In
Frankenstein, Henry Frankenstein has
a goal of being a god in the beginning of the film. He wants to create life. As
he achieves this and brings the monster to life, he exclaims that he created
life with his own hands, and is therefore a god. And although his experiment
turned out bad, deep down he continues this belief throughout the film. This is
first shown as he tries to teach the monster and it continues until the end
when the monster gets loose. Frankenstein is quoted saying “I made him with my hands,
and he will die by my hands” which can be seen as a sense of reassurance for
himself. In other words, even though his experiment birthed a monster, it was
still a life that he created himself.
What
Frankenstein doesn’t realize, is that the monster he actually created was the
one he turned into. This can be seen throughout the movie as his actions are
paralleled with the monster’s actions. Beginning when the monster is new to
life and being kept in the locked room, he gets angry at Fritz for abusing him,
just as Frankenstein gets angry at Fritz for abusing the monster. This
mirroring aspect can be seen more later when Frankenstein leaves the windmill
to go get married. At this point in the film, the monster escapes from the
windmill and we don’t see him for a portion of the film. At this point,
Frankenstein’s obsession with the monster is dormant as he is with his family
and soon-to-be wife, similar to how the monster is absent from screen. Both
monsters are not seen for this section.
The
monster then returns to the screen as he is seen with a little girl playing
with flowers. He tries to be a good person in this scene as he plays nicely
with the girl and tries to do good in his actions. Although, he didn’t realize
what he had actually done was wrong. In the same way, Frankenstein hears about
the monster being loose and locks his wife in the room to keep her safe. This
action of trying to do good ended up being wrong as well.
Finally,
the two characters demonstrate this mirroring theme as well in several scenes
when they look at each other. This is first seen in the windmill at the
beginning of the film when the monster first comes into the room and
Frankenstein is looking at him. The camera has a series of cuts back and forth
between their two faces that insinuates that they are similar. Then again at
the end of the film, they are seen in the top of the windmill looking at each
other through the gears of the windmill, which really has a “mirror-like”
connotation to it.
While
Frankenstein may not have been like a true god, the film does show aspects of
this relationship between the two characters. This is obvious in the beginning
when Frankenstein declares that he is a god for having created life with his
hands. Although, in the end of the film, religious aspects can be seen when the
angry mob is hunting the monster. There is a shot that shows the windmill on
fire with the whole mob shouting below watching. The blades of the windmill can
represent a cross here and the monster represents the son who was created by a “god”.
Similar to how the son of god was killed on a cross in Christian beliefs, the
monster died at the hands of the mob in a cross-like structure on top of a
hill.
The match between Frankenstein and his monster is very clear from the argument you have made. I really can see how blatant the director attempts to make this match as well. The back and forth shots between frankenstein and his monster almost reflect frankenstein's inner monster and the truly grotesque nature of his spirit in following his obsession. This is a very intriguing set of of information on the topic of mirroring.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting on how you see Frankenstein as striving to become a god, or imitating one at least, by creating life again. This is the obvious interpretation I think most people would reach by analyzing the story but don't forget the original subtitle of the novel, where Frankenstein is referred to as "The Modern Prometheus". In Greek mythology, Prometheus didn't try to become a god, he was a titan after all, but he did attempt to defy them much in the way that Frankenstein does in the film. Although not a god, Prometheus created mankind and gave them the gift of fire that he stole from Mt. Olympus. This runs many parallels to Frankenstein's own actions, who in one scene, also gives his monster the gift of light only to take it away a few moments later however, maybe suggesting that Frankenstein is not entirely successful in his imitation.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting on how you see Frankenstein as striving to become a god, or imitating one at least, by creating life again. This is the obvious interpretation I think most people would reach by analyzing the story but don't forget the original subtitle of the novel, where Frankenstein is referred to as "The Modern Prometheus". In Greek mythology, Prometheus didn't try to become a god, he was a titan after all, but he did attempt to defy them much in the way that Frankenstein does in the film. Although not a god, Prometheus created mankind and gave them the gift of fire that he stole from Mt. Olympus. This runs many parallels to Frankenstein's own actions, who in one scene, also gives his monster the gift of light only to take it away a few moments later however, maybe suggesting that Frankenstein is not entirely successful in his imitation.
ReplyDelete