As an English major who has a digital and physical copy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, waiting to watch Guillermo del Toro’s film adaptation was dreadful. Despite all the anticipation, I couldn’t help but be irked by the differences between the film and novel.
Del Toro’s film is the closest recreation of the Mary Shelley novel I have watched. My favorite scenes are the Creature’s retelling of his tragic experience the moment he escaped from Frankenstein, which also happens to be my favorite chapters from the book. Victor Frankenstein’s character is also as expected— insufferable and manic, making it not-so-surprising that he unlocks the key to creating the Creature in the nude.
Yet despite how close the film seemed to the novel, there were key details from the novel that were not included which shifted a classic gothic novel into a new direction.
The Creature and Victor Frankenstein’S first interaction
In the novel, the Creature and Victor’s first interaction was nowhere near as wholesome as the movie.
After years of traveling, physical exhaustion, and digging up graves in the relentless pursuit to create life, Victor flees in terror from the Creature the second it is “born.” This marks the beginning of the Creature’s abandonment and anger issues and Victor coming face to face to the consequences of his actions. It also depicts Victor as childish and reckless while labeling the Creature as a victim to Victor’s actions.
Yet in the film, Del Toro focuses on the parental relationship between the Creature and Victor. Their first interaction reflects how a parent greets their newborn child into the world which drastically changes things. Victor is no longer the cruel man who fled from his “child,” rather his actions are almost gentle (at least in the beginning) as he speaks to the Creature softly and introduces it to the feeling of sunlight.
The drastic difference between the Creature and Victor’s interaction here sets the tone of both the novel and film. Though the same themes of the novel appear later on in the film, like abandonment when Victor leaves the Creature for dead, the initial interaction changes how we view Victor’s character. Which as a result, changes Victor’s actions later on, like when he hesitates and attempts to go back to save the Creature.
Where is Henry Clerval and Justine Moritz?
Two vital characters were left out of the film and for good reason considering Del Toro’s vision for the film.
Henry Clerval’s and Justine Mortiz role in the novel were critical to shaping how readers viewed the Creature and his rage in the novel. Justine, a servant of the Frankenstein family, was executed because she was accused of the murder of Willian Frankenstein who is Victor’s younger brother. However, it was the Creature who did it and Victor knew, but said nothing. Henry, Victor’s best friend, cared for Victor when he fell ill as he created the Creature and was the only sense of companionship Victor had throughout his life. Henry’s death was an act of revenge for the Creature, since Victor refused to make him a companion.
Their deaths characterizes the Creature as violent, angry, and ruthless which is the opposite of Del Toro’s interpretation of the Creature. However, their deaths were also what contributed to Victor’s decision in chasing after the Creature rather than continuing to hide and run away as he did in the beginning. Though the death of William and Elizabeth seemed to be enough to push Victor into chasing the Creature in the film, their deaths were unintentional therefore removing the cruel characteristics from the Creature.
The End
It is no surprise that given Del Toro’s and Shelley’s different intentions in their works, the ending would reflect it.
The dire need and longing for companionship is a central theme in Shelley’s novel. Both Victor and the Creature are looking for a companion in their own twisted ways which makes the ending of the novel devastating. Victor dies on Captain Walton’s’ ship without the Creature and when the Creature finds Victor, he realizes that he truly is alone. Though it is not conclusive as to what happens to the Creature exactly, the Creature’s final words indicate that he sees no reason to live if he must do so alone. Making the ending of the novel, the end of Victor and the Creature.
Yet the film’s ending has the opposite effect. Victor and the Creature share final words with one another, forgive, and somewhat mend their broken father-son relationship. The Creature then walks into the warmth of the sun, the same warmth he once feared. Instead of it feeling like the end, it implies a new beginning for the misunderstood Creature.
Overall, Guillermo del Toro’s film was certainly a different interpretation of Shelley’s novel that he could not have pulled off without changing original details. Though a part of me wishes it was an exact retelling of the novel, the new perspective pushed viewers to look past the anger that centered the relationship of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature and see the characters more for what they represent.