and performances. 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 ideas. His "wards" moved various parts of the body, made terrible grimaces, and could even point a finger at the viewer, frightened to death. Andrew claimed that before the resurrection he had nothing left, and soon he would turn the whole world upside down. But, unfortunately or fortunately, this did not happen.

Konrad Dippel

That's who Frankenstein is, so this is Mr. Dippel. Everyone in the district considered him a real sorcerer and alchemist. He lived in an old secluded and sinister castle. And this castle was nicknamed "Bur Frankenstein". There were rumors among the locals that at night Konrad traveled to the local cemetery and dug up corpses for his experiments.

I wonder what would have happened if one of the scientists managed to "revive" the deceased? But this, as we all know, did not happen. Nevertheless, their experiments have brought a lot of useful things to modern medicine. For example, to this day it is used, which is very effective in many diseases, or a defibrillator, which can really bring back to life.

Today, every child knows that Frankenstein is a monster assembled from various parts of the human body and animated by the creator using lightning and electricity. This is one of the most popular images that is often mentioned in cinema: from 1909 to 2007, 63 films were made about him.

But knowledgeable people know that Frankenstein is not a monster, and few people know that the author of the story about the revived monster was the fragile, sophisticated 19-year-old girl Mary Shelley (Mary Shelley). Her work was written on a dare and laid the foundation for a new literary genre - the Gothic novel. The writer "put" her thoughts and feelings into the hero's head, which arose as a result of her difficult life ups and downs.

Let's find out more about all this...

British writer Mary Shelley

The future creator of the story of a terrible monster was born in London in 1797. Her mother died 11 days after Mary was born, so the older sister Fanny was in fact raising the girl. When Mary was 16 years old, she met the poet Percy Shelley (Percy Bysshe Shelley). Despite the fact that Percy was married, he fell in love with a young girl and persuaded her to run away from her father's house to France. Soon the money ran out, and the lovers had to return home. Mary's father was outraged by his daughter's act.

Percy Shelley - British poet

To complicate matters, Mary was pregnant. Percy Shelley, in turn, was not going to divorce, which is why the 17-year-old girl became the object of caustic attacks from society. Due to the stress, she had a miscarriage. At first, Mary and Percy lived in love and harmony, but the girl was very offended by the "liberal" views of her common-law husband, namely his love affairs.

Lord George Byron is an English poet.

In 1817, the poet's legal wife drowned in a pond. After that, Percy and Mary officially got married. The children that Mary gave birth to died one after another, leading the woman to despair. Only one son survived. Disappointment in family life gave rise to feelings such as loneliness and despair in Mary Shelley. The same thing will then be experienced by her monster hero, who desperately needs the understanding of others.

Mary Shelley is an English writer.

Percy Shelley was friends with the more famous poet George Byron. One day, Mary Shelley, her husband, and Lord Byron, gathered around the fire on a rainy evening, were talking on literary topics. In the end, they had a bet on who would write the best story about something supernatural. From that moment, Mary began to create a story about a monster, which became the world's first gothic novel.

Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus was first published in 1818 anonymously because editors and readers were prejudiced against women writers. It was not until 1831 that Mary Shelley signed her name to the novel. Mary's husband and George Byron were delighted with the work of the woman, she won the argument.

in fact, Frankenstein Victor is an inquisitive scientist whose curiosity played a cruel joke on him. His story was described in the novel "Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus" by Mary Shelley.

Young student Victor Frankenstein decides to try to defeat the old death woman and revive the dead body. He secretly collects pieces of unclaimed bodies and even tries to pick up beautiful facial features. In the original, the monster was not carelessly sewn with threads from multi-colored pieces: the creator carefully selected the parts, trying to ensure that the pieces of skin did not differ in color.

Frame from the film "Frankenstein", 1931

The method of resuscitation (a lightning strike and a huge charge of electricity that started the heart) is also incorrect: Mary Shelley avoided any mention of the method of resuscitation. The researchers of the novel believe that the point here is not the author's ignorance of the features of the process, but the text itself: the scientist carefully studied the works of famous alchemists: Albert the Great, Cornelius Agrippa and Paracelsus. Apparently, the girl meant that it was not banal electricity that contributed to the creation of the monster, but some alchemical processes.

And finally, the revived monster in the original was not a dumb and obedient executor of the master's orders. He had a cognitive mind that learned and very quickly understood the world around him, realizing that people would not tolerate a dead man assembled from pieces next to him. Even Victor himself admitted that he could not look at the creation of his own hands, but he could not kill him. Therefore, he fled, not deigning even to give a name to his creation. But the creature he created did not reconcile himself to this state of affairs: it rushes in pursuit of the student, making him responsible for his existence.

There is an opinion that the prototype for the insane creator was the German scientist and alchemist Johann Konrad Dippel, whose family castle was called Frankenstein. He claimed that he created a special oil from the blood and bones of animals - the elixir of immortality. Also among his works were found notes on boiling parts of a person to create an artificial creature (homunculus) and on attempts to transfer the soul from one body to another.

Frankenstein is said to be one of the first science fiction stories in European literature. This, to put it mildly, is not true, since science fiction assumes at least a minimal attention to the technical side of things. Mary Shelley does not even have a hint of how the hero came up with the main secret of science - the transformation of inanimate matter into living matter. The story of Frankenstein is perceived as an allegory of the scientist's responsibility for his developments. In the 20th century, scientific activity was placed at the service of the military, so this aspect of the story acquired particular relevance.

The strongest shock from reading this book is that the scientist Victor Frankenstein did not calculate something and he turned out to be a vicious, bloodthirsty monster - a killing machine. The whole story is a variation on the theme of uncorrupted nature and insidious society. While the monster is away from people, he calmly does selfless good deeds. As soon as he tries to make contact, people reject him, and his soul gradually hardens. Despite the obvious literary miscalculations, the story has become an integral part of the European cultural heritage and has dominated the minds for almost 200 years. I wonder why? First of all, because the topic "Frankenstein and Society" allows for a huge variety of interpretations and interpretations. The cult status of any work (including the Bible, for example) is based primarily on the possibility of different interpretations.

What happened to the actors in this dispute?

According to legend, it was Byron who gave Mary the idea to write "Frankenstein": "Let each of us compose a terrible story." Then Byron will say about Mary's story: "I think that this is an amazing work for a girl of nineteen."

But what is written, as you know, is destined to come true. On July 8, 1822, the yacht on which Shelley sailed from Livorno was caught in a hurricane of unprecedented strength. Only ten days later the body of the poet was washed ashore by the waves. In the presence of Byron, it was burned at the stake. The urn with the ashes was buried in a Protestant cemetery in Rome. On the tombstone is the inscription: "Percy Bysshe Shelley - the heart of hearts." The next year, on July 23, Byron equipped a ship on which he went to fight for the freedom of Greece. In this country, where democracy was born for the first time on earth, a 35-year-old genius was mowed down by swamp fever.

One Mary outlived them all. To her we owe the fact that the unpublished works of Shelley saw the light of day. She has written several books herself. But only "Frankenstein" remained truly unattainable masterpiece.

sources

The frightening story of a monstrous monster has become a cult and has created a wave in literature and cinema. The writer managed not only to shock the sophisticated public to goosebumps, but also to teach a philosophical lesson.

History of creation

The summer of 1816 turned out to be rainy and rainy, and it was not for nothing that those troubled times were nicknamed the "Year without a summer" by the people. Such weather was caused by the eruption in 1815 of the layered volcano Tambora, which is located on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. It was unusually cold in North America and Western Europe, people wore autumn and winter clothes and preferred to stay at home.

At that lean time, a company of Englishmen gathered at Villa Diodati: John Polidori, Percy Shelley and eighteen-year-old Mary Godwin (in Shelley's marriage). Since this company did not have the opportunity to diversify their lives with hiking along the shores of Lake Geneva and horseback riding, they warmed themselves in the living room by the wood-burning fireplace and discussed literature.

The friends entertained themselves by reading terrible German fairy tales, the collection Phantasmagoriana, which was published in 1812. The pages of this book contained stories about witches, terrible curses and ghosts living in abandoned houses. Ultimately, inspired by the work of other writers, George Byron suggested that the company also try to compose a chilling story.

Byron sketched a story about Augustus Darvell in a draft, but safely abandoned this idea, which was taken up by John Polidori, who wrote a story about a bloodsucker called "Vampire", overtaking his colleague, the creator of "Dracula".

Mary Shelley also decided to try to realize her creative potential and composed a novel about a scientist from Geneva who recreated the living from dead matter. It is noteworthy that the plot of the work was inspired by stories about the parascientific theory of the German doctor Friedrich Mesmer, who claimed that with the help of special magnetic energy one can establish a telepathic connection with each other. Also, the writer was inspired by the stories of friends about galvanism.

Once the scientist Luigi Galvani, who lived in the 18th century, dissected a frog in his laboratory. As the scalpel touched her body, he saw the muscles in her legs twitch. The professor called this phenomenon animal electricity, and his nephew Giovanni Aldini began to perform similar experiments on a human corpse, surprising the sophisticated public.

In addition, Mary was inspired by Frankenstein's castle, which is located in Germany: the writer heard about it on the way from England to the Swiss Riviera, when she was driving along the Rhine Valley. It was rumored that this estate had been converted into an alchemy laboratory.

The first edition of the novel about the mad scientist was published in the capital of the United Kingdom in 1818. An anonymous book dedicated to William Godwin was bought up by bookstore regulars, but literary critics wrote very mixed reviews. In 1823, Mary Shelley's novel was brought to the theater stage and was a hit with audiences. Therefore, the writer soon edited her creation, giving it new colors and transforming the main characters.

Plot

Readers are introduced to the young scientist from Geneva, Victor Frankenstein, on the first pages of the work. A young emaciated professor is picked up by the ship of the English explorer Walton, who went to the North Pole in order to explore uncharted lands. After the rest, Victor tells the first person he meets a story from his life.

The protagonist of the work grew up and was brought up in an aristocratic wealthy family. From early childhood, the boy disappeared in the home library, absorbing the knowledge gained from books like a sponge.

The works of the founder of iatrochemistry Paracelsus, the manuscripts of the occultist Agrippa Nettesheim and other works of alchemists who dreamed of finding the cherished philosopher's stone that turns any metals into gold fell into his hands.

Victor's life was not so cloudless, the teenager lost his mother early. The father, seeing the aspirations of his offspring, sent the young man to the elite university of the city of Ingolstadt, where Victor continued to learn the basics of science. In particular, under the influence of the teacher of natural sciences Waldman, the scientist became interested in the question of the possibility of creating a living thing from dead matter. After spending two years researching, the protagonist of the novel decided on his terrible experiment.

When a huge creature made from various parts of dead tissue came to life, a dazed Victor fled from his laboratory in a fit of fever:

“I saw my creation unfinished; even then it was ugly; but when his joints and muscles began to move, something more terrible than all fiction turned out, ”said the protagonist of the work.

It is worth noting that Frankenstein and his nameless creature form a kind of gnostic pair of creator and creation. If we talk about the Christian religion, then the rethinking of the terms of the novel illustrates the fact that a person cannot take on the function of God and is not able to know him with the help of reason.

A scientist, striving for new discoveries, recreates an unprecedented evil: the monster is aware of its existence and tries to blame Victor Frankenstein. The young professor wanted to create immortality, but he realized that he had gone the wrong way.

Victor hoped to start life from scratch, but he learned the chilling news: it turns out that his younger brother William was brutally murdered. The police found the servant of the Frankenstein house guilty, because during a search of an innocent housekeeper, they found a medallion of the deceased. The court sent the unfortunate woman to the scaffold, but Victor guessed that the real criminal was a revived monster. The monster took such a step because he hated the creator, who, without a twinge of conscience, left the ugly monster alone and doomed him to an unhappy existence and the eternal persecution of society.

Next, the monster kills Henri Clerval, the scientist's best friend, because Victor refuses to create a bride for the monster. The fact is that the professor thought about the fact that monsters would soon inhabit the Earth from such a loving tandem, so the experimenter destroyed the female body, provoking the hatred of his creation.

It seemed that, despite all the terrible events, Frankenstein's life is gaining new momentum (the scientist marries Elizabeth Lavenza), but the offended monster enters the scientist's room at night and strangles his beloved.

Victor was struck by the death of his girlfriend, and his father soon died of a heart attack. A desperate scientist, having lost his family, vows to take revenge on a terrible creature and rushes after him. The giant hides at the North Pole, where, due to superhuman strength, he easily eludes his pursuer.

Movies

The films that were based on the novel by Mary Shelley are amazing. Therefore, we give a list of popular cinematic works with the participation of the professor and his distraught monster.

• 1931 - "Frankenstein"
• 1943 - "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man"
• 1966 - "Frankenstein Created Woman"
• 1974 - "Young Frankenstein"
• 1977 - "Victor Frankenstein"
• 1990 - "Frankenstein Unchained"
• 1994 - Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
• 2014 - "I, Frankenstein"
• 2015 - "Victor Frankenstein"

• The monster from Mary Shelley's novel is called Frankenstein, but this is a mistake because the author of the book did not endow Victor's creation with any name.
• In 1931, director James Whale released the iconic horror film Frankenstein. The image of the monster played by Boris Karloff in the film is considered canonical. The actor had to spend a long time in the dressing room, because the artists took about three hours to create the appearance of the hero. The role of the mad scientist in the film went to actor Colin Clive, who is remembered for the phrases from the film.

• Initially, the role of the monster in the 1931 film was to be performed by Bela Lugosi, who was remembered by the audience in the image of Dracula. However, the actor did not want to make up for a long time, and besides, this role was without text.
• In 2015, director Paul McGuigan pleased moviegoers with the film Victor Frankenstein, where they played Jessica Brown Findlay, Bronson Webb and. Daniel Radcliffe, who was remembered for the film "", managed to get used to the role of Igor Straussman, for which the actor grew artificial hair.

• Mary Shelley claimed that the idea for the piece came to her in a dream. Initially, the writer, who still could not come up with an interesting story, had a creative crisis. But half asleep, the girl saw an adept bending over the body of a monster, which became the impetus for creating a novel.