Article14-3: Freud’s Basic Ideas on Human Nature Helps me Understand Victor Frankenstein
Can you imagine a feeling of loneliness so strong that it forces you to seek human connection with a non-human creature? In Marry Shelley’s award-winning novel Frankenstein she tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a man who begins the story as a respected, mentally stable man until the death of his mother triggers grief that causes his obsession with the task of artificially creating life by reversing death. The evolution of Frankenstein’s personality can be explained using Freudian theory such as the Oedipus complex in relation to the death of Victor’s mother. The transition from his obsession with creating life to the guilt he feels after he creates the creature can be analysed using Freud’s basic ideas on human nature to see the conflict between Victor’s id, ego and super ego, which gives an insight into his thought processes throughout the story.
The Oedipus complex is a psychological concept that was proposed by Sigmund Freud. Freud believed that at a young age we develop an unconscious sexual desire for our parent of the opposite sex. In a young boy this creates strong feelings of attachment towards his mother and competition between the child and his father for the mother’s affection. Frankenstein had a very strong connection with his mother and after her death this connection was lost “I need not describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by the most irreparable evil; the void that presents itself to the soul; and the despair that is exhibited on the countenance” (Shelley 24). It is clear that after his mother’s death Frankenstein has completely lost the connection he once had with her. Thus, the absence of this connection has led to his obsession with life and death “Pursuing these reflections, I thought, that if I could bestow animation upon lifeless matter, I might in process of time (although I now found it impossible) to renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption” (Shelley 32). Frankenstein never truly got over the death of his mother. In his mind, he believes that if he can create a new life he can also bring his mother back to life. He is so desperate to recreate the connection he once had with his mother that he is willing to defy the laws of nature to hopefully bring her back life someday.
In the beginning of the story Victor Frankenstein is completely overtaken with his pursuit of creating life, and has no worry about what the consequences of this task may be. This is because Frankenstein’s id is in complete control of his mind. Sigmund Freud believed that the id is a part of the subconscious mind which functions to release pressure and pursue pleasure. Frankenstein’s id represents his desire to recreate the connection he once had with his mother through the creation of the monster. The control of Frankenstein’s id over his mind is illustrated when he says “a resistless, and almost frantic impulse, urged me forward; I seemed to have lost all soul of sensation but for this one pursuit” (Shelley 33). At this point in the story Frankenstein is a slave to his impulses and will stop at nothing to satisfy the desires of his id. While his id has full control over his actions he has no awareness of the consequences or repercussions his actions may have. The id’s control over Frankenstein’s mind is the primary reason for Frankenstein’s behaviour and his actions of bringing human life back in the beginning of the story.
As the plot progresses Frankenstein eventually succeeds in bringing his creation to life, but the glory of his success is short lived and he quickly regrets what he has done. He calls his creation monster because of his ugliness. As the monster comes to life Frankenstein quickly sees that the creature is not the beautiful as he imagined. Thus, he becomes disappointed and terrified “but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (Shelley 35). The shift in Frankenstein’s feelings toward the creature is due to his super ego’s transition into power over the mind. Sigmund Freud believed the super ego to be the part of the brain that insures moral standards are being followed and that we are acting in a socially acceptable manner (Mcleod, “Sigmund Freud”). The moment the monster comes to life Frankenstein’s conscious steps in and he realizes the magnitude of the situation he has just created and how morally incorrect it is. Without the super ego, Frankenstein never would have expressed feelings of guilt and remorse after creating the monster, and there would not have been such a big change in his emotion from desiring to create to being disgusted at what he has created.
The evolution of Frankenstein’s personality throughout the entire book can also be explained by his ego, i.e. whether the id or the super ego could have control over it. Freud proposed the Ego is the part of the mind that deals with reality, and balances the desires of the pleasure-seeking id, and morally concerned super ego (Mcleod, “Sigmund Freud”). When there is conflict between a person’s id and super ego, the ego acts as a referee between the two. After Frankenstein’s brother is murdered by the creature and the family servant is wrongly put to death for the “crime”, Frankenstein reflects on his initial intentions and his current situation:
I had begun life with benevolent intentions and thirsted for the moment when I should put them in practice and make myself useful to my fellow beings. Now all was blasted: instead of that serenity of conscience, which allowed me to look back upon the past with self-satisfaction, and from thence to gather promise of new hopes, I was seized by remorse and the sense of guilt, which hurried me away to a hell of intense tortures, such as no language can describe. (Shelley 61)
This quote illustrates how the ego was controlled by id before the creation of the monster, and is controlled by the super ego after. Frankenstein begins his plan to create the monster with pure intentions, but he is unable to see that his creation of the monster may have serious consequences. Although the crimes of the monster are not directly Frankenstein’s fault, he still blames himself. It is because of the conflict between the id and super ego that Frankenstein is able to understand the consequences of his actions. Without this transition he wouldn’t have been regretful of his decision to have created the monster and we wouldn’t have seen the dramatic personality shift caused by the guilt.
Throughout Frankenstein there is a distinct evolution in Victor Frankenstein’s personality. This evolution can be mapped and understood by applying Sigmund Freud’s basic ideas on human nature, and the Oedipus Complex to Frankenstein’s life after the loss of his mother. The Oedipus Complex helps me to understand how the death of Frankenstein’s mother affected him, and why it is the root cause of his obsession with creating life. Freud’s basic ideas on human nature helps me to see the transition between the id and super ego’s power over the ego in the case of Victor Frankenstein. His obsession of creating the monster is fueled by his id; but almost immediately after the monster is created his super ego takes control of his ego and he regrets his decision. The application of these basic ideas to analyze the book Frankenstein gives me a physiological insight into Victor’s mind and helps me to understand the reasons and consequences for his actions.
Work Cited
Mcleod, S. (n.d.). Sigmund Freud. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. Dover Publications, 1994.
About the Author: Aubrey is in her first year at UCN in the Bachelor of Art Nursing Intent program. She hopes to follow in her mother’s foot-steps and become a registered nurse, and eventually get her masters in nursing. She plans to finish her degree in Thompson and then work abroad as a nurse. Her interests include traveling and writing.
Instructor’s Remarks: Aubrey Queen took the course of Thematic Approaches to the Study of Literature in the winter term of 2018. This course is an introduction to the study of literature with the theme of illness and health in narrative. After the introduction to Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic approach to the mind and human nature, Aubrey applied Freud’s basic ideas on human nature to interpret Victor Frankenstein in her first assignment for this course. Now she has successfully completed this course and is ready to pursue her Bachelor of Nursing program this fall. (Dr. Ying Kong)