Frankenstein's Monster?

Question

What did Mary Shelly imagine the monster looked like? Was it like in the film or....different?

Answer 1

grotesque, oversized, and his skin was thin and kinda see through he was made of patches of part of different people

Answer 2

Nothing like the Boris Karloff monster.

He was very tall (nine feet) strong, fast, and limber -- moved like the wind.  Not the slow-moving movie monster.

Answer 3

You should really read it--it's one of my favorite books, ever.

But, yes, the monster that terrified filmgoers was quite different from what Mary Shelley describes. What the film got right was that the monster is of gigantic proportions, and incredibly, almost supernaturally ugly. The film, and subsequent re-makes and spoofs (like Mel Brooks' 'Young Frankenstein') seem to imply that the monster is composed of one body that is reanimated with a different brain. Actually, the monster is constructed of all sorts of different body parts, that presumably come from all over the place. It's kind of like a patchwork quilt of body parts. Also, contrary to popular belief, the monster can talk, and quite elegantly--not just with grunts. He learns much of what he knows about people from 'Paradise Lost' and several other books he finds. Mary Shelley does try, almost pointedly, to not describe the monster's hideousness in too much detail, though, instead allowing the reader to imagine how it might look.  

Answer 4

He was ugly, very ugly. He most likely looked like Peter Jackson's orcs than anything else. He was tall, and quick enough to dodge Victor's blows. The elements did not affect him which suggests that his skin was rough and perhaps thick like a rhinoceros.  

Answer 5

It's been a while since I read it, but from what I remember she described him as pale, not green. Glazed-over, dead-looking eyes. No bolts.

I don't recall her going into a lot of physical description, but more leaving it to the reader to imagine what he looked like based on other characters' reactions to him.