Societal Taboos and How Frankenstein Breaks Them

Despite all of it's acclaim, before last week's class, I had never actually seen the 1931 Frankenstein. I have; however, read the novel, recently watched the 1910 version, seen the comedies Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1949), Young Frankenstein (1974), and seen the classic green monster in cameos over a variety of mediums. Most of these, other than the original novel of course, took the 1931 release as their primary inspiration for their representation of Frankenstein and his monster (In fact, Young Frankenstein even used the same laboratory set as the earlier film). What I think this shows is the staggering amount of cultural influence that the film has had over the last 85 years since its release.

While the film has exerted a considerable influence since it came out, it is also interesting to examine how it may have been influenced by or rejects the culture of its own time. This is most present in how the film handles Frankenstein's attitude towards his own impending marriage. In the 1910 version of Frankenstein, before he is about to bring the monster to life, he writes a letter to his soon-to-be wife that once his experiments are finished, he will return home to be married. This doctor Frankenstein's acknowledgment of his own marriage strictly adheres to social conventions of the early 20^th century where men are concerned with getting married and having a family, despite the fact that they may also be creating artificial life on the side of course. Opposite of this, the 1931 Frankenstein shows an absolute neglect of his bride while working on his experiments, almost suggesting that he has no desire to be a part of conventional society. An obvious reading made by Worland is to connect Frankenstein's lack of desire to be married with the idea that he is a homosexual, which is also hinted at when his father questions why Henry is so engrossed with his work and humorously quips that perhaps it is because Henry's experiments are pretty enough to distract him from a loving woman back home. Thus, it almost seems that Frankenstein is having a gay love affair with a creature of his own creation. There is also the disturbing fact that at first Frankenstein has a near (abusive) fatherly relationship with his creature which takes this relationship one step further and makes it an incestuous affair with his own child. That's approaching a rather high amount of sexual deviancy which would be heavily frowned upon by most cultures and shows how Dr. Frankenstein is nearly completely ignorant of societal norms. At the end of the film; however, he is seemingly redeemed and reformed, but could it be possible that he is only repressing his true desires due to the expectations put on him by society?

Frankenstein also defies social convention in religious terms as well. The opening scene has Frankenstein and Fritz exhuming a corpse from a grave surrounded not only by crosses, but an onlooking crucifix. By digging up the grave, they are also breaking an obvious taboo of religious burial customs. During the creation scene, one of the most iconic lines is when Frankenstein says “Now I know what it feels like to be God!” By creating life and playing the role of God, Frankenstein is effectively breaking the first Christian commandment which states “You shall have no other gods before me”. He has become his own god and completely disregarded his society's main religion. When the film was first released, this line was actually edited out due to controversy, showing how Frankenstein's blasphemy even extends to offending the real world. More or less like before, at the end of the film, Frankenstein is forgiven and seemingly re-adapted to the normal world.