Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein

Frankenstein is a story about abandonment and a misunderstood creature who only wanted love. 

Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley in 1818, was groundbreaking for its time. It was the first science-fiction novel and was also written by a woman, making it more than just a novel, and a depiction of its time. Shelley was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, who is thought to be the founder of feminist philosophy, labelled ‘The Mother of Feminism’ (Stanford, 2025). Frankenstein is considered a piece of feminist literature as Shelley presents a critique of society that rejects the patriarchy (Hillerström, 2019). The novel includes references of other literary texts, such as the Bible seen through ‘Paradise Lost’ written by John Milton and the myth of Prometheus (which is why it is often called the ‘Modern Prometheus’). Frankenstein's Monster reads ‘Paradise Lost’ after being abandoned by Victor Frankenstein, his creator. He finds himself relating to Lucifer, as he was too rejected by his maker, that he saw as a father (Reeves, 2018). Whereas, Prometheus and Victor both crossed boundaries to bring knowledge to humanity (L 2026). They were both greatly punished. The relationship between ‘The Creature’ and his ‘Creator’ has been widely misinterpreted. Their relationship has been adapted in so many different ways, where ‘The Creature’ is portrayed as a monster, which isn’t an accurate description. This story is complex and creative, the more times you read, the more references you understand. 

I may be a hater when I say that no movie is better than the book but I am not wrong when it comes to the 2025 adaptation of Frankenstein. The movie does not have as many references and layers as the novel but it did do an acceptable job at staying some-what true to the original novel. 

Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein had a lot to praise. Though I had originally thought it was a questionable choice for Jacob Elordi to play an ugly monster, seeing him in costume diminished my apprehension. ‘The Creature’ is made up of the most beautiful human and animal parts, making him scary but still unreal. The makeup artistry and costume design was beautifully done and felt realistic to the time period. Del Toro’s version was set in 1857. While other Frankenstein adaptations are set in the early 1900s, he was aiming to achieve an atmosphere that reflected the era of geopolitical tension surrounding the Crimean War and its profitability to the rich (Romero & Dilio, 2025). 

Victor Frankenstein narrates the story of the creation of his ‘monster’. He explains his obsession with creating life happened after a dream caused by the emotional trauma of his mother’s passing. This was similar to how Shelley had the idea for the novel; a dream of bringing a corpse to life. (History Extra, 2021). When Frankenstein’s ‘monster’ was brought to life, Victor was amazed and astonished with what he had accomplished. He had pushed the boundaries of life. Victor teaches him to embrace the sun and walk, just like a Father would. Though soon after, Victor is frustrated at his creation, thinking it lacks intelligence. 

I applaud the acting of Mia Goth, who amazes in everything she does. She plays both Lady Elizabeth and Victor’s mother. As mentioned, the costumes and makeup were well done to the point I had no idea she was also playing Claire Frankenstein. I believe the reasoning of her playing both roles was to show the complex nature of Victor's relationship with death, a rebirth and obsession (Romero, 2025). Elizabeth, the fiance of Victor’s brother, has a complicated relationship with Victor. She starts to show a tenderness towards ‘The Creature’ that his ‘Creator’ becomes jealous of and, as a result, resents him further.

 Elizabeth: “You wounded him like that.” 

Victor: “No, it was the world that hurt him, I gave him life.”

In part 2, ‘The Creature’ tells his story. The story about how he was created just to be abandoned and left unloved. He didn’t ask to be made, nor did he understand why. He talked about being moved by an older man, showing his need and want for a family and love, while Victor’s story was about greed and obsession. ‘The Creature’ reads ‘Paradise Lost’ by John Milton and learns that he is not so different to how that story portrays Lucifer. Who was also neglected by his creator and thrown away, Lucifer’s ‘punishment’ was being sent to ‘Hell’, while ‘The Creature’s’ ‘punishment’ was being lit on fire. 

Guillermo del Toro allowed us to feel for the creature, as Victor tells lies and feeds stories about him, you feel his pain. The atmosphere of the movie felt sorrowful as a creator, a maker, a father tries to kill his own creation. I did not feel as much of an impact from this movie, as I did for the novel. The novel fuelled my hatred of careless fathers bringing someone to life, just to abandon and betray. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein will never be able to replicated as it’s complex nature won’t be able to be translated into a film. 

References

DiLillo, J. and Romero, A. (2025). How Did Guillermo del Toro Make Frankenstein? Inside Guillermo del Toro’s Hand-crafted Epic. https://www.netflix.com/tudum/features/frankenstein-jacob-elordi-makeup-monster-creation. 

Hillerström, M (2019). A Feminist Reading of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. https://kau.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1345359/FULLTEXT01.pdf 

HistoryExtra, (2021). History Extra,  Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: the birth of a gothic monster https://www.historyextra.com/period/georgian/frankenstein-mary-shelley-history-legacy-inspiration-gothic-novel-monster-creature/. 

Romero, A. (2025). Who Plays Frankenstein’s Mom? Mia Goth Explains Elizabeth, Claire Connection.  Netflix Tudum. https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/mia-goth-frankenstein-elizabeth-claire-interview.

Tomaselli, S. (2008). Mary Wollstonecraft (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Stanford.edu. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wollstonecraft/. 

‌Reeves, AJ (2018). The Creature as Satan: In honor of Frankenstein’s 200th anniversary, Miles of Pages, https://milesofpagesblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/23/the-creature-as-satan-in-honor-of-frankensteins-200th-anniversary/#:~:text=The%20creature%20when%20first%20created,and%20vengeance%20upon%20their%20creators. 

‌L, B (2026) A more accurate conflation? The true monstrosity of Victor Frankenstein, Lmu.build, https://frankenstein.honors.lmu.build/modern-science/monstrosity/#:~:text=Like%20the%20titan%20Prometheus%2C%20Victor,fails%20to%20nurture%20his%20creation.