Frankenstein – The Novel and the Movie

If you took or are taking Advanced Placement Literature, chances are that you’ve probably already read or you are going to read this novel. The book tells the tale of a brilliant yet egotistical scientist, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who utilizes his scientific abilities to conduct an experiment and create a form of life – a creature that is completely inhuman-like and misunderstood.

After Victor’s scientific experiment succeeded and he created this creature, he quickly abandoned it after taking one look. Victor described it as “ugly” and claimed that he “didn’t know that he was capable of making such a hideous creature.” Victor fled from the creature, leaving it to fend for itself – and so it lived on its own and went out into the real world just to realize that everyone was mistreating it the same way that its creator did.  Everyone shamed it for looking the way that it looked – and that broke the creature. The built-up mistreatment led the creature into a fit of rage as it found Victor and gave him one last ultimatum: to make it a companion. At first, Victor agreed. Amid Victor creating the female companion, he realized that it would lead to reproduction and a brand new species of monsters, which he believed would put the world in danger. So, he destroyed his progress – and the creature promised to see him on his wedding day, killing and cursing each and every one of Victor’s family members, Victor, and then itself.

Now onto the film! The 2025 Frankenstein movie was released just recently – you should definitely give it a watch if you don’t want to read the book. The film features famous actors such as Jacob Elordi playing the Creature, Mia Goth as Elizabeth, Victor’s lover, and Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein. The movie is easier to understand than the novel, which was written 200 years ago. It was a difficult novel to read, I must admit – but it was splendid nonetheless. In the movie, Victor is an excellent scientist who uses dead bodies from the war and hangings to use their various body parts to build a creature that he then brings to life with electricity and lightning. Unlike the book, Victor actually somewhat builds a relationship with the creature, but progressively treats him worse as he becomes frustrated when the creature cannot understand. Victor, not knowing what to do with this monster, as its species is unfamiliar to the human eye, and he feared what others may think of him, locks him up in chains, hides him in his laboratory, and sets the place on fire. The creature, although it is new to this world and is unable to speak, quickly catches on and escapes, using its immense strength and power to break free from the chain’s wrath. After its escape, the creature forages for itself, slowly becoming familiar with the Earth and its natural surroundings. It had no bad intentions, as all it wanted was love, but it quickly familiarizes himself with the dangers and hate of the world – getting shot by hunters and humans, getting set on fire by Victor, and being stabbed by the captain’s men, but still living due to its advanced ability to quickly regenerate and heal from wounds – unlike humans. While the Creature fended for itself and was abused by the world, it learned English and evolved compared to how the Creature acted when it was first introduced to the world. Think of it like a baby! A baby cannot comprehend and constantly repeats things until it grows up and becomes intelligent, as the Creature did later in the story.

The film and the movie of Frankenstein are very similar as they tell the same story, but there are a couple of differences and parts that the movie missed from the book. Some key differences in the novel of Frankenstein vs. the film of Frankenstein – in the novel, Elizabeth was actually Victor’s cousin, whom he was set to marry. In the film Frankenstein,  Elizabeth played the role of Victor’s brother’s fiance who he later falls in love with. The film of Frankenstein completely skipped out on the trial of Justine Moritz, which was a key part of the Frankenstein novel. In the novel Frankenstein, Elizabeth never really met the Creature due to being away from Victor, but in the film, Elizabeth built a meaningful connection with the Creature and accepted it for what it was. There are theories of Elizabeth and the Creature falling in love with each other, but not being able to be with one another due to external factors. In the book of Frankenstein, the creature in the end kills both Victor and itself. However, in the film, Frankenstein finds Victor to kill him, but when the Creature ends up telling his story, Victor apologizes, and the Creature forgives Victor. Though he still ends up alone in a world he did not ask to be in. Both the novel and film of Frankenstein highlighted a major theme of “pretty privilege” as the Creature was mostly mistreated only for the way that it looked and not for what it actually was – someone who just wanted to be loved.  All in all, Frankenstein, whether it be the book or the movie, circles one major theme: Corruption and mistreatment – bringing the Creature into the world it not only asked to be in but lived only to be mistreated and end up all by itself, with no companion or somebody that loves him.