Lecture 2/3: Frankenstein: Ballet & Literature - Ballet’s First Homosexual Pas de Deux & Death3/22/2024 *Trigger Warning: 5:28-5:33 (Gun sound & Suicide)* The Creature says, “No sympathy may I ever find. When I first sought it, it was the love of virtue, the feelings of happiness and affection with which my whole being overflowed, that I wished to be participated. But now, that virtue has become to me a shadow, and that happiness and affection are turned into bitter and loathing despair, in what should I seek for sympathy?” (166), just moments before his death. In the novel, the reader is able to solidify the malice and evil that the Creature has committed himself to, sending the reader to view the Creature as the monster that he literally portrays. In reading the novel, the reader does get an understanding of the Creature’s child-likeness, as well as how he is also a victim in this story. However, in the ballet this interpretation is taken to another level… The ballet’s ideology, which is an exact mirror of Scarlett’s ideology, comes clear in the last 6.5 minutes of the entire ballet. While revenge on the Creature’s part happens, it is also shown in relation to his deep regrets and sadness, whereas the Creature’s character in the novel comes across as more strong and resilient in the end, claiming that sympathy is not needed. In this lecture, I discuss these themes stated here, as well as how the movement literally represents Victor and the Creature’s similarities to one another, despite their reciprocal hatred that the novel illustrates, as well as the significance of the last scenes including ballet’s first ever homosexual pas de deux.
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In the ballet, Frankenstein, by Liam Scarlett, the audience is immediately drawn into the process of creating this Creature. The scene that I show in this lecture is the first real glimpse that the audience gets of the Creature as his own character and it truly is the birth of the Creature, as well as the start to a terrible chain of events. There are lots of similarities in the text and the ballet, but what makes this visual representation through dance so powerful is our ability to get a taste of thematic elements and interpretive units of the story handed to us right as the story unfolds, especially from the Creature’s point of view. In the opening scenes, we understand right away that Victor is repulsed by the Creature, saying that, “disgust filled [his] heart” (38). However, what we do not fully grasp until much later is the immediate needs of the Creature following his birth. As are the crucial moments after the birth of a child, the moments following the birth of the Creature are also crucial, however, are easily neglected in Victor’s narration of events in the text. We see the confusion, agony, needs, and longing in the Creature’s reaching out to his creator, which is the first thing he does upon becoming more lucid. In the text, the Creature’s perspective of being born is not as clear as it is in the ballet, as in the ballet, the innocence, naivety, and vulnerability is seen right from the start. In my opinion, the ballet leads the reader to be more sympathetic to the Creature in this beginning scene, leading to less of a focus on Victor’s mental state and panic, and instead, a deeper understanding of the Creature’s youthful characteristics.
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