12 days ago I went with Mr Goth and a friend to see the National Theatre performance of Frankenstein, by video link in a reaonably nearby cinema. It was fantastic, the set was brilliantly conceived, the adaptation sensitive and true to the feel of Shelley's novel and the performance extremely good and very moving; both Mr Goth and I had tears in our eyes by the end.
Since then though I've had NMA's Lovesongs well and truly stuck in my head and it's leaving me with questions I'm not sure I want to address. "We all create monsters, Come back for their masters, At prices the devil reclaims, Well it's funny, I never thought I'd be the one who would change."
Have I created monsters, like a Victor Frankenstein of the psyche? Or am I an Elizabeth, destroyed or damaged by the monsters of another's creation? Perhaps I'm even a monster myself, come back to haunt another as evidence of their mistakes.
In truth I think the human condition tends to incorporate all three. Few go through life completely unhurt by those they love, the Elizabeth element. Our loved ones become haunted by guilt or remorse on account of those hurts, the monster element. In turn we may hurt those we love, the Frankenstein element.
Uncomfortable truths. Perhaps not the message Shelley originally intended to convey, but food for thought nonetheless.
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