Frankenstein and the makers of modern myth
Frankenstein, Dracula, the werewolf, the invisible man and the zombie are not just figures from classic horror. They have grown into enduring icons, shapes shifted by cinema and culture, with Frankenstein and his creator, Victor Frankenstein, occupying a special place. While the monster sometimes sits in the shadow of the scientist, both characters have become central strands in a broader pop myth that travels beyond novels and film to influence our everyday imagination.
Mary W. Shelley, the London author who published the novel in 1818, has lately found renewed support from feminist movements. Her creature steps out from the page to become a symbol in popular culture that remains vibrant more than two centuries after it first appeared on screen. Early adaptations like Edison’s 13‑minute film and Boris Karloff’s portrayal in Frankenstein helped cement this vitality, letting the tale breathe anew with every generation of filmmakers.
The 2005 biography American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, which inspired Christopher Nolan’s film, underscores the extended reach of Shelley’s work. The full title of the original novel, Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, links the science of creation to the myth of Prometheus, the figure who defied the gods to grant life. The novel’s richness lies in its multiple readings across eras — from warnings about hubris to reflections on the dangers of ill‑guided technology and AI.
Film history has been essential in shaping Frankenstein’s image. Universal Pictures steered the monster in the 1930s, while Hammer Films in the 1950s and 1960s offered new takes with Peter Cushing as the doctor and Christopher Lee as the creature. Memorable moments include a patched body brought to life by electricity, and the timeless tension between creator and creation.
Later cinematic efforts, such as Kenneth Branagh’s 1994 adaptation, attempted to recapture the earlier glory, while illustrated editions like Bernie Wrightson’s 1983 graphic novel offered a more grounded realism that influenced many subsequent interpretations. These efforts show how Shelley’s ideas morph with each retelling, sometimes emphasizing terror, sometimes tragedy, and sometimes a bleak humor that echoes through popular culture.
Frankenstein in popular culture
The cinema has repeatedly elevated Frankenstein’s characters beyond their original roles, turning them into heroes, anti‑heroes, or mirrors of human flaws. Parodies and contemporary reimaginings have kept the story in the public eye, blending it with other genres and cultural currents. The spirit of the narrative appears in films like The Spirit of the Hive, which places the story in dialogue with other iconic figures, and in stage and screen parodies that reframe the monster for new audiences. Early experiments and modern pastiches alike contribute to a shared cultural vocabulary where the scientist and the monster become archetypes that audiences recognize at a glance.
Parody and homage coexist with reverence. In Young Frankenstein, the classic dynamics are playfully reframed, while other productions remix the myth to explore identity, desire, and power. Across different productions, the Frankenstein canvas supports a broad spectrum of interpretations, from critique of science to celebration of creative resilience.
There are even cross‑cultural mash‑ups that blend Frankenstein with other cinematic forms. Some works connect the doctor with wrestlers, or pit the creature against monsters from other universes, underscoring the story’s flexibility and the enduring appeal of its core questions about life, responsibility and ambition. Experimental filmmakers have also used the legend to explore visual and narrative experiments, sometimes with 3D or other techniques that refresh the illusion of life being breathed into inanimate matter.
Artists and filmmakers outside the horror genre have engaged with the idea of life created from non‑traditional origins. For example, collaborations and reinterpretations have placed the creature alongside other famous fantasy figures, expanding the dialogue about what it means to animate a body and to grant it personhood. The conversation persists in modern cinema where the myth remains a vehicle for exploring human ethics and the consequences of invention.
From Warhol’s provocative ‘Meat for Frankenstein’ to Tim Burton’s reanimated canine in Frankenweenie, the Frankenstein idea stretches beyond fear into exploration of memory, mortality and the ethics of creation. The creature and the scientist are often shown not as simple adversaries but as participants in a larger drama about what makes us human and what we owe to one another.
Thus, Frankenstein’s influence crosses borders and genres. It negotiates with other traditions and myths, sometimes in jest, sometimes in serious contemplation, always inviting viewers to question who controls life and what responsibilities accompany power.
And Frankenstein created woman
The question of gender is a persistent thread in Frankenstein’s cinematic life. Long before contemporary filmmakers began to explore gender dynamics, the idea of the creature’s companionship spurred debates about sexuality, autonomy and companionship. The 1935 film The Bride of Frankenstein, directed by James Whale, presents a moment where the doctor conjures a female counterpart to provide companionship for his reanimated being. This motif has echoed through later productions, sometimes with feminist overtones and sometimes as part of broader narrative experiments.
Hammer’s The Woman Created by Frankenstein (1967) revisits similar themes, while Franc Roddam’s The Bride (1985) stages a provocative reinterpretation with contemporary sensibilities. These works collectively illuminate how Shelley’s original concerns about isolation and the quest for connection translate across eras and into modern cinematic language. The feminist reading of Shelley’s work grows stronger in films about the author herself, such as the 2017 biopic Mary Shelley, starring Elle Fanning, which reframes the narrative around the author’s life and the ideas she carried into her writing.
The biographical lens reveals Shelley as a campaigner for freedom and artistic expression, shaping how her characters are understood within feminist discourse. Rather than merely adapting a story, filmmakers often use Shelley’s voice to interrogate relationships, power, and the role of women in society. The film Mary Shelley traces the emotional and intellectual currents that informed the novel and its later interpretations, highlighting how the author’s life resonates with contemporary debates about gender and creativity.
One night at Villa Diodati
The famous gathering at Villa Diodati in Switzerland on a midsummer night in 1816 is another source of inspiration. There, Mary, her future husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, Claire Clairmont, Lord Byron and his physician John Polidori gathered to write and share stories. The spark of that night gave birth to gothic tales and set the stage for Frankenstein and its enduring influence. Later films and trajectories have revisited this moment, capturing the sense of creative collaboration and the power of a shared fire to kindle new myths.
In cinema and literature, the night at the villa is a symbol of collaborative imagination. Directors and writers continue to draw from that moment, weaving romance, ambition and danger into new treatments of the Frankenstein idea. The legacy persists in portraits and dramas that explore how inspiration travels from a single room to a worldwide audience, shaping how we think about science, ethics and storytelling.
Ken Russell’s Gothic, Ivan Passer’s Tormented Summer, and Gonzalo Suárez’s Rowing with the Wind all echo that creative night, translating its spirit into different cinematic languages. Across these works, Mary Shelley remains a central figure, her life and work inviting audiences to consider how art, science and love intersect in the making of legends.