Frankenstein essay.

[scared_of_hippies]

Could you guys mark this essay? It's eh, nothing too special, just something done for a practice SAC. It doesn't specify any passages, rather its based on the text in comparison to Kenneth Branaghs "Mary Shelleys Frankenstein".
There is some really awkward phrasing as well as some unnessecary words...

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is a literary classic. Written in the 17th century, it has been widely adapted to many different forms. One such form is the film “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein”, directed by Kenneth Branagh. The strength of Shelley’s novel is the pathos, the emotional strength, of her writing. This pathos becomes bathos within the confines of Branagh’s “Frankenstein”. This is visible when comparing the two. The birth of the monster is a scene which is powerfully imbued with pathos in the novel, while in the film; it is an emotional weakness, lacking any depth or emotional substance. This shift from pathos to bathos is then further seen within the confrontation on Mt. Blanc. Shelley creates a powerful and emotional scene, while Branagh’s is ridiculous. Thirdly, the death of Elizabeth is a scene focused on by both Shelley and Branagh. Branagh’s scene lapses into bathos with Elizabeth’s fiery death and re-birth. In contrast Shelley’s is a potent scene which propels Frankenstein onto his quest for revenge and role as a hunter.

Frankenstein’s creation of the monster is an important scene. Shelley glosses over the science, with one paragraph sufficing to explain the creation. This is vital as Shelley quickly moves onto the philosophy of the creation of life and the emotional response felt by Frankenstein at the moment of birth, as well as the “catastrophe” that Frankenstein feels he has created. Frankenstein describes the “dull yellow eye” and the “convulsive motion” of the monster. These descriptions create an ambiguity that allows the reader to create their own vision of the monster, allowing Shelley to fit the image of the monster to the readers most secret fears. This is a strong example of Shelley’s ability to create pathos, that of a sympathy for the monsters immediate rejection by its creator. Not unlike
Adams rejection by God in Genesis. In contrast, the films creation is one of bathos. This is due to Branagh’s failed attempt to re-create the pathos of the novel.  Branagh focuses on the science of the creation, with an extended scene of the birth of the monster, along with an almost detailed explanation of the process involved. Branagh emphasises the science due to the audience of the film. Released in 1994, Branagh's audience is a scientifically literate one. This emphasis of the science creates an emotional weakness, by focusing to solely on the creation, and not enough on the emotional aftermath. Furthermore, by depicting the monster, Branagh loses out on the power of ambiguity, the power that allows the monster to frighten readers with their personal nightmare of the monster.  The weakness of the film is then exaggerated further by the instantaneous and ridiculous creation of a lynch mob to attack the monster. The emphasis by Branagh on the science behind the creation of the monster, in stark contrast to Shelley’s glossing over of the science and the focus on the emotional response, shows that the pathos of Shelley’s novel, became the bathos of the Branagh’s film.

The climactic confrontation between the monster and Frankenstein on Mt Blanc is suffused with pathos within the novel, and bathos within the film. Shelley creates a tense and potent moment between creator and “creature”, between monster and Frankenstein, on Mt Blanc. This moment is the climax of the novel, as it is the moment wherein creator and created meet in the power of the sublime. The sublime allows Shelley to create an equality between the monster and Frankenstein, as Shelley so fervently believes the force of nature can mean “destruction upon the head of the speaker”, any speaker who decides to speak out in a “voice” too “loud” against nature. Shelley even refers to nature as an “imperial” power. This is Shelley’s way of saying that nature is the ruler, the emperor of the world, and that people are the peasants to be ruled over. This dwarfing of the trivial nature of Frankenstein and the monsters problems within the confines of the sublime creates a sense an emotional strength that allows the reader to empathise with the monster, and create a sense of pathos that is sustained throughout the text. In contrast, Branagh turns Shelley’s most emotive scene into a scene of bathos. Branagh has the confrontation taken from the immense power of Mt Blanc and the sublime, into an ice cave where Frankenstein and the monster meet, but not as the equals that Shelley intends them to be. Branagh gives the monster the upper hand, making it intrinsically clear the reversal of roles, from master and slave, Frankenstein and monster, to slave and master. Furthermore, Branagh’s removal of the sublime and the addition of the monsters innate abilities shifts the film further into bathos. The monster remembers how to play the flute, in an effort by Branagh to create pathos, but it merely emphasis the vital loss of pathos in when compared to the novel. The scene on Mt Blanc is a poignant and emotive scene, written by Shelley to be held in the hands of the power of the sublime, yet Branagh shifts this into bathos by both removing the sublime, and turning an emotive scene ridiculous.

Both Shelley and Branagh focus heavily on the death of Elizabeth. In the novel, Shelley focuses on the distraught emotional response of Frankenstein, which creates pathos within the novel. A long with the idea that it the death of Elizabeth that finally pushes Frankenstein into action against the monster. Frankenstein is held by the “agony of despair” when the death is discovered. Despite his best efforts to defend his wife, it is Frankenstein’s rejection of the monster that results in the same rejection being felt by Frankenstein, which is that there is no one to love or be loved by. Like Shelley’s creation of the monster, she does not dwell on the actual death. She quickly skips to the response of Frankenstein, and his almost immediate “resolve” for action. This furthers the Shelley’s creation of pathos. Branagh on the other hand, uses the death of Elizabeth has the emotional climax of the film which ultimately results in bathos. The murder of Elizabeth fuels Frankenstein to recreate her. It is a hypocrisy of Frankenstein, that he would create a second monster to assuage his pain and suffering but would not do it for his monster. Furthermore, Branagh uses the rebirth of Elizabeth to explain what is felt by the monster and Elizabeth. Branagh manages to create a sense of pathos here. He shows that it is not actually the process of rebirth that fuels the monsters hatred of himself, but rather the realisation by Elizabeth of her horrific physical appearance that leads to her second death. Yet Branagh lapses back into Bathos by exaggerating the death of Elizabeth. Elizabeth becomes so distraught with herself that she sets herself alight, and flees screaming down a corridor that is bursting into fire. This intense exaggeration removes the scene of any and all emotional strength and poignancy, and instead becomes a ridiculous effort by Branagh to prove himself as a director and reference the power of fire as a cleansing of the spirit. Shelley achieves a level of pathos by showing the reader Frankenstein’s need for revenge, while Branagh’s interpretation of the scene quickly dissolves into a bathetic and ridiculous scene.

Mary Shelley creates a strong sense of pathos throughout the novel. In comparison Branagh’s film lapses into bathos. The creation of the monster is focused on by both Branagh and Shelley, yet only Shelley achieves an emotional strength, while Branagh is lacking any emotional depth what so ever. Mt Blanc is the climax of Shelley’s novel, yet is merely a stepping stone for Branagh. Lastly, the death of Elizabeth is focused on heavily by Branagh as the climax of the book, while Shelley uses it to propel Frankenstein’s need for revenge.