Someone who may not be an entirely obv gay in is a monstro amalgamatn of grave-robbed body parts. However, spe his odd origs, Frankenste’s Monster is jt that - an in. Frankenste has fluenced queer art for s, whether he’s starrg art stallatns or spirg some of our favoure cult films like Rocky Horror…
Contents:
- THE GAY LEGACY OF FRANKENSTE
- THE QUEER FOR FEAR DOCERI ASKS: IS FRANKENSTE A GAY HORROR MOVIE?
- A MONSTER BORN OM TWO MEN: THE GAY SUBTEXT OF UNIVERSAL PICTUR’ FRANKENSTE & BRI OF FRANKENSTE
- JAM WHALE: FRANKENSTE’S GAY FATHER
THE GAY LEGACY OF FRANKENSTE
Yet there’s somethg about this story of unhallowed arts that mak darkly ronant for queer artists beyond any other you’re gay and grow up feelg like a hio misf, fully nsc that some believe your sir to be wicked and want to kill you for them, intifyg wh the Monster is hardly a stretch: A misunrstood beast fds solace the solu of the woods, but seems to endlsly face the wrath of the torch-bearg, small-md habants the world beyond. “Frankenste, ” Boris Karloff, 1931, via Everett CollectnHOMOEROTIC SUBTEXT was hntg “Frankenste” way before “Gods and Monsters, ” though: Boris Karloff’s fond nickname for his favore role was “the ar old monster. ” Even the book, the attacks on the Monster spoken by s creator mimic the rabid noise of a trans/homophobic chos: “More hio than belongs to humany” or “some other speci.
Walton is also rarely looked at om a queer perspective, spe the persistent, homoerotic overton of his narrative (which opens and clos Victor’s narrative).
His relatnship wh his Creature is well wrten on, aga, and there is some cril theory that sists he is d as homosexual: his sire to create a child whout heterosexual terurse; his fur vlence towards the Monster has been read as an act of ternalised homophobia; his distert Elizabeth and sistence that she is his “child” and “sister” seem very flat, if heterosexual at all. Charlie Fox’s article ‘Why Frankenste’s Monster Hnts Queer Art’ at Goldhammer‘s ‘The Queer and the Creepy: Homosexual Dire Mary Shelley’s Frankenste‘ at Shultz’s article ‘Explorg the Inherent Queer Unrton of Mary Shelley’s Frankenste‘ at Fern Riddle’s article about Mary Shelley’s own bisexualy at you have accs to JSTOR (so jealo, if you do! However, at the same time, the breaks om the tradns ced a rponse reactn favor of more tradnal social rol other areas, such as the refutatn of male sexual relatnships to the extent that one uld be sentenced to ath for participatg the act of homosexualy.
THE QUEER FOR FEAR DOCERI ASKS: IS FRANKENSTE A GAY HORROR MOVIE?
Rerds show that while there no functng laws agast sodomy per se existed durg Shelley’s wrg of the novel, other laws applied agast exprsns of homosexualy and there a strong adverse public reactn agast homosexualy occurred the early 1800s.
“In 1810, when thirty homosexuals were arrted a raid on the Whe Swan, Vere St., London, those discharged for want of evince were so roughly handled by the crowd as to be danger of their liv” (The Morng Chronicle, 1810). Rather than beg ncerned wh the ‘natural’ orr of the world and the advancement of society, Frankenste, like the homosexual element of Bra, ncerned self wh ‘unnatural’ male love.
A MONSTER BORN OM TWO MEN: THE GAY SUBTEXT OF UNIVERSAL PICTUR’ FRANKENSTE & BRI OF FRANKENSTE
Unnatural as a Metaphor for Homosexualy From the begng of his tn, Victor Frankenste purposefully and tentnally turned his back on the natural world as a way of ncentratg on disverg the secret of brgg life to animate material. Concln While numero readgs are possible of Shelley’s novel, is unniable that one of the many issu she ncerned herself wh was the issue of homosexualy and s effects on society. Invtigatns to her personal life suggt Shelley perhaps also found herself tryg to pe wh homosexual tennci her lover and future hband while ntemplatg the credible dynamics of life and ath havg jt lost one child and the procs of producg another.
It is th not surprisg that she should envisn the product of a homosexual relatnship, s nature, and s effect upon the world, particularly given world events occurrg at that time. Through the character of Victor Frankenste, Shelley vtigat the stctive forc of homosexualy as the product of his passn wanrs the earth search of a ‘normal’ life n never have. More about Frankenste Although hidn wh a discsn of the technologil advanc of science, Shelley clus small tails to help illtrate the homosexual bent of the novel, such as the se of Clerval and Frankenste’s ep attachment to this male character and the killg of the female characters as a means of keepg the story uched wh the male sphere.
JAM WHALE: FRANKENSTE’S GAY FATHER
Frankenste has fluenced queer art for s, whether he’s starrg art stallatns or spirg some of our favoure cult films like Rocky Horror Picture Show – the muny has embraced this gay horror in. Two men wishg to create life together is another obv ht at this subtext, as uld be terpreted as two gay men wishg to have a fay and havg to fd an alternative way of achievg this whout the prence of female reproductive ans or adoptn.
The Frankenste films are yet another sualty of ep systemic homophobia that hnted the film dtry and prevented the full embrace of queer subtext, thankfully the films are generally not spoiled by this.