Another of the biggest differences between the novel Frakenstein and the movie adaptations is, to a certain extent, the collateral damage caused by the drama between Frankenstein and his creation. In Volume III we see the death of Elizabeth, Frankenstein’s father, Clerval, the destruction of the Monster’s Bride and eventually the death of Frankenstein himself and the Monster. This sequence of events always brings to mind Hamlet in the near poetic way in which every major character, sooner or later, snuffs it.
This sense of building tragedy and death is helped along by the distinct pacing of Volume III. The split of the story into Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein in the Borris Carlof movies makes perfect sense with the pace of the novel itself. Building up to the creation of the Monster is practically a story in and of itself, followed by a second very tragic story that immediately follows it. Having already doomed himself Frankenstein goes on to doom those closest to him. In this way the pacing of the novel follows two distinct story arcs, each centered around the creation of a Monster, the events leading to the work and then the repercussions of that act, or in the second arc the repercussions of abandoning that act.
Now I’m trying to figure out some witty or original way to build on that observation but I’m rather Shakespeared out these days so I think I’ll just leave it with asking how others view the deaths filling Volume III of the story?