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S4:E5 Frankenstein: Introducing the Madness
71 Plays24 days ago
Welcome to our Made of Madness March, where we kick things off by diving into the dark and fascinating world of Mary Shelley—the brilliant mind who dreamed up one of literature’s most haunting creations. We’ll explore her unconventional upbringing, the stormy night that sparked the idea of Frankenstein, and share our thoughts on the Frankenstein novel itself including its haunting themes and complex characters.
Then, the real madness begins: we’re splitting 12 different Frankenstein adaptations between the three of us and throwing them into a head-to-head bracket showdown. Over the next two weeks, we’ll battle it out to decide which version electrifies the story best and truly bring Mary Shelley’s story to life.
Hosted by Keri with co-hosts Lindsey and Crystal.
Books & Adaptations Mentioned:
Frankenstein Rating System Sheets
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Thanks for listening to Based on a Book—see you in the next chapter!
Chapters:
(00:00) Introductions
(02:10) Frankenstein / Mary Shelley Introduction & Background
(17:45) Frankenstein (Ratings and Spoiler Thoughts)
(49:30) The Wheel of Frankenstein
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to March 2026 Theme: Made of Madness
00:00:09
Speaker
It was a dreary night of March that we beheld based on a book's first episode of Made of Madness. I'm Carrie, here to bring the chaos to life.
Meet the Hosts: Carrie, Lindsay, and Crystal
00:00:22
Speaker
I'm Lindsay, and I am fearful, but I am still powerful. I am Crystal and I have never hated male main character more than I did reading this book.
00:00:38
Speaker
As I said, welcome to March 2026's theme, which is Made of Madness.
Frankenstein Adaptations: Over 47 Versions
00:00:46
Speaker
March is for Frankenstein by Mary Shelley with a little bonus title at the end of the month with Poor Things by Alistair Gray. But most of the month our focus will be Frankenstein because as you may know, Frankenstein has many adaptations,
00:01:04
Speaker
I think around 47 or more. They could be exact adaptations or interpretations of the story. There are even more just references of Frankenstein in different films in general.
00:01:20
Speaker
Basically, there's a lot to cover and we're new here. All right, we're new.
Mary Shelley's Life: Influence on Her Works
00:01:27
Speaker
So Made of Madness is dedicated to reading Frankenstein and watching...
00:01:35
Speaker
12, yes 12, different adaptations. Today we are going to get into a little bit of beginner knowledge of Mary Shelley as we are not historians.
00:01:49
Speaker
But for me personally, some of this information is new and I think it's fun having this like initial discussion together for the first time. Also feels very essential to this entire Frankenstein lore.
00:02:04
Speaker
ah Then we are going to get into our thoughts on the book. And to wrap up, we will get into what to expect for upcoming adaptation episodes with some previously recorded material.
00:02:17
Speaker
So getting into some Mary Shelley lore first, I'm curious what was both of your experience before going into reading Frankenstein? Because this is both your first time reading Frankenstein, right? This isn't a reread.
00:02:31
Speaker
So what is both of your experience going into reading Frankenstein, whether it's with the story or just like your knowledge of Mary Shelley in general? i'll start with Lindsay. Lindsay?
00:02:44
Speaker
ah So my experience with Frankenstein is I have seen a few movies previously. My knowledge on Mary Shelley is Doctor Who did an episode where the doctor goes back in time. It's a good episode. It so is. ah The doctor goes back in time to the night that...
00:03:06
Speaker
Frankenstein was written. um So it's the night that Lord Byron and Mary Shelley and everyone, they're all at the the cottage or whatever, and they're writing their stories. And it's based on that night. So that that was my knowledge of Mary Shelley.
00:03:21
Speaker
Okay. What about you, Crystal? I actually know a ton about Mary Shelley. She's an absolute icon. I love that bitch. i I don't, I've never read Frankenstein. Honestly, I have never read any of Mary Shelley's works. None, zero. But she, as a human being, I'm super fascinated by and I knew a ton about.
00:03:44
Speaker
So when we decided to do this, I was like, yes, I'm game. Let's go. Even though i have no interest in horror. I'm just excited to talk about Mary Shelley. so Yeah.
00:03:57
Speaker
I have very little to no knowledge of, before this, of Mary Shelley besides the fact that she wrote Frankenstein. I just know her to be to be known as an icon amongst you know people that love horror, um also sci-fi as well.
00:04:22
Speaker
a lot of people look at her as like an original, like sci-fi writer. And also just, I've, a lot of people like her for her like gothic vibes. And so I've been very intrigued by that. Also, i recently watched the 2025 adaptation of Frankenstein with Jacob Elordi. So that's kind of what drew me through. to wanting to cover this. So that is my only experience going into this. But then diving into her life, she has Mary Shelley. It's a very intriguing life ah where she is no stranger to death and no stranger to trauma.
00:05:15
Speaker
So she just kind of going into like her early
Mary Shelley's Early Life and Family Dynamics
00:05:18
Speaker
life a little bit. She is the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, hopefully I pronounced that correctly, both very famous writers. Her mother was a feminist and wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. Her mother, Mary, died due to complications in childbirth very soon after Mary Shelley was born.
00:05:45
Speaker
but Mary Shelley also had siblings from an affair her mother had, ah but her father was like very accepting of what his wife did and the relationships she had.
00:05:59
Speaker
Eventually, William married again, and Mary Shelley then had a stepmother, which brought the very famous, like, Claire Claremont to her life. And I think it's, like, super interesting after we've read, you know, Jane Austen talking so much about, like, the etiquette in lifestyle and how you – this is, like, a big, like – no-no, basically.
00:06:28
Speaker
And now- Mary Shelley is the opposite of Austen. Yeah, exactly. it's just so wild. like We just covered Persuasion. And now going diving into Mary Shelley's backstory and how they are very much have a very like free lifestyle that is very much the opposite of what Jane Austen writes about.
Death, Trauma, and Writing: Shelley's Inspirations
00:06:49
Speaker
I think that's very insane. And like now that we've read Frankenstein, is there anything that you've noticed like from her early life that you feel like may have shaped Mary Shelley like as a writer?
00:07:05
Speaker
What about you, Crystal?
00:07:09
Speaker
I think... Probably yes, a lot of her experiences with men, with how men treat women, with how men view responsibility.
00:07:24
Speaker
And i you know I did a little bit more reading on her other works because after reading this one, I was kind of interested in like, what else has she done? um And a lot of her other works have more themes of familiar relationships and responsibility, family responsibility. So I feel like that probably had you know, came from her early life and, you know, her, she grew up with her father constantly, you know, fighting debtors and constantly being, you know, having to borrow money and trying to make sure that, you know, he was still educating, not just his daughter, but his stepdaughters as well.
00:08:05
Speaker
and it was, you know, obviously she saw this as as her father's struggle to kind of maintain that and you can see that in a lot of her works but also I feel like there's so much that happened in her later life I think in part because she was able to live that free lifestyle that she did when she was younger um and so that I think like Obviously, we are all kind of a product of our youth and our childhood, but I feel like the opportunities that were afforded her when she was younger and the experiences she had when she was younger definitely shaped how she treated people when she was older.
Shelley's Support for Marginalized Communities
00:08:50
Speaker
um In fact, I learned that she gave to a lot of i like less well rumored couples rumored lesbian couples And that she liked helping out people in that society, for the most part, had deemed unworthy.
00:09:05
Speaker
And she did it really quietly. And her family tried to cover it up. where After she died, they tried to like hide a lot of her journals and censor them and make sure that that information didn't Because they didn't want... They didn't want that impropriety to look poorly on her memory. it was like, she would have been... but She did it because she was proud and happy to do that. Why would... i don't know. That... That made me mad.
00:09:28
Speaker
Sorry. I just found that out today that her family tried to hide all that. So. h Yeah. I feel like something i think that definitely change like reflects in her as a writer is like I said, she's no stranger to death and she In my opinion, I mean, i I also just watched like the Mary Shelley movie too with Elle Fanning. And I really like how they show...
00:10:02
Speaker
Mary Shelley as a person. And, you know, I read about this as well of her being like obsessed with like her mother's grave and being at her mother's grave all the time, learning to read and write at her mother's grave.
Mary and Percy Shelley's Relationship and Frankenstein
00:10:16
Speaker
And i think the fact of very being very intimate with death it reflects her story with Frankenstein in general.
00:10:29
Speaker
you know That's where she had some of her first dates with her husband, Percy, was at her mother's grave. Yeah, yeah. Lindsay, what about you? was still married. Yeah, we'll get into that a second.
00:10:41
Speaker
Lindsay, do you have any other interesting childhood facts of Mary Shelley before we get into the drama? Yeah. No, honestly, I just want to get into this drama. Okay. yeah All right. So I believe around 1813, Mary, who was only 16, she meets Percy Shelley, who was around 21. meets her through her father, Godwin, because he basically wants to study with him. They fall in love. However, like Crystal just said, Percy is already married with one child and another on the way.
00:11:14
Speaker
ah But Mary and Percy run away together, accompanied by Mary's sister, Claire, and they travel through Europe. There is a lot of speculation an assumption that he was also messing around with Claire while he was with Mary. and it's it's messed up. Like, this dynamic is messed up. And honestly, I really recommend watching that Mary Shelley movie. It doesn't follow the timeline of her life exactly,
00:11:43
Speaker
but It's going make him mad. It's going to make him mad. Percy is basically a piece of shit. All right. He's a piece of shit. Basically drags him all over the place. And like Mary is immediately like Mary Shelley is immediately pregnant.
00:11:59
Speaker
And while he's still married. Yeah. While he's still married. They have and it's not her name. not Mary Shelley at this point. Mary Godwin still. Godwin. They're they have no money. Social outcasts because of what they've done.
00:12:15
Speaker
Like I said, like it's like so weird after reading so much Jane Austen and reading Persuasion and then reading so much about her backstory. like It's very bizarre to me. And so these are seriously right around the same time frame. like Yeah. it's It's all happening kind of at the same time.
00:12:39
Speaker
So these two lead leading such incredibly different lives. It's just wild to me. And yet somehow still kind of a part of respectable society. Like everybody's whispering about her. She's an outcast, but she's still invited, you know?
00:12:57
Speaker
Yeah. yeah you know And she has dealt with a lot of death in her life. Like like I said, she was pregnant and she gave birth to that child and that child had died very soon after And we see that a lot of death with several of her children. Eventually in 1816, we do get to this point of Mary Shelley riding Frankenstein, which is the when Percy, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, Claire, who is having ah Lord Byron's child that we assume. and ah
00:13:42
Speaker
John William Polidori, who is the guy who wrote the one of the earlier vampire works yeah that we talked about in our vampire episode.
00:13:52
Speaker
yeah I saw his name pop up a couple of times and I went, I know that guy. Vampires. fires Yeah. so Yeah, it's like so crazy think these like people just like hanging out together. Yep. That are so famous now. I just like can't get over it.
00:14:05
Speaker
ah Lord Byron suggests that they all write a ghost story and it inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein, are also known as Modern Prometheus. There's literally so much more information. Like I said, how much death that she dealt with in her life, including many of her children's deaths very early in their lives, several people in her life unaliving themselves, eventually ah Percy dying later by drowning on a boat,
00:14:34
Speaker
Which is so insane. But are there any other details that we should get into about Mary Shelley's life and background? Lindsay, do you have any other little facts for us?
00:14:48
Speaker
Honestly, I think we covered them all. I was just surprised that when she started writing Frankenstein, she was like 18, 19. That's impressive. Yeah. That's wild to me.
00:15:00
Speaker
Yeah. It's very cool. Yeah, and like Crystal said, she does have other works. The Last Man, but The Mortal Immortal, i think it's called Matilda, i believe. um So she does have other books as well.
00:15:17
Speaker
But as I said, wrote Frankenstein. um There are three editions of Frankenstein. So the first edition is a three-volume novel, which was published anonymously in 1818 because the female name would not be accepted.
00:15:40
Speaker
on the book. But there was like a dedication to her father on it. So people had assumed that Percy had wrote it um because he also wrote the introduction and he also edited it So the second edition from 1823 included Shelley's name on it.
00:16:04
Speaker
um Because that's what the rumor was. And then the third edition and most popular was from 1831, which has Mary Shelley's name on it with her own introduction in it, as well as Shelley's with revisions made by Mary Shelley that could possibly reflect how you feel about the story.
00:16:25
Speaker
She claims she only mended the language and left the court and substance untouched, but some disagree. I'm curious which version we all read.
00:16:39
Speaker
i read the 1831 edition, which, like I said, is the most popular. Crystal, which edition did you read? 1831. Okay. Lindsay? I read the 1818.
00:16:52
Speaker
I was hoping one of us would. Yes, I love it. We have like a per usual, we have not discussed our Frankenstein thoughts. So I'm so happy somebody read the 1818 edition. There's a lot of speculation of how people think of Victor Frankenstein based on the edits that were made.
00:17:16
Speaker
um So I'm very curious how this discussion is going to go.
Frankenstein Plot Overview
00:17:20
Speaker
But if you had if you don't already know what Frankenstein is, what the story is, this is the story of Victor Frankenstein.
00:17:31
Speaker
A man named Victor Frankenstein. Not the creature. The creature's name is not Frankenstein. A lot of people get that confused. This is the story of Victor Frankenstein who sets out to create life and unleashes a creature that ultimately seeks to destroy him.
00:17:48
Speaker
And that's it. That is it. This is going to be spoiler ratings and reviews. So if you have not read the book and don't want to be spoiled, click away now, read the book, then come back and tell us what you think because we need to know.
00:18:05
Speaker
All right. So let's get into our Frankenstein book ratings and reviews.
Emotional Responses to Frankenstein
00:18:14
Speaker
I want to start with Crystal.
00:18:17
Speaker
i give this three femurs. Okay. Based on my new rating system,
00:18:31
Speaker
i don't I don't want to say that the characters weren't well developed because a couple were, but there were so many names kind of in and out that were not developed enough for me to remember who they were half the time. That it took me a bit. And I had to go back and forth on a few things.
00:18:51
Speaker
The vibes were kind of there. The setting. Shifted a lot. And wasn't necessarily a part. Of the story. I mean kind of but not really. So I didn't necessarily feel like I was in it. I was listening to it. That was. I like stories that are a little more immersive. Personally.
00:19:11
Speaker
The plot was plotting though. The plot was plotting. And. So yeah, three femurs for me, it was, i'm glad I read it, but I was just angry the whole time.
00:19:24
Speaker
Again, i listen seriously, when I say I've never hated, this is not a man-hating podcast. It's not. And I'm generally speaking not an entire man-hater, but this book made me really just rage against men in general.
00:19:39
Speaker
um I lumped every man together as Frankenstein and as his creature and as the narrator whose name i don't even freaking remember because he's not really important.
00:19:51
Speaker
ah all of All of these men suck and I hated them and they were they are doing a disservice to any good man out there. And I know not all men or whatever, but in this moment in my life, it's all men. And these three men are particularly good examples of why I hate them all.
00:20:10
Speaker
That's all. that's my god Three men that I hate. That's what I rate this book. Okay. Okay. I got it. Also, I love that we know exactly what it means by the plot was plotting. The plot was plotting. Okay.
00:20:25
Speaker
All right. Lindsay, what about you? ah So I gave this one three and a half reanimations. Okay. So surprise, surprise, I'm giving another classic a three and a half rating. Surprise. I sense a theme. at least I'm consistent, I guess. Well, I didn't persuasion. I'm sorry, persuasion.
00:20:46
Speaker
Yeah. ah But out of all the classics that we've read so far, I think I liked this one the most. Okay. And this one was actually a little bit easier for me to follow, but it was probably because not everyone had the same name.
00:21:02
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. We have like eight Catherines in this one story. That's fair. That makes sense. Yeah, that's fair. I do love a book where each character has their own name. That is nice. It's been a while. Yeah.
00:21:16
Speaker
Yeah. ah So I gave this four Victor meltdowns. I... Gotta go with Crystal on there. No, I almost rated mine meltdown, like three meltdown naps.
00:21:33
Speaker
Yeah. Because he always goes to bed every time. Yeah. Like traumatized over something. Every time something goes wrong, he goes to sleep. Honestly, I i kind of feel that though. I get that. Yeah. i really...
00:21:47
Speaker
love how this book made me think. It made me think deeper than a surface level of the story. made me think deeper than the plot.
00:22:00
Speaker
I don't know if it's because i I don't normally deep dive into the author before I read it. i usually do that after.
00:22:10
Speaker
But I think because I did that before, it had a different effect on me in my reading experience. And I kind of like felt like I saw Mary Shelley's life writing it, if that makes sense.
00:22:29
Speaker
And what she was currently, where her current life was at that moment as she was writing it. And all the references to specific things that I felt like she may have been going through.
00:22:43
Speaker
at that current moment and in her life. And i I don't know, I just like, it felt very deeply emotional to me. And this isn't like a super entertaining story, in my opinion. It's not like full of drama or anything. um But there's like a lot of darkness in it.
00:23:01
Speaker
And a lot of references to about creating life. And it just like had me in my feels. And that's just like, I don't know. It just like emotionally affected me in that way.
00:23:12
Speaker
But not of not like a five material though. Like a five is just like, I cannot stop thinking about this. Like I'm obsessed. But it was it was like a solid four for me.
00:23:23
Speaker
I'm not going to lie. I just finished reading this this morning. ah kind of rushed in the last like two days to to read it. And I do wonder, is this going to stick with me?
00:23:36
Speaker
down the road you know because some stories they really do if if i fight and i horrible adhd i always wait last minute for everything but sometimes a week after we record these episodes i'm like you know i have another thought you know i'm afraid that that's gonna happen with this one so i get that it does stick with you yeah for sure i kind of want to get into the characters first starting out with k crystal's favorite new character Victor Frankenstein.
First Impressions of Victor Frankenstein
00:24:08
Speaker
Okay. Kind of want to start out with initial impressions of Victor.
00:24:14
Speaker
I hated him right off. Yeah. What are our initial impressions like when we first started the story? So hated him immediately. Lindsay, what about you? i really felt indifferent.
00:24:26
Speaker
i I didn't really have any feelings for him, against him. i was just... more learning about him i was surprised since um like you mentioned earlier i watched the 2025 frankenstein movie so i had that in my head i was picturing that frankenstein and i was surprised that his parents were portrayed very differently very very differently I did not know that about the book.
00:24:58
Speaker
Yes. We'll get into that. I don't want to spoil it too much because that's for next episode, but very differently. That's going to also get into my themes. Like when we talk about the themes. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
00:25:15
Speaker
Yeah, first impressions of Victor. Like, you know, we first meet him where he's like running from something and we don't know what he's running from because he's talking that guy. think I just got his name. Robert Walton. I just looked it up. Yeah.
00:25:31
Speaker
talking to him. He's like, I'm here to tell my story. You know and I mean? And I'm here to tell you my tale. It's another Ellen Dean all over again. It happened 40 years ago. Yeah. So he's trying to tell us his tale of what happened. And so there's like a big complaint, I think, or not necessarily a complaint, observation, I'll say, a difference between The older text and the third edition, so the first edition, third edition, is that the language and the modifications that are made kind of makes Victor a little different.
00:26:16
Speaker
Where people say that... In the older text, Victor appears to be driven by just in general his selfish actions.
00:26:27
Speaker
Just like him wanting like some type of glory, I guess. But in the text that Crystal and I read, people think that he is more just driven by destiny. There's like some other force that is like pushing him to do what he is doing.
00:26:47
Speaker
And I don't really sense that personally while reading this. Like he claimed, I think it's, so he's claiming it's destiny that is pushing him to do these things.
00:27:02
Speaker
In my personal opinion, I feel like it's like an excuse. And I'm curious what you guys think. Lindsay, how did you feel about like in that? Did you feel like it was just like being pushed by his selfish actions? or he was He was very arrogant. Yeah.
00:27:21
Speaker
It was very selfish. He had just this lack of humanity. At least that's how it ended up feeling. Like It's tough to explain.
00:27:39
Speaker
um i didn't realize there was a difference in the like there was such a difference in the language between the two. that It's not supposed to be. i think people just are.
00:27:49
Speaker
I think people look for. Yeah. It's supposed to be very minor, but their interpretations are different between the two. What about you, Crystal? What do you think? I mean, i read the third edition and I feel very much that he was selfish.
00:28:06
Speaker
it Like through the whole thing, not only is he driven to create this creature to prove that he is the smartest, the best, the you know, great. And like doesn't share this information. Right. So here he is.
00:28:24
Speaker
He's this scientist. He's studying with these other famous scientists. He's super excited to learn from them. And he discovers something. He doesn't share that with them.
00:28:37
Speaker
He doesn't share his discovery, his finding with these other fellow scientists. He wants to keep that for himself. He wants to prove it himself. He wants to do something that nobody's ever done before.
00:28:50
Speaker
You know, it's very selfish, entitled kind of thing. He wants to learn off the backs of all these other people and all this other research, but he's not willing to share his own. Mm hmm.
00:29:02
Speaker
And that's before we did even after he creates the creature, which I was shocked that he creates this this creature so early in the book. I don't know why I thought that there would be a longer process, but it's really fast.
00:29:17
Speaker
Yeah, it's very, like, in the beginning of the book. Most of the book is, like, him being, like, traumatized by what he did from his own actions.
00:29:29
Speaker
Oh, yeah the consequences of my actions. Yeah, exactly. hey And this is why I hated him, because it's all... Oh, look, the consequences of my actions. Pity me for having to face the consequences of my actions. Woe is me. I am the most miserable wretch that ever walked the earth because I'm facing the consequences of my own actions. Forget all the people that just died because of your actions.
00:29:54
Speaker
yeah Forget all the people that are mourning their lost loved ones because of your actions or their burnt up house because of your actions. It's you. You should feel bad for it. I hate that guy so much. sorry Did your opinion change from at all? like No. Even just a little bit from beginning to end of the book?
00:30:13
Speaker
No. At the end of the book, I hated him more. I have flags of examples of where I thought he was being the worst human being on the face of the planet. And i wish, i like, we talked about this in in your one of your last episodes, Lindsay, about, like, redemption.
00:30:32
Speaker
The possibility of redemption. I was like, he doesn't deserve redemption. Like, I was at the end of this book screaming about how much I hated this man. It was, i like I had to call my daughter and tell her, did you read this book yet? Have you read this book yet? How do you feel about this man? Because I hate this man. And she was like, I get it, mom, shut up.
00:30:50
Speaker
If you're watching the YouTube video, I don't know if you can see this, but I literally underlined this part. And this is where Justine is getting um accused of the creature murdering his youngest brother.
00:31:07
Speaker
And he says, the tortures of the accused did not equal mine. Victor says this. I underline that and I call him a bitch.
00:31:19
Speaker
I wrote it right next to it. Yeah. I was yeah live dead livid, livid. I couldn't believe my eyeballs. I have it towards the end when he's being accused of killing his buddy Kerwin. And he's gone into another one of his trauma naps.
00:31:39
Speaker
And then he mom wakes up in the jail cell. No one was near me who soothed me with the gentle voice of love. No dear hand supported me. you you i mean, you might not have been the one who killed him, but boy, Holly, it's your fault. Like, come on.
00:31:55
Speaker
yeah. Weiner. Yeah. i hate that guy so much. Lindsay, what about you? Did your opinion of him change at all? Like from beginning to end? Did it worsen? Did it get better?
00:32:05
Speaker
it definitely worsened. Yeah. Because in the beginning when he's younger, he seems so young and happy and innocent. And yeah, then he becomes arrogant and...
00:32:21
Speaker
selfish and terrible and like dude just speak up just speak up just speak up yeah this is also he makes the i pulled up a timeline because i was like i feel like this is a long time but maybe it's not but no it was a long time he creates the monster in november of 1792 but he but then the monster like disappears right he he goes back the monster's gone And then he doesn't really seem to care about it again at all until May of 1794, over a year and a half later.
00:33:02
Speaker
So what you you didn't stop to think, like, where'd I put my monster? Where'd my monster go? not No, you didn't you just were like, solve probably solved itself. I'm going carry on with my life. Yep.
00:33:18
Speaker
I hate this guy so much. Out of sight, out of mind. swear to god Yep. So moving on to the creature, ah what was your first impressions of the creature?
Initial Thoughts on the Creature
00:33:33
Speaker
Lindsay, what about you? ah just kept thinking Jacob Elordi and I felt really bad for him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What about you, Crystal?
00:33:45
Speaker
I would like to say i have never seen a single Frankenstein movie. So I don't have, like I have like the, like the Munsters, the uncle from the Munsters, you know, I've seen, but for the most part, I don't really have a picture in my head of what this dude looks like.
00:34:02
Speaker
who So right off the bat, I was just like, okay, he's eight feet tall. And then like, Frankenstein talks a lot about how he made the body in proportion to eight feet and sourcing the parts to make sure that all of the proportions were correct.
00:34:23
Speaker
um And so I'm trying to like just picture giant like eight foot. regular shaped proportioned dude. And honestly, I just felt bad. i just felt really bad because his, like you, you come into existence and your first experience is this man screaming and running out of the room and then you're on your own.
00:34:46
Speaker
Yeah. I, I don't know any creature that, you know, any sentient creature that could withstand that. So I felt bad for him.
00:34:59
Speaker
from yeah from the get i think it's interesting um he like described uh frankenstein describes it as like beautiful like he makes this like most beautiful creature and it's like the second it like wakes up it opens its eyes and becomes alive like it's so beautiful when it doesn't basically exist or have It's not alive. It's like beautiful and perfect. And then the second it opens its eyes and is alive, it's terrifying. It's disgusting.
00:35:34
Speaker
I'm running away. i don't want anything to do with it. Remind me of that you said that when we get to themes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm curious how your reactions to the creature changed throughout the story.
Evolving Perceptions of the Creature
00:35:53
Speaker
Lindsay, what about you? I still just felt bad for the creature. get that he does murder quite a few people. But i I remember reading the part where Victor Frankenstein gets the letter from his father about his younger brother being murdered. So he leaves and goes to Geneva. And on his way there, he sees the creature and immediately knows. He's like, oh, the creature killed my brother. I know it.
00:36:22
Speaker
And, you know, I didn't really know anything about the story. I was like, how dare you? Yeah. yeah i took the same brain And yeah, well, then he did. He admitted that he did. Yeah. And then he framed the girl and I was like, come on, man.
00:36:37
Speaker
Yeah. Creature. yeah Immediately i was like, not my creature. then it was him. was like, oh. Yeah. yeaha Yeah. What about you, Crystal?
00:36:48
Speaker
I mean, honestly, I was just empathetic towards him the whole time. i just really, I just, I get it. I get that anger. i get, i i I don't know that I could ever bring myself to kill children and frame innocent people for it. But i also just really get that anger, those, you know, feelings of abandonment and and then trying your best, like literally trying your best.
00:37:16
Speaker
And it reminded me of, I might cry, shit. It reminded me of the wild robot, right? Roz the robot shows up on this island. She's different. She's weird. No one accepts her. So what does she do? She sits back. She waits. She watches. And she learns.
00:37:33
Speaker
And she teaches herself the language. And she looks at how people or the animals on the island survive and how they live. Roz was accepted. Roz was accepted.
00:37:46
Speaker
Roz helped the the the creatures around her and they accepted her. Well, the creature does the same thing. He sits, he waits, he watches, he learns, he helps.
00:37:57
Speaker
And they still rejected him. And that just hurt me inside. I cried. I literally cried at my heart. yes That just made me just, it just hurt.
00:38:10
Speaker
It was so sad. Yeah. I just felt bad for him the whole time. Yeah. I i think. Ling's not good. yeah Felt bad. Yeah. i I got really emotional at those parts too. And I think like, I don't know if Mary Shelley does this on purpose, but there's like, there's so many references of, you know,
00:38:33
Speaker
like birthing and like birth and creating life and things like that and I almost like when talking when the creature is like talking and talking about his creator and things like that like it almost like brings out as a reader like a like what am I trying to say like almost like a parent role feeling that comes out of you towards the creature.
00:39:05
Speaker
And i assume that she's doing that on purpose as a writer, but like, it's like you literally can't help for it to come out. And it's like, all these things can be avoided by doing specific things to help people.
00:39:24
Speaker
This creature, all of this could have been avoided. And honestly, something else I think about going back to Victor, I think also is a little bit of Percy Coded.
00:39:41
Speaker
Absolutely. little Percy coated in there. i'm not going to lie. But also I think that Victor and the creature, the way that they speak are very similar and how they recall their actions and where they have, they both feel so much remorse and they both feel so much misery.
00:39:58
Speaker
But the difference is that the creature blames himself. He continuously blames himself for the bad things that he does But I feel like Victor constantly blames everyone else, like the higher power, the destiny that put him here.
00:40:13
Speaker
Yep. You know, like he feels remorse. He feels the misery of being in the situation. But it's like because of the destiny that made him want to create this thing.
00:40:28
Speaker
destiny pushed him here and he never feels like the full responsibility of his actions. When the creature constantly feels the heaviness and the guilt of his actions.
00:40:43
Speaker
But like both characters are driven to madness in the same way at the end, but one due to the way they were treated and the other, because I think he's being
Theme of Responsibility in Frankenstein
00:40:56
Speaker
punished. Right.
00:40:57
Speaker
By what he's done. So I do think that's interesting, but going, let's get into the themes. What are some themes that stood out to you or affected you the most? What about you, Crystal?
00:41:11
Speaker
It's the parenthood. It's yeah the parenthood and the responsibility. It's like you said, Victor was very excited by the idea of creation. He was very excited by the idea of, can I do this? Of, you know, what can I create this beautiful, amazing, fascinating creature And then the minute it's alive, because he he didn't consider what is my responsibility to something that I've created? What is my responsibility to this creation? And legitimately, i feel like this is, and I didn't want to get into it too much earlier because I didn't want to, I wanted to have this discussion. This is Mary Shelley's life in this book is making the babies is fun
00:41:58
Speaker
But then what happens when the baby's sickly, when the baby's not doing well, when the child doesn't work? Where's my husband? He helped create this. Percy Shelley did not get custody of his two previous children when his first wife died because he was declared an unfit parent.
00:42:19
Speaker
You know, he was not a good father. And Mary Shelley was left to deal with her pregnancies, the miscarriages, the you know children dying, the early premature births, and then even the surviving children, she was left to deal with that.
00:42:39
Speaker
She helped Claire and Claire's pregnancies and the men who left Claire to deal with children alone. and And that is what Victor Frankenstein does. He gets super excited about the idea of like, yeah, let's have a baby. Let's create a creature, you know, and then suddenly it's real and there's responsibility and work to do.
00:43:06
Speaker
and he realizes, wait, maybe I shouldn't have done this. And he just dips. He just dips. And I think this is why, i because like, like not to get too deep into my own personal life, but I'm a single mom because of a man who dipped.
00:43:19
Speaker
And this book made me so angry from the get that I felt, it's like you said, it does something to you as a mother. i just beat, I raged through this whole book. And then to hear Victor Frankenstein, oh, poor me. Oh, poor me through the whole thing.
00:43:40
Speaker
Oh my, god I'm still raging. I'm still, it's like this thing inside me. I'm so mad about it. Mm-hmm. Because and this this was this particular theme, this this responsibility to the things that we create, the things that we put into the world, the things that we turn out on the rest of society and how our creations affect the rest of society.
00:44:02
Speaker
It's a big deal. Yeah. And it's really well painted in this book, honestly. Like that might bump me up half a femur. Yeah. Half a femur. There you go. There you go.
00:44:15
Speaker
What about you, Lindsay? I just kept thinking of um nature versus nurture ah the whole time. Yes, that's what i was going to say. Yeah. ah Like, even Victor himself and the creature, I just, yeah, that was all I could think about, nature versus nurture.
00:44:31
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's kind of like going off what Crystal is saying. I think it really, the like, I feel like that's what this entire book is, you know? It's this entire message about nature versus nurture,
00:44:44
Speaker
I think it really hit me where it was so freaking ironic. It was so ironic when at that scene when Chris was talking about when he made like the creature comes alive and he dips. He's gone. He's a goner. and Literally leaves his own ha his own place. Yes.
00:45:04
Speaker
And he immediately falls ill. you know like He immediately falls ill because it's just nerves are shot by what he's just done. like he It's not because you know he just a because he abandoned this creed this thing that he created, this human he created.
00:45:24
Speaker
It's all like now he's ill. Like he just can't believe it. His nerves are shot. And he has to be nurtured back to life, back to feeling better by his friend, by Clairvall.
00:45:38
Speaker
Nurtures him, nurtures Frankenstein to feel better after he just abandoned the human he created. Yeah, we're supposed to feel bad for him. Yeah, it was the most ironic thing.
00:45:53
Speaker
I had ever seen. And I was like, oh my God, Mary Shelley, you are so smart. Girl, you are so smart. I got you and I got it immediately. i just like, I love a good monster story because I honestly tend to feel like sympathy towards it. I mean, obviously not like a really crazy, like villain monster, like a really scary one, but like,
00:46:17
Speaker
It's just like I feel like every time I've read something like this, you just like feel a for me personally, I feel like a motherly like affection toward it where it's like, okay, let me help you. Like all of this like could have been avoided. Like I said before, i can see where all went wrong.
00:46:41
Speaker
Where like ah you just literally needed the nurture. The love and acceptance. Exactly. and but like Like in Nimona. She just wanted to be accepted.
00:46:53
Speaker
didn't want to be called a monster. All these tie together. This one doesn't end up in happy ever after. no I do like sometimes think I'm like i i mean I don't know if this is like a hot take or not.
00:47:10
Speaker
But I think like, is it possible, like thinking like scientifically in general, for like someone who wasn't selfish, someone who was more nurturing, like a more nurturing person like Clairvall or whatever, who could be capable of creating this scientific anomaly. Like the scientific anomaly is like insane and crazy And like, can you like also have not be emotionally checked in and do something like this and play quote, play God, basically.
00:47:52
Speaker
i think the people who could do it responsibly wouldn't do it because it's irresponsible. Exactly. You also have to keep in mind, you have to completely ignore your family and friends and isolate yourself.
00:48:08
Speaker
So there's there's a lot to it, apparently. Yep, exactly. Now that we've discussed our thoughts on the book, it's time to dive into the adaptation plan.
Frankenstein Film Adaptations Bracket Challenge
00:48:22
Speaker
So we you are watching 12 film versions, but with a twist. Each movie was chosen for how closely it sticks to the original story.
00:48:35
Speaker
Our goal? To put these direct adaptations head-to-head and crown the best one. As per usual, we split the list.
00:48:46
Speaker
Each of us will be watching four films. But instead of just discussing the differences, we're going to be kind of battling it out to argue which adaptation comes on top if it comes down to it.
00:49:02
Speaker
Because we had to make it even more fun and unpredictable, we randomized our picks with a wheel spin recorded back in November. So stay tuned for very funny reactions to that.
00:49:16
Speaker
We'll break down the full adaptation face off, including our extensive rating system to ensure each film has a shot to win in part one of the battle releasing next week.
00:49:30
Speaker
It's literally going to be insane. It's going to insane. It's going to great. Before we get into our previously recorded material, and if you're listening and not watching on our YouTube video where you can see our fun little wheel, here are the movie titles and their release year as they have similar titles that will be randomized.
00:49:53
Speaker
We have... Frankenstein from 1910, Frankenstein 1931, Curse Frankenstein from 1957, Frankenstein Frankenstein True Story from Terror of Frankenstein from Frankenstein from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein from Frankenstein from 2004, Victor Frankenstein from newest Frankenstein from
00:50:26
Speaker
and our honorary random one frank and weeny These will also be linked in a document in our episode description so you know exactly which adaptations we are referring to. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. As always, please reach out to us on socials linked in the description as we'd love to hear your thoughts on Frankenstein or even your favorite random Mary Shelley facts because I'm always excited to learn more. Don't go anywhere. Stick around for the next segment where we reveal who got which adaptation.
00:51:04
Speaker
Wish us luck. Bye. Bye. We're picking our Frankenstein adaptations for, wait, what season are we on?
00:51:18
Speaker
Season four. We'll be in season four. For our month of Frankenstein and Frankenstein adaptations for our March Madness. Made of Madness. Made of Madness. So, Crystal, you already got your 2025 Frankenstein adaptation because Lindsay and I have already seen it. We're making crystals watch that one.
00:51:41
Speaker
So, she's definitely taking that one. We're picking from 12 adaptations. Yeah. adaptations so So that we have six on each side of the bracket. So next, Lindsay's going to go. She's spinning a wheel so that it's completely random for all of us because so we don't pick random ones for each other.
00:52:02
Speaker
Lindsay, this is your turn. All right. Wheel of Destiny made of madness. Show me what you got. And... I'm doing... scared.
00:52:15
Speaker
Bye-bye! Curse of Frankenstein, 1957. Okay.
00:52:22
Speaker
Curse of Frankenstein, 1957 for Lindsay. All right, for me... you removed it from the wheel, right? I did.
00:52:34
Speaker
Okay. I'm scared. Carrie, you get...
00:52:42
Speaker
ah Dan Curtis's Frankenstein, 1973. Ooh.
00:52:48
Speaker
I have not seen any other adaptation outside of the newest one. I've never seen any. Not a single one, so. So this is to be so fun. I think I've seen couple, maybe. All right, Crystal.
00:53:03
Speaker
Big money, no whammies.
00:53:08
Speaker
Stop. Oh. franken weenie oh yes oh good that'll be one that i can watch with little man good stuff good stuff right lindsey let's see oh terror of frankenstein 1977 terror there you
00:53:31
Speaker
here you go I just know about to get the silent film. i can feel it and I don't want it. I want the silent film. Maybe we can do Tradesies after this. Okay. Alright, Lindsay.
00:53:44
Speaker
What am I getting? Frankenstein 2004. Okay. okay There you go. Alright, come on, silent film.
00:53:54
Speaker
Which I forgot to put it in there. but Wait, we are on me now, right? Mm-hmm. Okay. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, 1994. Ooh.
00:54:07
Speaker
See, I think I've seen that one.
00:54:11
Speaker
probably should have. All right, Lindsay. We're getting down to them. We're getting down. There's only three left, right? I got Victor Frankenstein, 2015. Oh, dang, I wanted that one.
00:54:25
Speaker
but That means the silent movie is you or me, Carrie. I know. I'm so bad. I really want it I really want it. Whose turn is it? Wait. who mind It's mine. It's mine. It's Carrie's turn.
00:54:40
Speaker
Frankenstein 1910. I fucking knew it. I knew it. but I freaking knew it. I knew I was going to get that 1910 one. ah Well, what does that leave me with?
00:54:54
Speaker
No, we still we still have ah several more left. Three more. We should each have four. Okay, okay. Next. Frankenstein, 1992. Okay, so now that's all yours, Crystal. Alrighty.
00:55:12
Speaker
We're down to the last two. Alright, Lindsay. Oh no. What? What do you have? Frankenstein, 1931.
00:55:24
Speaker
Ooh. Wait, what does that leave me with? I can't see the full title unless I spin it. Wait, what's the little last one? Frankenstein.
00:55:37
Speaker
True Story? oh Okay. 1973? Yeah. yeah You got a whole bunch from the 1970s. I didn't ask for this.
00:55:49
Speaker
ah You got like all 1970s. I got two from 1973.
00:55:55
Speaker
Well, what was going on in the 70s that they were so obsessed with Frankenstein? Yeah, there's Frankenstein, True Story 1973, and Frankenstein 1973. I got a 2004, 1910. You know what? i got a two thousand four nineteen ten you know what I'm upset. All right.
00:56:13
Speaker
Crystal got 2025 Frankenstein, Frankenweenie, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein from 1994, Frankenstein from 1992. Lindsay got Curse Frankenstein, 1957, Terror Frankenstein, 1977, and
00:56:28
Speaker
Victor Frankenstein 2015 and Frankenstein Carrie from trade We'll figure it out. my breakstein true story from nineteen seventy three frankenstein two thousand and four and frankenstein nineteen ten i'll trade you i'll trade you we'll figure