The Bride is a combination of text, myth, and iconography. Because she is a stitched monster but still aesthetically attractive in the texts I discuss, she queers expectations of beauty. These texts can be used to trace the female creature as a cultural representation of the monstrous woman. In some sense, she represents female struggle and also the hope of disruption. Elizabeth Hand’s novel The Bride of Frankenstein: Pandora’s Bride (2007), Frank Henonlotter’s Frankenhooker (1990), and Tyler MacIntyre’s Patchwork (2015) embody the cultural fascination with The Bride and her monstrous feelings. Adaptations of The Bride disrupt the traditional narratives of gender and monstrosity. With James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein (1935) as most people’s reference point for Shelley’s female monster, she has continued to haunt popular culture, and, in turn, has been a site for potential disruption 1. She is never animated in Shelley’s novel, and yet she reflects an integral part of our culture, our idea of monstrosity, and our definition of femininity with her pale face, white streak in the hair, and white bridal shroud. Though many adaptations focus on Frankenstein’s male creature, some of the most interesting adaptations of the novel are those engaged with the female monster, The Bride. Even people who have not read Shelley’s novel have encountered the creature or the mad scientist in some version. New media continues to bring new adaptations not only for theater, film, and television, but also radio, comics, web series, novelizations, and video games” (Adaptations 133). As Lissette Lopez Szwydky argues, “Adaptations, parodies, and other forms of imitation (not the novel) kept the creature alive in the popular imagination in the nineteenth century today the monster is a global icon. Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein (1818), has inspired numerous film, literary, and other forms of adaptations, along with works of pastiche and parody. ‘How could you imagine that fire would kill me? Fire gave me life! Lightning, the fire from heaven the fire of Life itself, the fire of Prometheus, the fire of the gods that Man stole’ (Hand 9) “Frankenbitch”: Adapting Frankenstein’s Female Monster in Literature and Film × Current About Archive Submit Editorial Board Salisbury University
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |