{"id":5976,"date":"2012-11-24T14:46:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-24T19:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=5976"},"modified":"2012-11-24T14:46:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-24T19:46:00","slug":"the-man-is-father-of-the-monster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html","title":{"rendered":"The Man is Father of the Monster"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Careful the tale you tell, that is the spell\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

When I saw the National Theatre\u2019s production of Frankenstein<\/em>, I thought there were two somewhat clich\u00e9 ideas that were lent additional depth in this staging. Previously, I wrote about Frankenstein learning humanity from his possibly inhuman monster<\/a>, but there was also an interesting use of a trope as the creature learned to be a man.<\/p>\n

When the creature confronts Frankenstein\u2019s wife near the end of the show, she marvels at his humanity and his sophistication, but when he lists what Frankenstein has taught him, he quickly moves past language and motor control to list cruelty, shame, and lies. If man is a fallen imagio dei, the creature is a degraded imagio homo. He takes our faults and our sins as the most uniquely human thing about us, and this is the model he chooses to pattern himself on.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen this kind of pessimism before. The new creation is a noble savage<\/a> and contact with poor fallen us inevitably ruins everything. I don\u2019t think the production lends itself to this kind of hackneyed despair. The problem isn\u2019t that the creature met humans, but how<\/em>. In the early parts of the play, he has only two kinds of human contact: he is beaten and despised by every person he meets save one, a blind man who teaches him to read and to speak.<\/p>\n

So, he spends sustained time with one person in the flesh, and thousands in stories. When the family of the blind man rejects him, he isn\u2019t sure what to do, but he reflects on the Roman histories he has read, and decides the appropriate response is revenge, and he burns the house with them inside. His education has a sampling problem; we don\u2019t write about people living quiet lives (of desperation or otherwise). From stories and histories, you learn about titanic acts. The creature may have been made a monster by the romance of extremes.<\/p>\n

My college debate group once stole a topic from Plato\u2019s\u00a0Republic<\/em> and debated \u201cResolved: Throw the Poets out of the City\u201d and I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about which stories we choose to tell since I reviewed Philip Pullman\u2019s\u00a0Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>for\u00a0Fare\u00a0<\/em><\/a>Forward<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(coming out in the next issue). \u00a0The task of curating literature for a creature like Frankenstein or a child-like AI might be a fun short story idea (I\u2019ll stick in the same category as the timetraveling to save epistemology inspired by Bishop Berkeley one<\/a>). \u00a0What are the most important omissions from\u00a0recorded<\/em> human experience?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I saw the National Theatre\u2019s production of Frankenstein, I thought there were two somewhat clich\u00e9 ideas that were lent additional depth in this staging. Previously, I wrote about Frankenstein learning humanity from his possibly inhuman monster, but there was also an interesting use of a trope as the creature learned to be a man. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":5977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-epistemologyphilosophy","category-reviewsrecommendations"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Man is Father of the Monster<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When I saw the National Theatre\u2019s production of Frankenstein, I thought there were two somewhat clich\u00e9 ideas that were lent additional depth in this\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Man is Father of the Monster\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I saw the National Theatre\u2019s production of Frankenstein, I thought there were two somewhat clich\u00e9 ideas that were lent additional depth in this\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Unequally Yoked\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-24T19:46:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/84\/2012\/11\/frankenstein-cumberbatch-makeup.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"936\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1276\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leah Libresco\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html\",\"name\":\"The Man is Father of the Monster\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-24T19:46:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-11-24T19:46:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\"},\"description\":\"When I saw the National Theatre\u2019s production of Frankenstein, I thought there were two somewhat clich\u00e9 ideas that were lent additional depth in this\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Man is Father of the Monster\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/\",\"name\":\"Unequally Yoked\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464\",\"name\":\"Leah Libresco\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Leah Libresco\"},\"description\":\"Leah is the author of Arriving at Amen and Building the Benedict Option. Her further writing can be found at leahlibresco.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/author\/leahlibresco\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Man is Father of the Monster","description":"When I saw the National Theatre\u2019s production of Frankenstein, I thought there were two somewhat clich\u00e9 ideas that were lent additional depth in this","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Man is Father of the Monster","og_description":"When I saw the National Theatre\u2019s production of Frankenstein, I thought there were two somewhat clich\u00e9 ideas that were lent additional depth in this","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html","og_site_name":"Unequally Yoked","article_published_time":"2012-11-24T19:46:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"936","height":"1276","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/84\/2012\/11\/frankenstein-cumberbatch-makeup.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Leah Libresco","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leah Libresco","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html","name":"The Man is Father of the Monster","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-11-24T19:46:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-11-24T19:46:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464"},"description":"When I saw the National Theatre\u2019s production of Frankenstein, I thought there were two somewhat clich\u00e9 ideas that were lent additional depth in this","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/11\/the-man-is-father-of-the-monster.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Man is Father of the Monster"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/","name":"Unequally Yoked","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/17ee17592b35b40040d5f5f7ea5ab464","name":"Leah Libresco","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/20e1e6a3a94c4e7928687804a41d888d?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Leah Libresco"},"description":"Leah is the author of Arriving at Amen and Building the Benedict Option. Her further writing can be found at leahlibresco.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/author\/leahlibresco"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}