Shelley & Mel

At this point, everyone has to have at least seen Mel Brooks' masterpiece Young Frankenstein at least once. Since we're looking at its source material, I wanted to talk about a few things it, as well as the movies that came before it did or contributed to the Frankenstein mythos.

The first if Igor. Today, nobody can ever think of Frankenstein without thinking about everyone's favorite hunchback. But why does he even exist? There's no mention of Victor ever having assistance making the monster. In fact, the creepy, subservient hunchback is conspiculously absent in the book. The "Igor" character was originally created for the movie with Boris Karlof and it's numerous sequels, and has since carved himself a niche in Mary Shelley's work. Whether he's serving as Frankenstein's yes-man, betraying him to Dracula in Van Helsing, or serving as the plucky comedy relief in Mel Brooks' famous work, Igor is here to stay, and we can't imagine Frankenstein without him.

Igor's main function is, obivously, Victor's lab assistant. He was possibly created as a means of properly explaining how the doctor acquired the materials needed to create his creature, as it would very difficult to do so. Igor also has a slight bumbling nature, this is to provide a bit of comedy, but is often used to explain just why the monster goes berserk. For instance, in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, EYE-gor attempted to steal the brain of Hans Delbruck for the creature, but is scared by a clash of thunder and his own reflection, causing him to drop it. Not wanting to go back empty handed, he grabs another brain. But when the monster is awakened, it's revealed that the brain is in fact "abnormal" (Abby Normal), and much laughter ensues.

Young Frankenstein also manages to preserve much of the monster's original character. While it does use the infamous "evil brain" plot everyone has grown tired of, it does it in a way that keeps at least some part of the original book. The brain isn't that of a murderer, but is simply "abnormal" (Abby Normal lol), giving the monster the mentality similar to that of a mentally handicapped child based on its struggle learning and trouble speaking. The only time the monster does anything monstrous is when it's provoked, such as when it's exposed to fire or when some insensitive jerk provokes him (as seen when the guard torments the monster with a lighter while he's in prison toward the end.). The monster's attacks are always is response to some outside source, much like how Shelley's becomes a murderer after being treated cruelly. The monster even becomes cultured and articulate like the book monster after the brain transferal procedure.

I could go on and on about Young Frankenstein, but I'll stop here.

William Blake's "Chimney Sweeper"

Here is William Blake's poem "Chimey Sweeper":

When my mother died I was very young,

And my father sold me while yet my tongue

Could scarcely cry ``'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!''

So your chimneys I sweep, & in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,

That curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd: so I said

``Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when you head's bare

You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.''

And so he was quiet, & that very night,

As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight!

That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack,

Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black.

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,

And he open'd the coffins & set them free;

Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run,

And wash in a river, and shine in the Sun.

Then naked & white, all their bags left behind,

They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;

And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,

He'd have God for his father, & never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,

And got with our bags & our brushes to work,

Tho the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm,

So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.

Pretty basic poem right? Divided into stanzas four lines long, ABAB rhyme scheme. It even manages to end on a positive note. Now re-read the last four stanzas again, paying close attention to the second to last one. Basically, an angel is teling little Tom Dacre that if he's good, he'll go to Heaven when he dies. Awwww...wait...

Stop and think about that for moment. The narrator, Tom, and possibly several other children, have been given up by their families for one reason or another and forced to work as chimney sweepers. They're miserable, not surprising as it's a really crappy job with the long hours, working at dangerous heights in cramped, dark, filthy chimneys full of God-knows-what that could give them all kinds of sicknesses. And to top it off, at the time, nobody gave it a second thought!

But here's the kicker: the one positive note of the poem, is that if they "all do their duty" and "be a good boy", they'll go to Heaven when they die. Think about that for a moment, an angel is telling a child that the only good thing they have to look forward to is dying and going to Heaven! That's one step away from telling the kid to kill himself!

To further support this, each half of the poem has a distinctly different tone. The first half is gloomy and depressing. The narrator tells the story of how he was abandoned and left to labor as a chimney sweep, how he and other children were forced to sleep in soot and have their heads shaved, and how Tom dreams of everyone dying and being "lock'd up in coffins black". The second half, however if bright and cheery. An angel releases the sweepers from their confines with a "bright key", and afterwards, they all wash up and "naked and white...rise upon clouds and sport in the wind", ending of course with the angel telling Tom about going to Heaven. The poem also uses a lot of black and white imagery. With the real world being associated with black, grime, and death, much like the titular occupation, and Heaven being assoicated with white, light, and freedom.

So there you have it. What were once hopeful, kind words from a guardian angel are now bleak, depressing, and tragic.

First Post

I am posting this as a test to see if this blog actually works.

This blog is for a class and is already becoming rather frustrating. Hopefully things will get simpler with time, but I'm not holding my breath. In fact I fail to see any merit in this.

But regardless, welcome to the Realms of ENGLIT.