Making A Monster- Revisiting '200 Years of Horror: Northanger Abbey and Frankenstein’
- Delicia Johnson
- 16 hours ago
- 2 min read
Guillermo del Toro’s highly anticipated adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is now the #1 movie on Netflix! To celebrate, we’re revisiting our 2018 symposium ‘ 200 Years of 'Horror': Northanger Abbey and Frankenstein’. This was the first time the Jane Austen Summer Program focused on two novels, exploring their lasting impact on literary culture.
Historian Lloyd Kramer explored horror and its ties to the French Revolution, historical costumer Samantha Bullat discussed gothic fashion, and author John Kessel discussed his novel “Pride and Prometheus,” combining elements of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Shelley’s Frankenstein. Attendees created their own masks during a workshop ahead of the masquerade ball. A rare-book exhibit included editions of both novels, as well as a dress made by UNC costume production graduate students, who imagined what Shelley would have won.
If you missed JASP 2018, never fear! For a crash course on Frankenstein and an overview of past adaptations, you can read the following blog posts: Frankenstein 101, Evolution of a monster: Six views of Frankenstein's creature, The critics' view: 'Frankenstein' adaptations, The thinkers and authors in 'Frankenstein', A conversation with 'Pride and Prometheus' author John Kessel, Jane Austen and Mary Shelley, at a glance; and Five things to know about 'Frankenstein, M.D.' web series. These posts will help you critically analyze del Toro's film in the context of both Shelley's text and previous Frankenstein adaptations, specifically the depiction of the Monster.
You can also watch 'Mary and Her Monsters', written and performed by Whitney Thornberry. This innovative, one-woman theatrical explores the creation of Frankenstein's monster and the life of the author who created him.
If you need a background to the world Mary Shelley inhabited look no further than our context corners: Science, Technology, and Regency Society; 18th Century Masquerades & The People that Hated Them, Dangerous Fiction and the Regency Reader, "Heads and Arms and Legs Enough," or, Childbirth & Child Rearing; and Searching for the Sublime in Regency Culture.
We hope this content provides a fresh perspective on Shelley's text and del Toro's reimagining!
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