Mental Illness In Frankenstein Essay

Gothic literature, such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, was written to oppose the romantic literature that was popular during the time it was written. The romantic literature is centered around idealism and perfection in society, whereas gothic literature is focused on what is imperfect and supernatural. In Frankenstein, the main character, Victor Frankenstein, has anything but an ideal life. A series of misguided events lead to the immoral creation of an eight foot tall superhuman that destroys Victor’s family. Through her use of spur of the moment, rage filled actions, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein displays the effects of mental illness on a person’s morality. The cause of these actions and those ensuing include bouts of hysteria, narcissism,

an underdevelopment of the ego, and a conflicted conscience.
Following the creation of Frankenstein’s monster, Victor falls ill for months on end, suffering from nightmares and insomnia. These symptoms of nightmares and sleeplessness clearly indicate that Victor is suffering from bouts of hysteria.

Hysteria is “a ‘nervous disorder’ associated with insanity” (Hobbs). Hysteria can be caused by many things, including terror, alcoholism, and disappointment. Since terror is more significant in Victor’s case, the hysteria is most likely caused by the monster’s reanimation (Hobbs 152). This hysteria can most clearly be seen in a confrontation between Henry Clerval and Victor, “I cried, putting my hands before my eyes, for I thought I saw the dreaded spectre glide into the room” (Shelley 63). The quote is significant because a fit of hysteria would have caused Victor to make a rash decision in running in fear from the monster, henceforth leading to a significant amount of conflict in the story. Also, it can be shown that the life of the

monster ‘sucks the life out of’ Victor. A quote from ‘Testimony and Trope’ that exemplifies this states, "The night the creature is animated, Victor is inversely de-animated...His sleep is incessant wakefulness, burdened with nightmarish dreams," (Guyer) From the quote an inference can be drawn that the creation of the monster led to Victor’s old self ‘dying’ and being replaced with the version that readers spend most of the story with. This ‘new’ Victor often displays signs of depressive episodes, he says “I threw myself on the bed in my clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness. But it was in vain; I slept, indeed, but I was disturbed by the wildest of dreams” (Shelley 59). The quote shows that Victor was so affected by his depression that he could not even attain peace in his sleep.
Growing up in an environment as unique as Victor’s, the brain development that is typical of a childhood seems to not have occurred with Victor. The lines separating Victor’s love for himself and others is blurred. This could be due to what Rosemary Jackson calls, “The mirror stage, when the self is recognized as separate...It is in the mirror phase that there is a progression ...to the establishment of a coherent and unified subjectivity--the human subject, the ego, the I” (Jackson). When Elizabeth is first ‘given’ to Victor, he “with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as [Frankenstein’s] to protect, love, and cherish. All praises bestowed on her [Frankenstein].received as made to a possession of [his] own” (Shelley 34). Such a blurring of basic social functions shows that Victor’s understanding of social situations is not fully developed. However, this event occurred during his childhood, so this could simply be a case of a child wanting to be involved with a new member of the family.
With such underdeveloped social skills, Victor clearly shows a difference between himself and people.

An article that referenced the work of Sigmund Freud says that he ¨mentions as a trait 'a technique for dealing with the external world--'magic'” (Kestner). Victor deals with the world in a way that is different to that of his peers. “My temper was sometimes violent, and my passions vehement; but by some law in my temperature they were turned not towards childish pursuits but to an eager desire to learn” (Shelley 36). This is important because people with mental illness are practically defined as a person with a different coping mechanism for life. While there are many people who can healthily cope with their unique views, Victor cuts apart dead bodies, sews them together, and reanimates an eight foot tall

creature.
Throughout the story, readers see a strange correlation between certain instances of Victor’s upbringing and his later action. “A relation between the two I's, self and ideal ego, develops into one of hostility and resentment, with the ideal I, like the eye, constantly on the watch, judging, …, preventing any attempts of the subject to fall away from a strict coincidence with its limited, monistic, integrated social identity" (Jackson). The way that Alphonse reacts to Victor’s thirst for knowledge along with the stark difference between Victor and his peers ultimately leads to a conflicted mind in his adulthood. “My father looked carelessly at the title page of my book and said, ‘Ah! Cornelius Agrippa! My dear Victor, do not waste your time upon this; it is sad trash” (Shelley PAGE NUMBER) This is important because it shows that two different parts of Victor’s mind are conflicting and that can lead to him being a volatile or even dangerous person. EXPAND MORE ON SIGNIFICANCE
The occurrences in the novel Frankenstein shows readers the effects of mental illness on a person’s judgement, whether it be a bout of hysteria causing Victor to flee from his creation or two parts of his mind conflicting due to years of misguidance from Alphonse. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein to show that mental illness can lead to poor decisions that have tragic consequences. The way the lesson is taught is purposefully written in a way that contrasts romantic writing that was popular during the Gothic Era. This imperfection teaches readers about mental illness in that it makes one aware of the dangerous effects it can have. While not all mentally ill people behave irrationally like Victor does, it is very important that Frankenstein has the effect it does because it imparts that reason is imperative when making sudden decisions.