Maisie Tuckett

• King Midas falls deeply in love with a young woman who is a servant at his Castle. 
• He has been married for 15 years to the Queen and has 3 children
• His love for the young woman is so over powering that he feels he must have her
• One night, the King is awake late in the outside corridors and sees the girl alone in the castle
• So desperate to have her, he runs to her and presses her body against the castle wall and begins to make love to her
• He soon realises that the girl is crying and he becomes outraged that his love for her is not mutual
• In a burst of fury he strangles the young girl to death
• A servant boy witnesses the murder and fails to hide himself from the event
• The boy panics and runs from the King
• Scared that he will be exposed, the King claims that the boy tried to kill him, and orders him to be executed
• A year later, the King is travelling by boat to visit his brother
• On a misty night, the King is alone on the deck and is reminded of the events that happened one year ago and the love he had for the servant girl
• Through the mist, he spies a mild glow from some rocks in the distance
• The king is possessed by the light and moves closer to the edge of the boat
• A beautiful, naked woman with a long fish tail for legs was gently singing on the rocks
• She is crying and as the boat got closer the King could see that it was the young servant girl
• She looks up at the King and he falls to his knees in terror
• The king regains eye contact with the girl and once again is possessed
• He crawls to the side of the boat and the girl edges him to the rocks
• Without thought, he is lead into the rocks by the woman and is seduced by her
• The girl takes his hand and slowly drags the king into the sea and drowns him

I have chosen to adapt the Fisherman and the Siren, a painting by Fredrick Lord Leighton. 

I find this painting really interesting, and the un answered questions about the symbolism within the painting are intriguing. I would like to create a short story that focuses on the themes of temptation, control and mythology. 

 During this lesson, we watched Disneys Pinocchio and compared it to a summary of the original story written by Carlo Collodi. The story is a collection of newspaper short stories, and this is evident from the active nature of the story. There as so many elements with in the story and Disney have taken just a pew sections of this in their famous adaptation. 

 I hadn’t actually seen the Disney film before this, and i was surprised by the lack of reference to Pinocchio’s growing nose when he lies as it is commonly known that this is the main focus of the story. Disney’s version focuses on choices, and identifying the difference between right and wrong and the consequences of these decisions. 

Tim Burton’s adaptation of Frankenstein in ‘Frankenweenie’

  During this lesson we watched the stop motion film Frankenweenie. The film is about a young boy, Victor Frankenstein who brings his pet dog back to life after it is hit by a car. Other than the main character having the same name as in the original and the creation of life, there wasn’t actually many similarities to the original, as many other famous stories were referenced in the film, such as Godzilla. Both character’s shared similar personalities; lonely, intelligent and dealing with grief, yet in Frankenweenie, the young boy is not disgusted or frightened what so ever by the dogs appearance. And with the support from his family, both boy and his dog share a happy life together while experiencing some spooky monsters throughout, causing the characters to make life threatening decisions.

This film is just one example of many Frankenstein adaptations, and shows how just a small element of a story can be transformed into an entirely new one.  

1. plot summaries

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/section1.rhtml

2. research into industrial revolution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution

3. Mary Shelly’s background 

http://www.biography.com/people/mary-shelley-9481497

1. Preface

2. From the point of view of Robert Walton in letter format, there are 4 letters written to his sister while on an expedition to the North Pole. The final letter explains how Robert and his crew came to find a lost man Victor Frankenstein, who has an extra ordinary story to tell the crew.

3. Chapters 1-24 in point of view of Victor Frankenstein. Structure is written as if he were telling the story to the crew. 

4. The final section of the novel, in which Walton continues the story, completes the framing narrative. Walton’s perception of Victor as a great, noble man ruined by the events described in the story adds to the tragic conclusion of the novel.