ABSTRACT
Christopher Bram's elegant novel Father of Frankenstein is less well known, as it often happens, than its film adaptation Gods and Monsters. The novel offers much to all kinds of readers, beyond the gay minority. Bram's novel is, thus, constituted by two main layers. Following Whale's biography, this is the story of an aging person who decides to regain control over his life by, paradoxically, committing suicide. On the other hand, Bram's fantasy about the misguided strategy chosen by Whale to have Clayton murder him emphasizes the homosexual identity of this ill, who expects the younger man's homophobia to result in the violence he needs. The bond between Whale and Boone should not be read in terms of the fiction and film tradition derived from Thomas Mann's novella Death in Venice. This is the story of an individual who refuses to become a victim either in life or in death, an example of individual agency, serene masculinity, and satisfied homosexuality.
