10 Myths About Frankenstein
What You Think You Know About Frankenstein Might Not Be True
Frankenstein. What’s the first image that pops into your head? I’m guessing a huge green monster with bolts in his neck…am I right? Well, my friend, you may have fallen for Hollywood’s campy horror classic, because Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus is anything but schlocky. Rather, it deals with the huge questions of what man owes its creator and vice versa. So, let’s clear up some of the common myths, shall we?
1. The monster’s name is Frankenstein.
Nope. The monster is only called fiend or devil but the name Frankenstein belongs to the scientist who created him: Victor Frankenstein.
2. Victor Frankenstein is a nobleman who lives in a castle.
Hah. The dude was seriously a poor undergrad from humble beginnings. His father was a public servant in Geneva and when Victor goes off to college, he lives in an apartment with an attic studio.
3. The monster has janky stitching on his green skin and he has bolts in his neck.
Actually, Frankenstein designed his creation to be beautiful, with yellow skin, perfectly formed muscles, lustrous black hair and pearly white teeth. Now personally I would have chosen a different skin color, but maybe yellow was the man’s favorite color.
4. Victor Frankenstein is a mad scientist.
There was nothing insane about this fella. He set out to create a new species because he was motivated by the death of his mother and wished to prevent others from suffering the loss he suffered.
5. The monster is killed at the end of the book.
Umm…we don’t know that. It never really says what happens to him after he runs off into the Arctic.
6. Frankenstein’s assistant is the hunchbacked Igor.
You can thank Hollywood for this little buddy. There is no assistant in the book. Victor Frankenstein works alone.
7. The monster was nothing but a big brute.
Not so much. This creature is intelligent and sensitive. He’s also very lonely, for humanity shuns him, so his acts of cruelty stem from this.
8. Mary Shelley got the idea for Frankenstein from seeing a horribly disfigured man.
That’s my interpretation of her inspiration in my newest release, Lost in Darkness. Actually, she got the idea from a “waking dream.” She envisioned the creature in her mind.
9. The monster was larger than any other human being ever.
To be sure, he was a big boy, but not record-breaking. He could probably hold his own on an NBA court, though, measuring in at a solid eight feet tall.
10. This classic novel was an immediate hit when it was published.
That’s an author’s dream! But alas, it was only a dream and not a reality in Shelley’s case. Critics bashed it.
The myths of Frankenstein have always fascinated me, which is why I came up with my own legend to add to the mix in Lost in Darkness.
Here’s a blurb:
Travel writer Amelia Balfour’s dream of touring Egypt is halted when she receives news of a revolutionary new surgery for her grotesquely disfigured brother. This could change everything, and it does. . .in the worst possible way.
Surgeon Graham Lambert has suspicions about the doctor he’s gone into practice with, but he can’t stop him from operating on Amelia’s brother. Will he be too late to prevent the man’s death? Or to reveal his true feelings for Amelia before she sails to Cairo?
Sound interesting? You can purchase your copy HERE or you can try your hand at winning a signed copy in the Rafflecopter Contest.
