'In Just Seven Days, I Can Make You a Man': Queerness and Masculinity in Frankenstein (1818) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Abstract

This article examines the intersections of queerness, masculinity and heteronormativity in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and its queer adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). While Rocky Horror is celebrated as a cult classic, its role as an adaptation of Frankenstein has received little attention within Romantic studies. I argue that attention to Rocky Horror as a Shelley adaptation illuminates the author’s concern with compulsory heterosexuality and the family, transsexuality, sexual violence against women, and the construction of nineteenth-century masculinities. The depiction of Rocky Horror’s Frank-N-Furter, whose creation of Rocky queers Frankenstein’s creation of The Monster, critiques and parodies contemporary American gender roles and patriarchal family structures. Ultimately, the article argues that recognizing Rocky Horror as a queer adaptation of Frankenstein not only uncovers queer subtexts within Shelley’s novel but also expands our understanding of adaptation studies.