The Reflection of Frankenstein's Desire in The Survival of Henry and Elizabeth:
The Final Scene of James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein
Yukari Higuchi
In the same way as most other horror films, James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein (1935) ends with
the deaths of “the monsters.” The last scene of the film is touching, dramatic,
and tragic, because it looks like the self-sacrificial last moment of
Frankenstein. As Cogner and Welsch pointed out Doctor Praetorius’s
“monstrousness” and “demonic coldness” (253), the demises in the last scene are
of three monsters. If this conclusion of the film were described that all
monsters were conquered and the hero with the heroine escaped and survived, it
would sound like an ordinary happy ending of horror films. However, it is worth
noting that Henry does not defeat the monsters but the one of the monsters
itself does, and the monster lets him go off with Elizabeth. The destruction of
monsters is not supposed to be a monster’s role in a normal sense, for it is
mutual destruction. That is why the ending makes the viewers feel poignant.
The final embrace
of Henry and Elizabeth is “far from a fairytale happy ending” (Cogner, Welsch 253),
nonetheless the sentimental music, which is likely to be used as a cliché of
Hollywood’s happy ending. Their survival is significant, that is to say, it is
more than lucky extrication. Then, it is worth considering the reason why
Frankenstein pulls the lever and sets Henry and Elizabeth free.
In the last three
minutes of the film, Frankenstein meets his bride but he makes her frightened
and scream. By focusing on the cinematography, the low angle shots of him have an
effective influence on his scary and gigantic appearance, and the close-up to
him emphasises his tears just before he places his hand on the lever. The title
of this movie is Bride of Frankenstein;
nevertheless, he is rejected by the bride. As soon as he understands that she
hates him, he decides to bring them deaths, and then he says, “You go. You
live.” to Henry and Elizabeth. This sequence can be interpreted not only as the
separation of living human and dying monsters but also as the repression of
Frankenstein’s desire and its reflection to the two survivors.
According to
Robin Wood, Freudian theses claim that “what is repressed must always strive to
return” (32). This scene visually demonstrates this statement.
Frankenstein cannot fulfil his desire to mate with the bride and he is buried
under the castle; meanwhile, Henry and Elizabeth strive to return alive as a
pair. Frankenstein’s desire is repressed by pulling down the lever and makes
Henry and Elizabeth returned together. Henry is not a hero of this film, because
he does not play the part by killing monsters; but he is an ideal double of
Frankenstein, who gradually gains humanistic features: language and tears.
Works Cited
Conger, Syndy M. & Janice R. Welsch. “The Comic and the
Grotesque in James Whale’s
Frankenstein Films.” Planks of Reason.
Barry Keith Grant & Christopher Sharrett, eds.
Scarecrow Press,
2004. 240-254.
Wood, Robin. & Lippe, Richard. "The American Nightmare."
Essays on the Horror Film. Ed.
Andrew Britton. Toronto,
1979. 25-32.
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