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Mary Shelley's original novel
Frankenstein
- Light is associated with goodness and knowledge. Fire is symbolic of both human progress as well as the dangers of human invention or possibly the dangers of nature as opposed to humans. You could argue either way. There's also the deal with Prometheus (the alternative title). Fire was the one thing that man wasn't supposed to have because it belonged solely to the Gods. When Prometheus stole fire for man, it meant that man was trespassing on immortal territory. Which resulted in Prometheus having his liver eaten out every night for the rest of eternity. So Victor didn't have an organ ripped violently from his lower torso every day. But he did suffer a similar form of prolonged torture (think of all his loved ones being singled out and killed). No, he wasn't punished for stealing fire, but he was punished for trespassing on immortal territory by playing God. The monster quite succinctly summed up the rest when he said something about fire warming you up, but burning you, too. Some things, it seems, bite worse than their bark. Some things (the monster and science in general) can be good or evil, depending on how much care you take in approaching them. And in Victor's case, that would be no care at all.
- The monster is compared to Adam and the creation of man. Sure, this would mean Victor is also paralleled with the creator, possibly God, and as some claim, maybe even a Christ-figure given the self-sacrifice of his death. But then the author compared the monster to the fallen angel Satan. The complex role of Christian allusions in the text steer the reader away from any one meaning, and remind us that, if we want to wrap up our analysis in a neat little package, we'd better think twice. These allusions establish the duality of both characters; no one is strictly good, and no one is strictly evil. Instead, these characters show a capacity for both good and evil, which is sort of the human condition.
- The entire story of exploration for knowledge, as symbolized by Captain Walton's quest for the North Pole, becomes a cautionary tale and allegory about the dangers of boundless science. The entire novel serves in part as a warning against the scientific revolution and its potential for destroying humanity. In contrast to this weird world of "science" is the sublime world of nature, which is pure and uncorrupted by science. Maybe the book argues for science, after all, the monster is harmless in nature to begin; it is just Victor's shameless neglect that drives him to murder. It's an overreaction, but still, the problem isn't science itself; it's the people who abuse it.
The 1931 film
Frankenstein (1931)
- The film is loaded with Christian symbolism. They're a way to contrast with the devilishness of Frankenstein; he's defying God (not to mention common decency) by digging up dead bodies under a cross. Jesus Christ himself is famous for being raised from the dead. So if Frankenstein is playing God by raising the dead, then the Jesus figure would be the monster!
- In the opening credits, the screen shows a blurry face, and then lots of open eyes spiraling around it. It's possible the eyes how Frankenstein wants to be God, and specifically, he wants to be God as all-knowing, and all-seeing. Or maybe they could be seen as a kind of representation of God—those floating eyes are watching Frankenstein, even as he thinks he's the one doing all the watching and seeing.
- Unlike most movie monsters, Frankenstein's Monster not only doesn't mind the sunlight, he actually rather enjoys it. A major symbolic usage is when the monster is brought into the light for the first time: The monster lifts his arms up, like he's trying to grab the light, then Frankenstein turns off the light again, and the monster looks sad and at a loss. Here the light symbolizes understanding, knowledge, love—all the human things the monster seems to want, but isn't able to get. Instead, he's relegated to darkness.
- After Frankenstein locks his fiancee Elizabeth in the room, the monster doesn't do anything to Elizabeth, he just chases her around till she faints, and then the rescuers get in the door and he runs off. But the symbolism here—an invader in the bridal chamber—is clearly meant to point to sex. The monster then can be seen as all the buried sexual instincts that Henry has pushed to one side—instincts which come back, despite his best efforts, and wreak havoc.
- Even though the monster is freaky-looking all over, his heavily lidded eyes are still pretty noteworthy for a number of reasons. According to Boris Karloff, "[They] found the eyes were too bright, seemed too understanding, when dumb bewilderment was so essential. So [he] waxed [his] eyes to make them heavy, half-seeing." So basically, the heavy eyes are supposed to symbolize, or show, that the monster is bewildered, and doesn't understand what's going on.
Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein
- There aren't any bolts in this monster's neck, but there are tons of lightning bolts in the sky through the movie. Each of which is followed by a classic shaking-a-giant-sheet-of-tin sound, which is how thunder sounded in the early 20th century. These are both cues to emphasize moments that would be scary (if this were a horror film and not a comedy) and serve as actual important plot devices later, because the Doctor needs lightning to revive his creation. If he lived in an area with no thunderstorms, this experiment doesn't work. Though, it seems to be storming everywhere in this movie. It even begins with a nighttime thunderstorm. Thunder and lightning is often paired with dramatic music, too. When Igor parks the hay wagon at the base of the castle, he gestures to the distance and says, "Well, there it is. Home." We cut to a shot of the scary castle, followed by classic dramatic music which you'd definitely recognize from loads of other horror films.
- Along with the stormy, we get dark. As a creepy horror story, even a spoof of one, it comes with the territory. Much of the film takes place in dimly lit rooms and dark outdoor scenes. The jump from the dark, unlit laboratory to the scene of Inga and Frederick at breakfast is pretty jarring. We could say that the darkness represents Frederick's descent to the dark side, but we won't. It's not. It's just a parody of the original film and a horror movie trope.
- Although Feldman's bug eyes are real (his trademark, a result of failed surgery for his Grave's Disease) the hump is fake. It's even fake for the character, moving around scene by scene. Igor's hump is probably the most obvious example of the film's absurdist humor. Feldman actually moved the hump himself until someone on the set noticed it. When questioned about it, Igor refuses to acknowledge its existence. If an Igor has a hump, but says "what hump?" when it's pointed out, does he have a hump at all? It's one of life's greatest existential riddles.
- A musical motif runs through the film; it could be called "The Monster's Theme." It's what the original Dr. Frankenstein, Fred's Grandpa Victor, used to play for his creations. Frau Blucher learned it and continues to play it to keep Victor's memory alive. The music soothes Frederick's monster, too. The music seems to represent a bunch of things—mystery, the past, Frederick's destiny, and the monster's appreciation of beauty. On the other hand, in a Mel Brooks movie, it's probably just a send-up of the idea of dramatic music.
