Why Frankenstein’s Ending Makes People So Angry (And Why They’re Wrong)

This article contains spoilers for “Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro”.

Guillermo del Toro’s film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is, perhaps curiously, shifted in time from the events of the original novel. Shelley’s book was written as part of a friendly horror story competition between Shelley, her husband Percy, their friend Lord Byron and a mutual viewer, John Polidori, in 1816. “Frankenstein” was published in 1818, marking what many consider the first modern science fiction story.

Del Toro’s film, however, takes place primarily in the 1850s, a few years after Mary’s death. Percy, for the record, died in 1822, Byron in 1824, and Polidori in 1821. Del Toro’s film probably included this time shift simply to include a scene in which the monster (Jacob Elordi) taught himself to read by delving into the complete works of Percy Shelley. It might have been a little too precious to include a scene of the monster reading Mary’s own works, so del Toro did the next best thing. Of course, the time shift and inclusion of Percy Shelley in the dialogue imply that “Frankenstein” takes place in a world where “Frankenstein” has already been written. You would think that Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) would have been a little more careful in his creation of horseman monsters, since “The Modern Prometheus” was available for purchase.

“Frankenstein” also ends with an on-screen quote from Lord Byron, leading some critics to grimace in disapproval. Why include a quote from Byron – Mary’s husband’s friend – rather than from Mary Shelley herself? “Frankenstein,” after all, was his story, not Byron’s. Of course, when we begin to examine Byron in relation to the characters in “Frankenstein,” the quote makes perfect sense.

After all, Mary could have modeled the vain and self-centered Dr. Frankenstein after the brooding and obnoxious Byron anyway.

Some viewers were really incensed by the exclusion of a quote from Mary Shelley at the end of “Frankenstein” that they had “fixed” the film online with fan edits and the magic of Photoshop.

Byron is something of a notorious figure for poetry lovers. The term “Byronic,” after all, tends to refer (pejoratively) to a specific type of sad, self-pitying boy, who sometimes even uses his sadness to attract women. And indeed, Del Toro’s Monster could be interpreted as a sad boy of this caliber. The monster is tall and handsome, played by the unbearably handsome Jacob Elordi, the 6’5″ studmuffin from “Saltburn” and “Euphoria.” He’s full of childlike curiosity, loves animals and poetry, but he’ll scare you if you threaten him. He’s sensitive enough to cry. He’s a monster who wouldn’t look out of place holding an espresso and wearing a cable sweater while flipping through the philosophy section of books from Powell. Maybe the monster is Byron.

A more apt comparison, however, would be to compare Byron to Victor Frankenstein. “Byronic” also implies that someone is childish and vain, which Victor certainly is. Del Toro portrays Frankenstein as disconnected from humanity, an abused victim whose unexamined daddy issues and inability to grieve death have left him full of ambition, cold determination, and an unguided moral compass. He falls in love in “Frankenstein,” but he is unable to approach Elizabeth (Mia Goth) with anything resembling sensitivity.

Del Toro could have imagined a scenario in which Mary looked at Lord Byron and saw someone very similar. Someone whose sensitivity was an affect. As such, del Toro included a quote from Byron in “Frankenstein”, as it served as a direct inspiration for the film’s moral of caution.

The quote, as it appears in “Frankenstein”, is: “The heart will break and yet it will live on broken.” This, of course, can be attributed to both Frankenstein and the Monster. The quote comes from “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage: A Romaunt,” a long narrative poem that Byron published in segments from 1812 to 1818. In the poem, the titular hero, Harold, tires of his life of luxury and decides to find himself by taking an extended sojourn through Europe. Harold is at once dazzled by the beauty of the continent, horrified by the wars that have ravaged the landscape, and melancholy about the lost glories of the past. If you’re an aspiring Gothic sad boy, “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” is a seminal text.

There is no doubt that Mary Shelley had read “Pilgrimage” before that fateful night in which she entered the famous horror story competition. In fact, most people did. The poem was a success and perpetuated the literary archetype of the Byronic hero. It’s entirely possible that Byron’s poem – both self-centered and utterly beautiful – was one of the main inspirations for “Frankenstein.” Mary, tasked with writing a horror story, may have looked directly to Byron’s poem as a source…perhaps even to satirize.

Del Toro’s film is therefore actually shot from Mary Shelley’s point of view. Del Toro didn’t quote Mary Shelley at the end because she was sort of the director’s co-narrator for the film. He wasn’t ignoring Shelley or trying to declare that Byron was more important than her. He was trying to put the audience in his mind. She was educated and rubbed shoulders with the best and most insufferable poets of her generation. And she wrote one of the most famous stories of all time. It is appropriate to include the object of Mary’s mockery in this equation.