Frankenstein: Challenging My Expectations

I don't think that there is a single horror icon more widely recognized or more often re-imagined than Frankenstein's monster.  He's presented many ways in popular culture, but he is most often portrayed as a sickly creature barely held together by the efforts of Doctor Frankenstein.  The creature is even shown with other obvious imperfections, such as bolts sticking out of skin, or deep seams in his skin where patches weave over and around one another to cover his muscle.  Needless to say, the expectation of being presented with a monster - though preemptively set aside - was not realized.  The creature of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is far different from what most would imagine.

The irony doesn't escape me that Frankenstein's own expectations went unrealized when he created the creature.  While the audience might expect the creature to be violent, however, Frankenstein expects to be awestruck by the creature's beauty.  The audience instead finds a creature more good-natured than most of the people confronting him.  Frankenstein, however, becomes appalled by the very existence of what he has created, however amiable the creature attempts to be to him.  The audience is in a position where they must ask Frankenstein why he does what he does, and the very nature of the creature forces the audience to wonder why he is so completely ostracized from society.

Frankenstein created the creature because he wanted to prove that he could create life, and he endeavored for years to create something beautiful.  Only when he finished it did he fully weigh the consequences of his decision.  Rather than observing beauty in the creature, Frankenstein observed only his own foolishness and felt that the creature held as much beauty as one would expect from dead flesh.

As the audience, we are more likely to view the creature with some form of sympathy and understanding than Frankenstein.  This is primarily due to our previous expectations; we expected a monster, and we were shown a misunderstood creature trying to find his purpose.  Frankenstein expected to create beauty, but he ultimately viewed his creation as disgusting and worthless, especially considering some of the creature's actions.  These differing points show that all of our experiences are ultimately shaped by what we expected from them.