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.
THE QUEER FOR FEAR DOCERI ASKS: IS FRANKENSTE A GAY HORROR MOVIE?
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. 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.
A MONSTER BORN OM TWO MEN: THE GAY SUBTEXT OF UNIVERSAL PICTUR’ FRANKENSTE & BRI OF FRANKENSTE
“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).
JAM WHALE: FRANKENSTE’S GAY FATHER
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.