The Role of Minor Characters in the Early Adaptations of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

ČOUPKOVÁ, Eva. The Role of Minor Characters in the Early Adaptations of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. In International Bicentenary Conference Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein, Universita di Venezia Ca’ Foscari. 2018.

Základní údaje

Originální název

The Role of Minor Characters in the Early Adaptations of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Autoři

ČOUPKOVÁ, Eva (203 Česká republika, garant, domácí)

Vydání

International Bicentenary Conference Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein, Universita di Venezia Ca’ Foscari, 2018

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Další údaje

Jazyk

angličtina

Typ výsledku

Prezentace na konferencích

Obor

60200 6.2 Languages and Literature

Stát vydavatele

Itálie

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Odkazy

URL

Kód RIV

RIV/00216224:14640/18:00102369

Organizační jednotka

Centrum jazykového vzdělávání

Klíčová slova anglicky

Frankenstein; adaptations; minor characters; monster; Gothic

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Anotace

V originále

The paper discusses the early adaptations of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for the nineteenth century stage. These adaptations modified the original story and introduced a number of minor characters that do not appear in Shelley’s novel. Shortly after its publication, Frankenstein inspired a row of dramatizations, starting with R. B. Peake’s melodrama Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein (1823), followed by a number of more or less successful works. As some critics believe, these adaptations shaped the perception and popular conceptions of the work. The minor comic characters, most importantly the nervous, cowardly, and talkative laboratory assistant Fritz, contributed to the popularity of these adaptations and played multiple roles in the plot development. Apart from providing comic relief following the tradition of Gothic servants, Sancho Panza or Leporello, Fritz introduces Frankenstein to the audience and provides necessary background information, thus substituting the first-person narrative and descriptions of the setting in the novel. Therefore, the audience sees the decisive moments such as the creation scene through his eyes and accepts his interpretation of events.