Frankenstein as a Non-Epistolary Film Essay examples -- Epistolary Fra

Frankenstein as a Non-Epistolary Film A novel written in the epistolary style is by nature difficult to adapt to film. The director, perhaps already adept at navigating the ragged breakers of length-contraction and visual style, is forced to deal with the additional sandbar presented by a plot format in which no visual action occurs and, more often than not, this difficulty consequently runs the film aground. Kenneth Branagh, in bringing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to the screen as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, succinctly sidesteps this potential pitfall by completely discarding the epistolary format; rather than existing as a lengthy letter penned to Mrs. Saville, the plot is presented as an overheard conversation between Victor and Walton. It is therefore surprising that the problem of epistemology, which is primarily motivated in the novel by its epistolary form, is still present in the film. Whereas Shelley's Frankenstein creates an aura of distrust regarding the veracity of the narratives originally offered through u se of the epistolary form, Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein illustrates the dilemma of epistemology quite differently; by presenting a flashback in which characters could not possibly possess knowledge of the events upon which they act, the viewer is left to wonder at the authenticity of the whole story as depicted in the film. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein addresses the problem of epistemology by creating within the reader a sense of mistrust regarding the narrative. Presented in the epistolary format, each of the successively burrowing narratives is likelier than the preceding to have been altered in some fashion by its myriad raconteurs. Writing to his sister, Mrs. Saville, Walton suggests to his siste... ...egarding the narratives in both texts, the audience concludes that the events did not occur as depicted, and that multiple characters are guilty of fabricating or altering parts of their accounts. Thus, both Shelley and Branagh utilize the problem of epistemology to reflexively opine about the truth of reality in general; using only characters that are not truthful and spin tales about themselves, Shelley and Branagh both suggest the subjective nature of reality. After all, they seem to suggest, what import does the truth carry anyway if nobody cares enough to tell it? Work Cited Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. The Mary Shelley Reader. Ed. Betty T. Bennet & Charles E. Robinson. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. 11-72. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. Perfs. Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro. DVD. Columbia TriStar, 1994. Frankenstein as a Non-Epistolary Film Essay examples -- Epistolary Fra Frankenstein as a Non-Epistolary Film A novel written in the epistolary style is by nature difficult to adapt to film. The director, perhaps already adept at navigating the ragged breakers of length-contraction and visual style, is forced to deal with the additional sandbar presented by a plot format in which no visual action occurs and, more often than not, this difficulty consequently runs the film aground. Kenneth Branagh, in bringing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to the screen as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, succinctly sidesteps this potential pitfall by completely discarding the epistolary format; rather than existing as a lengthy letter penned to Mrs. Saville, the plot is presented as an overheard conversation between Victor and Walton. It is therefore surprising that the problem of epistemology, which is primarily motivated in the novel by its epistolary form, is still present in the film. Whereas Shelley's Frankenstein creates an aura of distrust regarding the veracity of the narratives originally offered through u se of the epistolary form, Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein illustrates the dilemma of epistemology quite differently; by presenting a flashback in which characters could not possibly possess knowledge of the events upon which they act, the viewer is left to wonder at the authenticity of the whole story as depicted in the film. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein addresses the problem of epistemology by creating within the reader a sense of mistrust regarding the narrative. Presented in the epistolary format, each of the successively burrowing narratives is likelier than the preceding to have been altered in some fashion by its myriad raconteurs. Writing to his sister, Mrs. Saville, Walton suggests to his siste... ...egarding the narratives in both texts, the audience concludes that the events did not occur as depicted, and that multiple characters are guilty of fabricating or altering parts of their accounts. Thus, both Shelley and Branagh utilize the problem of epistemology to reflexively opine about the truth of reality in general; using only characters that are not truthful and spin tales about themselves, Shelley and Branagh both suggest the subjective nature of reality. After all, they seem to suggest, what import does the truth carry anyway if nobody cares enough to tell it? Work Cited Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. The Mary Shelley Reader. Ed. Betty T. Bennet & Charles E. Robinson. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. 11-72. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. Perfs. Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro. DVD. Columbia TriStar, 1994.