Psychoanalysis.  2014 Oct;25(2):65-70. 10.0000/pa.2014.25.2.65.

'Frankenstein' from a Psychoanalytic Perspective

Affiliations
  • 1Kim Dong-In Psychiatry Clinic, Jeonju, Korea. ohyaong@hanmail.net

Abstract

This article aims to analyze Frankenstein from a psychoanalytic perspective. This novel reflects Mary Shelley's unconscious world. Like dreams in psychoanalysis, there are various kinds of unconscious meanings in this novel. Mary Shelly lost her mother in her early life, and she was obsessed with unconscious fantasy of being neglected and becoming a monster who murdered her mother. The protagonist, a monster in her novel, who was neglected by Victor Frankenstein, finally destroyed his creator. This monster may be her self-portrait. This novel involves lots of subjects related to the incest impulse and fear. This novel presents Mary Shelley's unconscious longing toward her mother. The relation between Frankenstein and monster serves to symbolize Mary Shelley's ambivalent object relation with her lost mother.

Keyword

Dream; Novel; Monster; Incest wish; Object relation

MeSH Terms

Dreams
Fantasy
Homicide
Humans
Incest
Mothers
Object Attachment
Psychoanalysis
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