The Dangers of Trying to Emulate God

In the beginning of the movie, Mary Shelley already mentioned the issue regarding morality and science, which she wanted to express through her book about the bride of Frankenstein.  She stated that those who tried to imitate God will surely be punished. 

The movie ended with Dr. Frankenstein and the monster’s tragic death. Their sad fate, I think, refers to the “punishment” that Mary Shelley was talking about in the beginning of the movie. Dr. Frankenstein tried to emulate God by experimenting with death. For most people, this act of Dr. Frankenstein is morally wrong because it interferes with death and life, which are things that God supposedly has the sole authority of.  They believe that a person’s time of death is decided by God alone and mere human beings can never control it. This is the same reason why suicide is also considered as morally wrong.

 By creating a “being” such as “The Monster” and the bride, who are made out of dead bodies, it seems like Dr. Frankenstein is trying to overrule what God has already set.  It teaches us that we should not mess with the dead because they should remain dead. As “The Monster” also said in his final moments: “We (referring to him and Dr. Frankenstein) belong dead!”

It is also possible that he was made dumb so that he could really be seen as a monster that was made from dead bodies and in order to differentiate him from a normal human being, who is intelligent and can converse well.  People mostly see a monster as someone who is only good in scaring people. People could not imagine a monster actually being intelligent enough to carry a decent conversation like a human being.  Since he can’t converse well and he couldn’t express effectively what he wants to say, the monster is also easily misunderstood by the people in the film. They all see him as a threat that must be killed. They couldn’t fathom that even as a monster, he may still have feelings or emotions.

The fact that the monster was made dumb also helped to emphasize the moral lesson of the movie: do not emulate God and do not mess with the dead. The monster, who is a creation out of the dead, couldn’t be as intelligent as human beings, and this shows that Frankenstein failed in trying to be like God. It shows that those who attempt to emulate God will never succeed. 

Overall, the movie “The Bride of Frankenstein” showed that one should not completely separate science and morality. At times, both aspects must be present. A scientist like Dr. Frankenstein should consider the morality of his actions, particularly his science experiments. He should know that even with the field of science, there are boundaries, which are set by morality in order to guide him regarding what is wrong or right. 


Bacayo, Jay Anne R.
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