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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest&nbsp; 85555" data-source="post: 9342695">To be clear here, I am not against reimagining art, building on what an author has done or changing things in new versions. I just think Mary Shelley's intent is more valid than my subjective thoughts about Frankenstein in terms of its meaning. But I still love the Boris Karloff monster in Frankenstein from Universal in the 30s (and Bride of Frankenstein remains my favorite film version of the book). Also there are three editions of Frankenstein I believe, and I recall the 1818 version is different in key ways from the 1831 version (so there is also that when it comes to what themes get emphasized in an interpretation). I like 1818 better personally. So I am also not saying the writer has final say. My meaning is I am interested in the meaning the writer invested at the time of writing (so in the case of Frankenstein I would distinguish between editions in that respect and say those are in a way different books, reflecting her at different times in her life). And I am not saying other meanings can't exist. I just think if we are weighing what matters, to me the original intent of a work is incredibly important for us to try to decipher and I feel it outweighs ideas or meaning I may find (which I can still do, I just see it as an unintended meaning----which I would say is lesser than the intended)</blockquote>