Fear In Frankenstein

Gothic literature of the nineteenth century echoed the repressed fears held by individuals of the ideas introduced in the Enlightenment like an exhale. Tales of mad scientists dominated literature like a mirror into America’s psyche. In the early twentieth century filmmakers coincidentally, or intentionally caught onto the repressed fears individuals held in regards to the advancement of science and the decline of religion, and created a horror film empire on the topic. Upon the development of sound in horror films, what is remembered as the classic period was born. From 1931 to 1936, there was a trend in horror cinema which featured mad scientists, comprising over half of the horror films of the classic period. The classic era produced horror …show more content…
Being the first of the cycle, the figure of Dr. Frankenstein is the stereotypical mad scientist. He is “driven by a frenzy for knowledge.” Dr. Frankenstein patches together a monster from human odds and ends, hides away in the mountains, receives aid from a dwarf, and steals a brain from the dissecting room of a medical college (Balio 301). Robert Florey wrote a screenplay for Frankenstein. When James Whale was made the director he made modifications. The film reveals repressed fears which were prevalent during the film’s production. For example, Dr. Frankenstein discusses the “great ray” which in the beginning “brought life into the world.” Dr. Frankenstein discusses alchemy, and an “elixir of life,” to help bring the body to life. Frankenstein declares, “now I know how it feels to be God!’ Conclusively, the plot constitutes a mad scientist creating a human, and these utterances imply the allegorization of the fear that perhaps rather than a divine being, laws of science could be responsible for the creation of humanity. Additionally, in the play, the character of Dr. Waldman, Dr. Frankenstein’s professor, is a priest and a scientist, yet, in the film he is reduced to merely a scientist. Possibly, Dr. Waldman’s reform was due to the growing seperation of religion and science. (Paul 11) Whale created a more composed Dr. Frankenstein than Florey wrote about. Florey created Henry Frankenstein as an admitted paranoid, while Whale created a complex, levelheaded sort of crazy scientist, and in so doing replaced insanity with tenacious genius. This invited the audience to empathize with the scientist, who formerly played the enemy. (Paul 13) Much meaning is revealed in Frankenstein’s speech to Waldman in the final draft of the film, “Where should we be if nobody tried to find out what lies beyond? Have you never wanted to look beyond the clouds and the stars or to know