Lesson 15 Contemporary Renditions of the Frankenstein Myth

Lesson 15: Contemporary Renditions of the Frankenstein Myth - SE Draft by: Jason Grant Mc. Kahan and Dr. Kay Picart Edited by: Dr. Kay Picart, Donna Gallagher, and Kristen Millen 1/31/2022 1

Introduction The aim of this lecture is to focus on the treatment of the Frankenstein myth in more recent films, Frankenstein 1970 (Koch 1958) and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (Branagh 1994). In specific, we aim to examine how these films illustrate the changing visualization and narration of the myth. 1/31/2022 2

Characters or caricatures? Which characters are caricatures or parodies of Frankenstein films? Continued. . . 1/31/2022 3

German Nazis and the Cold War Era (2) Which “racially” coded Germanic characters are also coded as Nazis? Continued. . . 1/31/2022 4

German Nazis and the Cold War Era (7) Where do Cold War references appear and which “shadow” do they represent? Continued. . . 1/31/2022 5

Monstrosity (3) How is the monstrous? baron depicted as Continued. . . 1/31/2022 6

Female-as-monstrous Which character occupies the position of the female-as-monstrous? Continued. . . 1/31/2022 7

Parthenogenesis How does the film itself correlate with the baron’s practice of male selfbirthing? Continued. . . 1/31/2022 8

Gender in the 1990 s How does the revision of the original novel in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein try to equalize gender relations between Victor and Elizabeth? Continued. . . 1/31/2022 9

Parthenogenesis How does Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein portray parthenogenesis? Continued. . . 1/31/2022 10

Female-as-monstrous How does Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein portray the female-as-monstrous? Continued. . . 1/31/2022 11