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Gemma Jimenez

Professor Batty

English 102

15 October 2017

One of the prominent icons of the Halloween season is Frankenstein. Automatically, the

image of an eight foot tall, ugly, green like skin, abnormal creature comes to mind. It is easy to

forget that the creature is actually never given a name and that the title Frankenstein is actually

referring to the the creatures creator, Victor Frankenstein. Why is it much easier to picture the

creature when we hear the name? Is it because his abnormalities are much more striking than a

scientist in a white cloak? Most likely it is because the way Universal Studios adapted Mary

Shelleys novel Frankenstein in 1931. The creature was played by Boris Karloff who life as an

actor changed forever as the film became a huge success at the box office. Everyone was

terrified and intrigued by the creature. The creature in the film is depicted as inarticulate,

shamble, and evil. It goes on a killing rampage and humans are defenseless to its enormous

stature. Yet, in the book the creature can be seen as a victim; it is the result of a careless mad

scientist. Victor Frankenstein, tells the story of his fatal creation, but as the story unfolds we

come to realize the the true monster is Victor himself. Victor should be the inhuman creature that

should pop into our heads when we hear the name, Frankenstein. It is his narcissistic, unnatural,

and immoral personality that should terrify people. Even though the creatures unfamiliar

characteristics leaves much more of an imprint on us, if we analyze Victor Frankenstein persona

through a psychoanalytic lens we come to realize that the familiar can be seen as monstrous.

The novel Frankenstein begins with letters written by an explorer, Robert Walton, who

was on his way North when he comes across Victor Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein almost
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dies from the freezing temperatures, but with the help of Walton and his crew, he survives long

enough to create a bond with Walton. Walton immediately felt a connection with Frankenstein.

Walton writes in his letter, I begin to love him as a brother; and his constant and deep grief fills

me with sympathy and compassion. He must have been a noble creature in his better days

(Shelley, 28) Walton has been longing for someone like himself and according to psychoanalytic

theorist, Jacques Lacan, we all are. Lacan created the concept, the Mirror Stage, which is the

stage in which humans realize they are an individual. Who we see ourselves in the mirror does

not truly reflect who we are on the inside and so we are on the constant pursuit to express our

individuality. The mirror stage establishes the ego as fundamentally dependent upon external

objects, on an other (Zuern). Through language and actions we begin pursuit for an

establishment of who we are. Frankenstein also mirrored himself in Walton thus he was willing

to open up to him, but for selfish reasons. Thomas Richard, writer of The Philosophy of Horror

states, Rather than genuinely interacting with those around him, Frankenstein uses his friends,

as well as, Walton as mirrors for his own desires. Through them he constructs a whole and

complete identity, a performance that casts him into the role of Godnot just a better man than

he once was, but God, the divine creator (218). From the beginning, Frankenstein is sharing his

story for his own self assurance of who he is and to prove that he was the victim. Self assurance

is important to an extent, however, when Frankenstein begins to show narcissistic tendencies he

starts to prove he is not sane.

Frankensteins pursuit to be treated like God causes him to do many unnatural acts. Once

he begins his experiment to bring a human back from the dead, he becomes completely obsessed

with his work. Frankenstein health declines and he alienates himself from the world for two

years to work on his creature. It was a most beautiful season; never a more luxuriant vintage:
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but my eyes were insensible to the charms of nature. And the same feelings which made me

neglect the scenes around me cause me also to forget those friends who were so many miles

absent, and whom I had not seen for so long a time (Shelley, 56). Frankenstein, becomes numb

to the outside world and his obsession are not only rooted by narcissism,but may also allude to

libidinal desires. Sigmund Freud, believed that deep down in humans there are forbidden sexual

desires that subconsciously influence us. Before his obsession began, Frankensteins mother dies.

It is possible that Frankenstein has a sexual desire for his mother and his cousin, Elizabeth, who

he was supposed to marry sublimates his experiment. Frankenstein: Character Studies by David

Minden Higgins analyzes a quote from the novel to prove this point:

I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of

Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her; bus as I imprinted the
first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features
appeared to change, and I thought the I held the corpse of my dead mother
in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms
crawling in the fold of the flannel (Shelly, 59).

Higgins, states that Frankensteins dream animates his sexual tendencies; the folds of the

flannel represents the vaginal and the grave-worms represent the phallic (39). This unnatural

desires that control Frankensteins actions prove to be disastrous as it blinds him from making

conscious decisions. When the creature finally comes to life Frankenstein finally reenters the

normal world and realizes his mistake.

When the creature comes to life Frankenstein loses all sense of morality. He abandons the

creature and lays in bed sick for months. It is not until years later that they cross paths again. The

creature tells us how it had to fend for itself. For a long time, it lived in the woods and had to

survive on berries. It became incredibly observant of its surroundings and when it came across

humans it learned from them. The creature spied on one family the most, the De Lacey, and

learned about emotions, history, and language. When the creature attempts to connect with the
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family, they are completely horrified and beat it. We can not help but to sympathize with the

creature because of the the way Shelley presents it. The article What is a Monster? supports this

fact:

This hideous and deformed creature, far from expressing himself in grunts
and gestures, speaks and reasons with the highest elegance, logic, and
persuasiveness. As a verbal creation, he is the very opposite of the
monstrous: he is a sympathetic and persuasive participant in Western
culture. All of the Monster's interlocutors -- including, finally, the reader -
- must come to terms with this contradiction between the verbal and the
visual (Brooks).

Even though, the creature proves to be more human than Frankenstein himself; his pursuit for

connection is denied. Consequently, Frankenstein egoism and refusal to make the creature a

partner, causes the creature to commit murders. In the essay, The Pathology of the Romantic

Subject and Mary Shelleys Cure for Melancholia in Frankenstein and Mathilda by Mark

Montwieler and Katherine Boren, it states that Shelley argues that it's essential for stable egos

to be in relation to other people, and that those relations be healthy Frankenstein ego is not

stable, he does not protect or connect with his family and friends. Thus, when the creatures kills

those close to him, its behavior is just a projection of Frankenstein. If Frankenstein had

originally been a father figure to the creature, and not isolated himself, he would not have stunted

the creatures capabilities. Instead, the creature is unstable and finds an outlook just like

Frankenstein. Psychoanalyst, Kristeva believed that, "the seesawing between self and other [is]

the projection on the self of the hatred against the other and, vice versa, the turning against the

other of self-depreciation (Montwieler,Boren). Crime is a defense reaction against depression:

murdering the other protects against suicide" Both are doing there best to deal with their

depression. When Frankenstein, finds out of the murders, he does not step forward and reveal

what he knows. Refusal shows how he as much at the monster feeds on the crimes as an outlook.
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To sum up, Frankenstein, is a much more deceiving character than the creature. From the

beginning of the novel we can pinpoint his narcissistic character, that leads him to pursuit to be

God. He constantly, mirrors himself on others for self assurance and is driven by repressed

libidinal desires. All of this causes him to become obsessed with his scientific creation of the

creature. Frankenstein begins to appear more monstrous as he isolates himself, deteriorates his

health, and commits immoral acts. As a result, when his fantasies come to life and present

themselves as visually unnatural, he is horrified. He abandons the creature and constantly

victimizes himself and shuts himself from others. Yet, the creature who is constantly being

denied because of his appearances, and has no mother or father figure, longs to be part of society.

The creature does not completely give up on life, and proves to be capable of human emotions.

But on its last attempt to reach out to Frankenstein, who again denies it, it gives in to the role of

a monster it is assumed to be and commits crimes. Acting monstrous, can be seen as a projection

of Frankenstein. Frankenstein, has an unstable ego that makes him ignore those around him.

Consequently, this behavior is transferred to the creature. Maybe, this is why Frankenstein can

not stand the creature, because it projects the truth of who he is. A monstrous human being is

mirrored that is narcissistic, embedded by unnatural wants, and infused by immoral acts.
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Works Cited

Fahy, Thomas Richard. The Philosophy of Horror. The University Press of Kentucky, 2010. The

Philosophy of Popular Culture. EBSCOhost,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk

&AN=350588&site=eds-live.

Higgins, David Minden. Frankenstein : Character Studies. Continuum, 2008. Continuum

Character Studies. EBSCOhost,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk

&AN=837661&site=eds-live.
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Montwieler, Mark E. Boren , Katherine. "The Pathology of the Romantic Subject and Mary

Shelley's Cure for Melancholia in Frankenstein and Matilda." Psyart, Jan. 2012, p. 14.

EBSCOhost,

library.lavc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&

AN=89511769&site=eds-live.

Shelley, Mary, and Maurice Hindle. Frankenstein or The modern prometheus. Penguin Books,

2003.

Zuern, John David. Overview. Lacan: The Mirror Stage,

www.english.hawaii.edu/criticalink/lacan/index.html.