ABSTRACT

The first stage adaptation of Frankenstein was Richard Brinsley Peake's Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein, which premiered at the English Opera House in London in 1823, starring the celebrated stage villain Thomas Potter Cooke in the monstrous role. In addition to other infidelities to the novel but in keeping with other melodramas popular in the era, Presumption adds songs, a fetching "Arabian girl", a band of colorful Gypsies, a couple of romantic subplots, and a comic malapropist servant, Fritz, who would become a staple of future adaptations under other names. Presumption, again, is the hamartia for which Frankenstein is punished. In the plays and films, presumption is Frankenstein's crime – presumption to play the creative role of God. Frankenstein, having already made up his mind to destroy his "impious" work, responds by pulling a sword from the wall and threatening the Demon.