Hey guys! I just realized that I flubbed a few dates. If I'm referring to the Shelleys, assume I mean the 1800s not the 1900s, considering they were both dead by 1851 and were not, to my knowledge, brought back as zombies.

@tuvaaq

7 ай бұрын

If it makes you feel any better, I have to pull my hands out of my pockets when people ask how old I am and it's not to put on a magic ring!

@michaelkelleypoetry

7 ай бұрын

Dr. Victor Frankenstein emerged from the book fully alive and brought his creators back to life as real life monsters. 😂

@tarmaque

7 ай бұрын

I wondered about that.

@thomaskalinowski8851

7 ай бұрын

I would read the heck out of the story of zombie Percy and Mary Shelley.

@davidsachs4883

7 ай бұрын

I add my daughter’s age to mine when she was born to come up with an age. I used to subtract my year of birth from the current year. That always leads to an age to great for what I should be

As the adage goes: "Intelligence is knowing that Frankenstein wasn't the monster, he was the doctor. Wisdom is knowing that Dr. Frankenstein was the *real* monster."

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

Precisely! I'll have to write a post or something about this, because who we call "Frankenstein" says an awful lot about the story.

Frankenstein: "Before we get married I need to travel to London to learn more about female anatomy" His fiancé: "..."

Fun fact: Not only did the laboratory equipment in Young Frankenstein use equipment from the original Universal production, but it was filmed with cameras dating back to the 1930s.

You’re handling non-Tolkien content like a boss, Jess!! I’m here for it.

Since you asked; I am an astrophysicist, and I can assure you first hand that observatories, and university buildings for that matter, don't have self destruct systems. Although, the buildings that house telescopes usually have a master "Frankenstein switch" that turns off power to the entire building -- a safety feature.

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

That's so neat!

I knew a new Jess video was going to make my sick day better, but finding out it's a 68 minute Halloween special made my day. Happy Halloween Jess, and to all my fellow hobbits in the audience!

@charliestevenson3500

7 ай бұрын

Jess, thanks for the long format video!

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

They're my favorite to make!

Ooh! I wrote a paper in college about the importance of the prometheus myth in interpreting Frankenstein!

An interesting point my brother pointed out last year was that the core difference between Shelley's Frankenstein and every adaptation ever is that in the movies, every adaptation shows some sort of human error in which it destroys and hampers the experiment. But in the book, everything works right. Both Frankenstein the scientist and the monster are evil in their own ways. Also on the Hammer production, it is probably my favorite of the Hammer studios horror adaptations. One thing I like about it, is if you take it at face value, it is entirely possible that Victor Frankenstein made it up, or believed it in his diseased mad brain trying to excuse his murder.

The curious Russian doll style of narration is one of the most striking thing about Frankenstein.

Penny dreadful did a good job of adapting the creation of the monster, Victor's abandonment of him and his struggle to learn about humanity. It is a little rushed due to having so many other characters to focus on, but I thought it was well done.

I never expected to see a video about Frankenstein on this channel but I'm not complaining. Amazing stuff!

For the algorithm, here's a bit of trivia: The alchemist Paracelsus's (one of the occultists Frankenstein reveres) real name was Phillipus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim. Apart from coming up in the Fullmetal Alchemist animes, that is a great name for a bard if anyone plays D&D.

Your cadence and tone are so beautiful and calming it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling whenever i listen to you. Your one of the best creators on youtube and are a true embodiment of the spirit of the shire.

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

I'm so glad you enjoy my videos! You're very kind.

Two interesting entries into the history of Frankenstein are Edgar Winner’s political treatise on technology “Autonomous Technology” which concludes with a fascinating interpretation of Shelly’s novel. And the film “ The Bride” where the monster and “the bride” are the protagonists.

For many years, my favourite adaptation of Frankenstein was in Buffy of all things - in season 4, the Initiative, a military-backed organisation studying demons and other supernaturals, creates a cyborg out of various monster parts, which comes to life, questions its own existence, and eventually needs to be destroyed by the Slayer and her friends (it's not a perfect adaptation...), along the way coming very close to capturing some of the spirit of Shelley's original book.

I'm going to watch the video later, but I want to say two things already: 1. Frankenstein is such a great book. Along with the Silmarillion it is among my favourite. 2. Today, I found out that my copy of Frankenstein, that used to be a softcore book now has its new, linen fabric hard cover and I can get it any day now. I'm quite excited ☺️

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

How delightful!

@Valdagast

7 ай бұрын

Did you mean softcover? I associate softcore with naked ladies. Maybe that says more about me.

@hendrikm9569

7 ай бұрын

By the way, I have now watched the video and really enjoyed it. 3 things I want to say: I'm quite happy you mentioned that it might be connected to Dracula, but it would have been cool, had you mentioned Polidorys The Vampyre as the connection between the two. My copy of Frankenstein also has The Vampyre in it, which is really cool, and I personally think that both The Vampyre and also Carmilla are better tales than Dracula and really underrated. (Which is not to say that Dracula is bad, but it really would have profited from being shortend in the middle it really gets boring. Especially after Chapter 7, which is, in my Opinion the highlight of the book. Unfortunately this years movie The last voyage of the Demeter didn't completely do it justice.) As someone who is still studying but is quite often in labs, I yet haven't seen the killswitch, but it certainly has to be there, considering that we are now a lot less people than we started with. Also, I am quite excited about the roots of fantasy. I am reading Dunsanys Short Storys at the moment (I'm about 3/4 through 51 Tales) and so far am enjoying it, even if it is but a pale shadow compared to the silmarillion. I'm looking forward to you talking about Dunsany.

My own favorite is YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN because I do love the homage, but also because that one was the first I saw that took the the ideas seriously (amid some great comedy from a great cast) then gave us the ending we all wanted.

This was simply brilliant! "Frankenstein" is one of my favorite books of all time (along with "Lord of the Rings" of course). While there are a lot of themes in Mary Shelley's novel, I think you underscore the central irony of Frankenstein's motives versus his irresponsibility perfectly. As for "the lever" in "Bride of Frankenstein," I suspect that all mad scientists are taught to include a self-destruct switch of some kind when they take "Introduction to Labs and Lairs" at Mad Science school. If you are not yet exhausted with Mary Shelley and her "progeny", I recommend the excellent biography "In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein" by Fiona Sampson. "Frankenstein: The First Two Hundred Years" by Christopher Frayling is also very good.

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for the recommendations! I'll check them out (although I may wait a few months haha)

@missanne2908

7 ай бұрын

My friends and I were riding the BART when a fellow passenger began to wax eloquent over the prose in Mary Shelley's _Frankenstein._ We were all readers that had read Stoker's _Dracula,_ so I bought the book (don't remember if my friends did the same). Having read both the 1818 original and 1831 revised version, I can say that the fellow passenger was correct: the book is well worth the read. I regularly read it during my self-declared 'October Gothic Novel Month.'

The fate of the Wretch is so tragic. Frankenstein is Prometheus, but the Wretch is a flame. Despite limitless potential, the flame is not properly wielded nor restrained, which results in an inevitable spread into a destructive conflagration. It's no mistake that the first evil act of the Wretch is to burn down the home of the family whose prosperity he had previously preserved.

I enjoyed the 1994 movie. I had neither read the novel nor seen any of the earlier adaptations. I was aware of the pervasive pop culture concept of the mindless, violent monster created by a mad scientist and recognized that Branagh's and De Niro's portrayals of Frankenstein and his creation were meant to be closer to Shelley's characters.

I'm looking forward to watching 'Lisa Frankenstein' next year and seeing the differences and similarities compared with Shelley's novel and the various film adaptations. I'm also looking forward to the film having 1980's Trad Goth vibes and a soundtrack to match.

Mary also wrote the first post apocalyptic novel,The Last Man.

A book-faithful adaptation is possible, by using the “uncanny valley” effect. Cast a really good-looking (and tall) actor to play the monster, but use motion -capture: superimpose a computer-generated copy of the actor’s own face. That should create just sufficient feeling of wrongness without the audience being able to place _why_ they feel this horror.

@Somethingwickedthisway

2 күн бұрын

I really like this idea, it would play to the original story's idea that Frankenstein tried to create a perfect man and if done well enough it could genuinely make audiences uncomfortable.

Fun fact: the rainy weather that led to the writing of Frankenstein was caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia. The same rainy weather ultimately killed Jane Austen.

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

No way! That's so cool

@thomaskalinowski8851

7 ай бұрын

@@Jess_of_the_Shire The terrible weather was the reason 1816 was called "the year without a summer."

@squamish4244

Ай бұрын

Jane Austen died of a long illness, not a cold or something brought on by bad weather.

So delighted with your clip choices for Young Frankenstein. I really enjoyed your recap of the original greatly, and the comprehensive history of adaptations!

This is easily one of my favorite videos of yours, Jess, and I would be more than down for other videos like this!

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

I'm so glad you enjoyed!

@sebastianevangelista4921

7 ай бұрын

@@Jess_of_the_Shire All the hard work clearly paid off and you should feel proud! I'm definitely looking forward to your new series.

I think this book should be required reading for all scientists.

Well presented! Makes me want to watch Young Frankenstein again, and Frankenweenie for the first time!

Great video Jess. Frankenstein has always been one of my favourite novels. Have to say you got some dates wrong here though. The novel was published in 1818 and Mary Shelley died in 1851, so she certainly wasn't around in 1914 or 1916. I assume you meant that she eloped with Percy Shelley in 1814 and went to Switzerland in 1816.

@CasperJoosten

7 ай бұрын

Also 'traveling around Europe from 1914 to 1916' would not have been the greatest of plans

@bobsteele9581

7 ай бұрын

@@CasperJoosten - Very true Casper 😁 I think the fact that Jess later talks about the 1910 silent movie version makes it clear that she just misspoke though, and it certainly doesn't detract from her fantastic analysis of the novel and movies. 👍

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

Yeah, I managed to miss that while recording AND editing somehow haha. I made a note in the pinned comment, I hope it clears up some confusion.

Very nice to see you give a thorough overview of a story many people think they know, but few have had the inclination to read, in your always pleasant style. I look forward to your treatments of other classics. A couple of my favorite old Frankenstein movies are: Son of Frankenstein, with Basil Rathbone as the doctor and Bela Lugosi as Igor, and Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein - a Saturday movie classic from way back when I was a kid. Happy Halloween!

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

I'm going to have to watch more of the Universal Monster classics now. This was my first foray into them and it was a ton of fun!

Late to the party, but my second favorite adaptation (second to Frankenweenie, of course) is in the Showtime series "Penny Dreadful." The series pulls in several gothic horror creatures and characters into the same world, and really gives Shelley's Creature a proper treatment.

Your description of Frankenwienie made me cry. Might be your best video yet

As a kaiju fan, my favorite Frankenstein story is Frankenstein Vs Baragon ("Frankenstein Conquers the World" for the US release, though he does nothing of the sort) in which the Creature grows to kaiju size and winds up fighting a giant lizard-like creature (and in one cut of the movie, a giant octopus too). While the idea is a bit silly, before the giant monster action there's some good human drama, and the Creature is treated quite sympathetically by the story (even if, as is traditional, he's not very bright and most people are scared of him).

Excellent examination of story telling: and the weird changes from book to 1930s film and onward. And love the colour to black and white switches.

Somewhere in Jess' characterization of Victor, her wording was just right to trigger a certain iconic phrase in my head. It seems that Frankenstein's main problem (in the original novel, anyway) was that he was "so preoccupied with whether or not [he] could, [he] didn't stop to think if [he] should." From there, it quickly spiraled into a realization that, if you swap out the single resurrected human for a whole clade of extinct non-human species, that's really all it takes to get from Shelley to Crichton, at least thematically and in terms of a bird's-eye-view of the plot. The core theme, that of unbridled scientific ambition going tragically awry, embodied in the form of at least one unnatural and dangerous organism, is especially clear. Depending on how figurative one is willing to be in the definition, I think an argument could be made that Jurassic Park is a Frankenstein story. I'm almost certainly not the first to see this connection, but I was reminded of it so clearly here that I thought it was worth sharing, for whatever it may be worth.

This was awesome… young Frankenstein is one of my favorite movies to quote, right after princess bride. “Frankensteen”. “Frau Blücher” [horse whinnies]. “Werewolf!” “There wolf!”

Great video, I feel like "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" and the Blade Runner movies fall in line with this same type of story telling, definitely worth a look if you want to expand on these ideas. The Replicates in these stories are a lot like the monster.

@vorgralax

7 ай бұрын

Replicants* sry.

Great video, Jessie. I would love to see a Frankenstein movie faithfull to Shelley's book. You did forget at comment how hilarious Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein was lol. I don't know if you ever knew about Showtimes 2014, four season series Penny Dreadful. It was a good series that tool place on 19th century England. It used several characters from Victorian Gothic fiction, Dracula, Dorian Gray, Justine, Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hide, the werewolf, and of course Frankenstein and his creation and combined them all together. It was well done and the Frankenstein and his creation closey resemble what Mary Shelly invisoned.

I read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and loved it. My favorite movie adaption was not mentioned. Frankenstein starring Luke Goss as the creature. Luke Goss is amazing.

One of the best videos I've seen discussing the story and the history surrounding it! Bravo!

As a fervent disciple of The Good News of Frankenweenie I was so delighted by the end of this video.

Outstanding elucidation of the core tenets of the theme, Jess.

I still love this book. Minty break down of the book and the pop culture that followed. Nice work, Jess

Fascinating! Great subject, I really enjoyed learning about the different versions of the Fronkensteen story. Now I'm going to go read the original novel, and watch Frankenweenie. I hope you are soon able to increase your wine budget. Drinking Kool-Aid from a wine glass is so sad.

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

Haha, does it make it better or worse if I say its not kool-aid, but just water and food coloring? I was trying to imitate the dubiously bright liquids from the lab in Curse of Frankenstein

@sourisvoleur4854

7 ай бұрын

@@Jess_of_the_Shire Hehe! Excellent.

You are SO KILLING IT, YOUNG LADY!!!

This is such a great video for me personally, since I'm reading the novel at the moment. I'll be thinking about this video's content as I enjoy the novel.

Frankenstein is my favourite book of all time and I have lost count how many times I have read/listen to it (probably going to do it again). I have listen to some radio adaption that is really loyal both to the original story and theme, also a mini series (a movie when I saw it) from 2004 is that also 🙂

Great review. I love this different take on Frankenstein.

I really liked Penny Dreadful’s interpretation of Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s Monster.

Outstanding!! I love the idea of this being a series. I look forward to them!! I enjoyed this very much. You're deep dives are so informative and interesting. I can't wait for the next one!! 😁😄👏👏👏👏❤

Wow, thanks for this amazing overview. Love the content ❤️

Love this video! Can’t wait to see your origins of fantasy videos!! You’re a great speaker.

Good video! Respect on the amount of effort and detail you went into ...

A very nicely thought-out and deep look into one of my favourite monsters and the story behind it. Thank you and have an appropriately spooky Halloween 👻

I swear, I could listen to you for another hour. The amount of work you put into this is amazing. SO well done!!!!

Wow, thanks a lot for this very elaborate overview. This was great, and, tbh wonderfully told.

My favorite video in a long time, thank you for making it! I was also on Frankenstein themed fascination this past month. Mostly because I played a great D&D game about a misunderstood flesh golem and listen to Carach Angren's Frankensteina Strataemontanus a lot lately.

From your comments on the Curse of Frankenstein, it seems "[Frankenstein was] so preoccupied with whether [he] could, [he] didn’t stop to think if [he] should", like the scientists in Jurassic Park. Isaac Asimov leaned on Frankenstein in his stories. For the scientists, robots were machines and not much more; for the general public, robots are man-made monsters. The scientists included the Three Laws of Robotics in every robots, yet the Frankenstein complex endured. The same stories contain commentaries on slavery, but sadly some of it was lost in the French translations.

I really like your videos, they're always cosy and interesting. I love the more philosophical tone of this video :) I had never read or seen any Frankenstein story, only heard of it and it's a surprisingly deep story. Amazing Video :)

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It was very fun to make

I absolutely adore your videos! You’re so well informed and knowledgeable. You speak extremely eloquently and therefore you have quickly become one of my favorite KZread Creators! Thank you and keep up the amazing work!

Really loved this one can't wait to see what you have next.

Absolutely love this video! I can't wait to see what your next video is.

Criminally underrated video!

I was heartbroken by Branagh's version. His Henry V was so good that I had high expectations.

Great new idea for the channel. This was very enjoyable

Nice video Jess, very well told. I remember being assigned to read the novel in high school in 1967. I must admit I wasn't of a frame of mind to appreciate the nuance and prose of the story at the time. I received a C- for my report and I was a very good student, but couldn't get into it. It was like when I first read The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, I just didn't appreciate poetry either. I did go back later and re-read it with an older perspective. Compare Tolkien's Elves with the impish Elves of Iceland show.

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

Required reading in high school is such a tricky topic to me. Sure, classic works are important to education, but even in my own experience, being forced to read them mostly just made me dislike them. I think it comes down to the way that they're taught. Shakespeare, for example, is godawful to read as a bored 15 year old, but the right performance can set those plays alight. I'm mostly just glad that we can come back to these works later in life and rediscover them!

@MountainFisher

7 ай бұрын

@@Jess_of_the_Shire Indeed!

This was an Awesome video. I am really excited for more videos about other topics.

What an excellent analysis of this story. Its been a favourite of mine since childhood. I'd subbed for your LOTR videos but more like this would be awesome. I mean, since you had all of this to say about Frankenstein I'm very curious to see what you'll have to say about Dracula's various adaptations over the years.

Great job Jess!

Jess, you’re a great story teller!

I was hoping Poor Things would be recent enough it made it into this video as well. It would be cool to see you talk about it as another Frankenstein interpretation.

In Frankenweenie's case there's also the favourite theme of Burton, the misunderstood artist (aka him), so when Vincent Price tells Victor that his experiment worked because he put love in it, I think it should not be rad as science works because of love, but art works because of love. Burton's movies works because he puts passion and love in it, but when others rip off his style or his stories, it fails, because they don't have his passion ^^

I could listen to you talk about horror stories and movies for hours. Thanks for the entertainment!

Great video, thank you Jess!

Dr Frankenstein: What was the name on the jar? Eyegor: Abby Normal.

A most delightful video! For anyone in search of the most faithful book adaptation on screen: the 2004 Hallmark miniseries. For anyone pondering visiting places from the book: I highly recommend Geneva and Ingolstadt (including the old anatomy museum), but you can ignore entirely castle Frankenstein which sadly has been renovated to death (and just shares the same name but has no connection to the story).

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

I'll have to check the miniseries out!

I started watching your Lord of the Rings videos. I found myself watching this video and very much enjoying it also. I encourage you to continue. I have subscribed to your channel, and I look forward to further entries.

My favorite adaptation of Frankenstein and his monster is in the tv show Penny Dreadful. I think it comes closer to the original than any of the others that were discussed in this video (based on your description). Moreover, Penny Dreadful is an extremely undervalued series. I'm really interested to watch Frankenweenie now though. 😊

This book is a favorite of mine, Its incredibly well written & Deep.

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

It's truly spectacular!

You did an AMAZING job!!!

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed

Thank You Lovely. I loved this Video❤

An excellent video and even though I’ve read the original book I appreciated the refresher course. I’m a bit disappointed though that Herman and Lilly Munster didn’t get even a quick footnote mention, but perhaps that was part of the material that you didn’t feel that you had time to include.

J. R. R. Tokien's Frankenstein. I'd read it.

Great video! It's late O clock here and I'm pretty tired but you managed to hold my interest and, at no point did I look at my phone!. I'm familiar with the early films but have never read the actual novel. Fascinating to hear your synopsis and definitely added to my 'to read' list. One thing though...... probably not a good idea to surround your Patreon link in '*' s - clicking on the link sends you to a '404 not found' message! And yeah - you got a new Patreon.

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

Thanks for letting me know! I'll have to fix that haha. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video, and I appreciate you joining the Patreon!

Great video! Would love to hear your thoughts on Edward Scissorhands as a Frankenstein retelling.

Excellent job. Thanks!

That's why I never watch any of the Frankenstein movies, none of them are close to the original story... It's one of my favorite book :) I think I'll buy a copy soon so I can re-read it again!

Beautiful. Well done.

I'd like to add, that the Discworld novels has Igors and mad Herr Doktors in a big way, these are very much in the shape of the Hammer version of Frankenstein, as is their vampires on the Disc (like our globe, but for it being rather flat). Also, Cohen the Barbarian; their world's great legendary hero, frees their version of Prometheus, and hands him a sword; so that their Prometheus can sit in ambush, and give some back to the eagle on the coming day.

It's been a while since I've seen it, but I remember the version of the story from the TV show Penny Dreadful being quite good.

You might want to check out the 2004 two-part TV mini series which follows Shelly's work much closer than any others.

Robocop is Frankenstein by another name, and it encapsulates the original story quite well

Frankenstein is not a commentary on science but rather creativity. Frankenweenie drives this home. When "creativity" is an expression of the hunger for fame or wealth, the creation is a monster. When the creativity emerges from love, the creation is a success. As you remarked, there is one story in which Prometheus creates humanity. Prometheus seeks fire for his creation not simply because he pities it, but because he loves it. the creature becomes isolated -- becomes a monster -- when Frankenstein ceases loving it. The creature gains what humanity it has in the presence of the isolated family. When it loses access to that love, the final connection is broken; the creature becomes a monster.

The Frankenstein (1931) was one of the first (or first) talkies to have background music.

Surprisingly, Frankenstein's monster (or Señor M as he liked to be called) desisted of his suicidal impulses when he failed to find wood for his pire in the north pole. He travel further north until it became south, and then further south, to South America. In the Andes he became a teacher and a protector, until decades later, all his sins atoned, he died from old age in 2018.

wonderful synopsis

I’m sitting in my gazebo in the back woods of my property. While listening to your video evening darkness has settled in. Now I am afraid, very afraid.

@Jess_of_the_Shire

7 ай бұрын

Don't worry, there aren't any manmade abominations lurking in the dark! ....probably

Aside from a couple of 1900s instead of 1800s, fantastic video :)

@robertpearson8798

7 ай бұрын

Easy mistake to make.

Wow, this video kicked ass 💪 keep it up