FROM VISION TO MONSTER: PHANTASIA AND THE LIMITS OF CREATION IN MARY SHELLEY’S 'FRANKENSTEIN' AND ITS MODERN FILM ADAPTATION
FROM VISION TO MONSTER: PHANTASIA AND THE LIMITS OF CREATION IN MARY SHELLEY’S 'FRANKENSTEIN' AND ITS MODERN FILM ADAPTATION

Summary/Abstract: The present article examines Mary Shelley’s 'Frankensteain' or 'The Modern Prometheus' through the philosophical lens of phantasia, tracing how the novel reconfigures the relationship between perception, imagination, and creative power. Drawing on Plato, Aristotle, Husserl, and Marc Richir, the paper argues that Shelley anticipates a modern understanding of phantasy as an autonomous, world-forming force. Victor Frankenstein’s project represents an excessive deformation of reality, in which creative imagination surpasses ethical constraint. By comparing the novel with its modern film adaptation, the article demonstrates how cinema externalizes phantasia through spectacle, montage, and embodiment. Engaging contemporary interpretations that connect Frankenstein to artificial intelligence and robotics, the study ultimately contends that the novel remains relevant: the true horror lies not in the monster, but in the imagination that seeks to create without accountability.

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