Sunday, March 28, 2010

Schizophrenia in Frankenstein?

There is an abundance of evidence in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, that may lead the audience to believe Victor and his monster are one in the same. As a whole this theory includes there being no monster and Victor is the killer who had suffered from a nervous breakdown. One glaring similarity is that they both have abandonment issues. With Victor this spawn's from his mother's death. (He was still battling with unresolved Oedipal issues.) With the monster this comes into play in chapter five when he first awakes to find a father who doesn't want him.
"His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs." Frankenstein's monster came to him as an "infant", trying to greet his father. He smiled, tried to speak, and even tried to embrace but was denied all these things. The monster possessed the mind and heart of a human and so felt unwanted. Victor denied him a parental figure and so the creature was abandoned at a crucial time in his life. As the monster went through his psycho sexual stages, he made it evident he yearned for a parental influence.
His oral stage was abandonment from the father he tried to embrace but was denied. He also had a fear of starvation though, which was why he stole food from the villagers and collected berries in the woods. Victor never provided for him and so he was alone. In the anal stage he exerted his control by taking William's life. He only did this to arouse anger in Victor and draw him toward his creation. Deep down he still wanted his creator's attention. In the phallic stage the monster was attracted to Felix whom he referred to as "beautiful." He was unsure about his sexuality, because he was never given guidance or anything from Victor. Walking through the mountains, independent, was his latency stage. However, it was in those mountains where he reflected and planned on how he'd confront his creator. Lastly, in the genital stage he wanted a female partner. Only Victor could provide him with that. As much as her cursed Victor and swore to make his life miserable, the monster still always craved some kind of affection or attention from his "creator."

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