Date of Award
Spring 5-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Renee Hudson
Second Advisor
Ian Barnard
Third Advisor
Joanna Levin
Abstract
This thesis situates the narrative of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley with two contemporary adaptations Get Out (2017) by Jordan Peele and Poor Things (2023) by Yorgos Lanthimos. The original 1818 Frankenstein text is composed of different discourses about race, gender, monstrosity, and what it means to be an abject other. As a text full of critical discourse, it has reached great popular culture legacy and has become adapted numerous times over the past two centuries. This thesis explores and acknowledges instances where the text has been adapted and applied to harmful discourses, such as British Prime Minister George Canning’s use of the narrative in 1824 to argue against the abolishment of slavery. Conversely, the claim of this thesis is that the narrative has carried a cultural relevance and plasticity across multiple generations and is a narrative with powerful allegorical nature for contemporary adaptors to explore and tell empowered narratives of oppressed identities. The concept of abjection explored by Julia Kristeva and the monstrous feminine by Barbara Creed, are two themes found across the horror genre, and they are applied to the contemporary narratives to demonstrate how once harmful ideologies may be subverted to reposition power and deconstruct oppressive hegemonic structures such as white supremacy and the patriarchy. The last two sections of this thesis explore Get Out as a Frankenstein adaptation that centers the Black experience in twenty-first century America, and Poor Things controversial yet important exploration of a female Frankenstein creature finding her personal agency in a patriarchal world.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Penske, Ryan. Her Hideous Progeny: Frankenstein's Legacy, Adaptability, and Contemporary Prominence to Critical Story Telling. 2025. Chapman University, MA Thesis. Chapman University Digital Commons,https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000653
Included in
Other Classics Commons, Other English Language and Literature Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Other Film and Media Studies Commons