LibGuides: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus: Impact

Inspired by Mary Shelley’s Gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein is the world premiere of Liam Scarlett’s new full-length ballet. A story of betrayal, curiosity, life, death and, above all, love, exploring the very depths of human nature. Federico Bonelli dances the role of Victor Frankenstein, Laura Morera is his Elizabeth, Federico Bonelli is Victor, and Steven McRae is the creature. Koen Kessels conducts Lowell Liebermann’s newly commissioned score in this co-production between The Royal Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.

Movies Inspired By Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein
Told from Igor's perspective, we see the troubled young assistant's dark origins, his redemptive friendship with the young medical student Viktor Von Frankenstein, and become eyewitnesses to the emergence of how Frankenstein became the man, and the legend, we know today.
Young Frankenstein
An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
I, Frankenstein
Frankenstein's monster Adam (Aaron Eckhart) gets swept up in a long-running battle between powerful gargoyles and infernal demons seeking the key to his immortality as director Stuart Beattie brings Kevin Grevioux's acclaimed graphic novel to the screen in this sweeping horror fantasy adventure.
Ex machina
Caleb, a 24-year-old coder at the world's largest Internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a retreat belonging to the company's reclusive CEO, Nathan. But when Caleb arrives he finds that he will have to participate in a fascinating experiment with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot woman, Ava. Truths, emotions, and motives are blurred as the relationship between Caleb, Ava, and Nathan intensifies.
Edward Scissorhands
Once upon a time in a castle high on a hill lived an inventor whose greatest creation was, Edward. Although Edward had an irresistible charm, he was not quite perfect. The inventor's sudden death left him unfinished, with sharp shears of metal for hands. Edward lived alone in the darkness until one day a kind Avon sales person took him home to live with her family. And so began Edward's fantastical adventures in a pastel paradise known as Suburbia.

Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi

Boris Karloff is famous for playing Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein (1931). You Must Remember This, a podcast about 20th century Hollywood, explores both Karloff's life and Bela Lugosi's.

To quote: "Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff were two middle-aged, foreign, struggling actors who became huge stars thanks to Dracula and Frankenstein, the first two of a trend of monster movie hits released during the 1930s...we'll discuss their parallel but very different lives and careers."

The year 1816 was called the Year Without Summer because of the strange weather that occurred in that period. After a normal early spring, temperatures began plunging below freezing. Eastern United States suffered from the frost killing crops during June, July, and August. Europe didn't fare any better. The snow did not melt and from April to September, parts of the continent dealt with 130 days of rain. This caused famine and outbreaks of typhus and other diseases across Europe and China. India dealt with a spread of cholera that killed millions. Evidence suggests that this was caused by an Indonesian volcanic eruption that was big enough to start a volcanic winter.

At this time, Mary Shelley and her friends were forced to stay in for most of their Swiss holiday due to rain. To relieve boredom, they held a scary story writing contest and Shelley wrote Frankenstein in this period.

Rasputina, an American, cello-driven band, wrote a song about this event. Its opening lines are:

In the Spring of 1315 there began an era of unpredictable weather

It did not lift until 1851. You remember 1816 as the year without a summer

June 1816, a sudden snowstorm blankets all the countryside

So Mary Shelley had to stay inside and she wrote Frankenstein

Oh, 1816 was the year without a summer