The man who challenged god, Frankenstein: Musical Frankenstein review

*This review contains some spoilers.

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is a monumental work in English literature, which has numerous adaptations. Among them, a Korean original musical Frankenstein is notable for strengthening the relationship between Victor Frankenstein and the nameless monster. The original story is a tragedy resulted from Frankenstein’s arrogance and curiosity for creating a life. But in the musical, his motives are both love and pride, therefor adds another feature of a human challenging the power of God.

First, the musical brings Henry, who just had a part comforting Frankenstein who was in shock in the original novel, to the lead role. Frankenstein who has a passion for creating life and Henri Dupre, the only person who understands him, become closer than anyone else. And Frankenstein’s effort to revive Henry after he was framed instead and killed results in a monster. So even though the musical compressed the original story within three hours of running time, the psychological tension between Victor and the monster is intensely presented when they met at the North Pole.

Also, the musical differs from the original story in the first motive of creating life, relating to the death of Victor's mother. In such way, Victor's line “forget the forced morality for a moment” from the musical number "The Only Future," in which he persuades Henry, is touching. Victor just wanted to love his mother and wished her back just like any other kid. However, "forced moral" such as "do not damage a corpse” or "dead cannot be returned" was absent. Whether it is because of the environment of the child who grew up in apathy, or because Victor was different from the birth ("odd child" or "a witch’s son," Geneva citizens say,) is unknown. Anyways the important thing is that Victor became more ostracized and more obsessed with his research in the result.

But Victor's motivation is also arrogance. The first resolution might have been love, but his pride and obsession have finally led him to success. The fact that Victor's childhood story was is not used to persuade Henry, righteous and virtuous person more than anyone, to join in his adventures of creating life proves it. Following are the lyrics of Henry's "In Your Dreams," in which he sings falsely accused instead of Victor:

From your dreaming eyes, I can’t get my eyes off

Strongly caught in Your thought your faith your will You are there

The moments I’ve lived The moment I doubted all Seeing you coming like the sun How miserable was I

Victor Frankenstein is a person with strong faith and will, believing he would succeed for sure.

One of the topics always discussed when we talk about Frankenstein is a warning about humans challenging the power of God. But Frankenstein in the musical shows no arrogance in challenging the power of God. His answer to Henry's question, “Don't you believe in God?" is "I do, but not in the form of blessing, but in the form of curse.” These lines suggest that he moves for the pride as a human, he would accomplish what he desires without morality or God’s disturbance. In a way, Frankenstein is a man of the strongest faith. Only what he believes is not God but himself and science.

Nevertheless, the monster without memories as Henry calls Victor Frankenstein a "man who challenged the God." Henry, who believed in God and morality, overlaps with the monster in this part. The lyrics may have made since Victor is the creator of the monster, and social attention toward Victor is inevitable.

Of course, this doesn't mean that the monster believes in God. The monster just developed a hatred for the creator because of his memories of the creator’s abandonment and his later painful life. He was also encouraged by people around him, as Victor cared for the monster when he first opened his eyes with tender, calling him Henry. Victor may have felt unfair since he turned around from the monster when he had killed Victor’s butler Runge (also a contrast to the original). But the monster's resentment lies in a deeper level. If he would be thrown away like this, why did Victor create him? In the monster’s view, Victor is just a man who challenges and fails to take responsibility for the consequences. The experimental report from Victor's clothing pocket stating only the experiment purpose—creating a life—that the monster was wearing when he ran away hardens the idea. So for the monster, Victor is a challenger, but who ultimately fails with his arrogance. The goal of the experiment was to create life, but the monster didn’t realize that the purpose of creating was to save Henry.

And as an audience, knowing both the position of the monster and Victor makes one sad. I think this is the biggest reason why Frankenstein succeeded. Victor was a man of both arrogance and conviction, but at the end of the day he was just like other humans, and therefore the ultimate motive for all actions was love. However, since the method was not based on morality or faith, the result turned into tragedy for him. Henry, who willingly sacrificed himself for Victor's beliefs, on the other hand, becomes the result it and returns in resentment. He is the result of faith and science, but he is more human than anyone else. The lyrics of the number "I'm a Monster," which promises revenge on Victor, tell you this:

Yesterday I dreamed for the first time

In which someone hugged me

Fell asleep burring my face in a warm heart

Why couldn’t I live in the dream

All the monster wanted was not to be lonely, and to be loved by someone. The issue of the creating life from the original novel, the arrogance of Victor in both the original and the musical, and the humane side of the Victor adds up together and make him more complex character. That's what makes the finale of the musical so interesting.

Unlike the original story, the musical ends with Frankenstein killing the monster when they met at the North Pole. However, this isn’t Frankenstein’s victory. Since his leg is wounded, it is almost impossible for him to get out of the North Pole. Frankenstein’s reaction to the situation is quite interesting. He gazes at the defeated monster and sings the last number “I Am Frankenstein.” Here are some lyrics:

Curse me rather

I fought against the God

I am I am

Frankenstein

He called the monster Henry, seeing him as a friend, but he defined himself as a man who challenged the God in the end.

The performance that I watched was particularly impressive as the actors added details that they did not have on the script. The monster calls Victor "my friend" just before he dies and make the last words, "This is my revenge." And Victor cries out his words, “my friend” before singing "Frankenstein." So the last scene reveals Victor's two motives, both love, and arrogance.

While mass media usually focuses on the monster, the musical seems to concentrate on Frankenstein. He is a human who can love someone, and an arrogant person with faith in himself and challenges the God at the same time. The word “Frankenstein” seems to explain all of these at once.

- Stella