Philip Pullman’s adaptation and thematic focus Philip Pullman, an accomplished novelist and dramatist, reshapes Frankenstein by emphasizing character psychology and moral accountability. Where Shelley’s novel stages an extended philosophical dialogue about creation, suffering, and the limits of knowledge, Pullman’s adaptation compresses and dramatizes these debates for the stage. Pullman retains the central figures—Victor Frankenstein and his creation—while sharpening the interpersonal and ethical dimensions: the Creature’s demand for recognition and Victor’s hubristic pursuit of mastery over life. The theatrical form allows Pullman to externalize interior conflict through stagecraft, lighting, and physical performance; the Creature’s loneliness and rage become visible actions rather than solely interior narration.