Joe Devine

Mrs. Carters Class

AP Literature
December 11, 2014
Defense of Frankenstein Soundtrack
Frankenstein by Mary shelly is one of the most well-known horror novels of
all time. Yet something that goes sometimes unnoticed in the gruesome tale is the
use of irony that Shelly uses to describe not only the monster, but also his
surroundings the people he comes into contact as well. In the making of this
soundtrack, the songs picked helped display the irony that Shelly hoped to convey in
her novel.
The first song that conveys good irony is Alive by Kid Cudi. They song fits
perfectly to the part in the book where Frankenstein blasts the monster with
electricityandheactuallybecomesalive.HowcanIdescribemyemotions...straight
blacklips.(Shelly58-59)ThisplaysalongperfectlytothelyricinAliveThere's
something going wrong with me, I am changing rapidly, I'm feeling stronger, more
alert, I'm on the move. Both quotes describe how the something comes to life and
beginstolive.Theironyliesinthefactthatthemonsterwhoisnowalive,alertand
onthemoveismadeupofcompletelydeadpartsandhasnolivingbodypart.
The next song chosen was Lover, Lover by Jerrod Neimann. This song was
meant to illustrate the love lost between Victor and the monster. In the song the
lyricLover,Lover,youdonttreatmenogoodnomorerelatestowhenVictorsays
yetyoumycreatordetestmeannihilation of one of us. (Shelly 113) They tie in

because Victor, at one time, loved his creation, yet now once he has finally created
him, he detests him, much like in the song which talks about a scorned lover. The
great irony also lies within the fact that Victor and the Monster are exactly like a
couple who have split up and are still bitter about it. That irony plays in perfectly
withNeimannssong.
FinallytheverylastsongchosenwasCantSmileWithoutYoubyBarry
Manilow. This love song was placed with one of the very ending scenes where the
monsteradmitsthathecouldntdieuntilVictorhimselfhad died. The monster says
thatheisanabortionandthatnowVictorisdeadhecanleaveanddieinpeace.
This song was chosen because of the irony that followed throughout the story of the
tumultuousrelationshipbetweenVictorandthemonster.Whenthingswheregoing
bad it seemed like they had nothing but pure hatred for one another, yet looking
closely it is clear by the end of the book that the only thing keeping each other alive
was the other. The monster truly did love Victor and Victor did love his creation, so
whenVictordiddiethemonster,couldntsmilewithouthimandwasreadyto
disappear from the face of the planet.
While Frankenstein the novel is clearly a gruesome horror story in which a
creatorandhiscreationareatwar,thegreaterironyoftheirrelationshipaslovers
can be played on by many songs and is captured in the songs chosen to display the
certain moments from the book.

Works Cited
1.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. ed. J. Paul Hunter. New
York: W. W. Norton, 1996

2.

Cudi, Kid. Alive (Nightmare). Universal Motown Records, 2009. CD.

3.

Neimann, Jerrod. Lover, Lover. Sea Gayle, 2010. CD.

4.

Manilow, Barry. Can't Smile Without You. Arista/Legacy,

2005. CD.