The Mirror's Reflection

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Within Frankenstein is a world divided between the egotistical ideas of a mad man and the monster that is created through his insanity: in Lacanian terms, between the Symbolic and the Imaginary Orders. According to Lacan, “the Imaginary [is a] field of images and imagination, and deception” (Wikepedia.org ); Victor’s imagination being reflected solely on the monster that is created by his own guilty hands. To Victor, his creation reflects the idea and ego that cultivate through him, it is the spark that takes the ordinary and turns him into the “alienated.” While Victor imagines himself to be a part of society, he soon comes to realize how his work has instead done the opposite, sheltering him completely. “I shunned my fellow creatures as if I had been guilty of a crime (Shelley 60). By alienating himself, Victor is then able to feed his ego with only his thoughts, gradually building it (as he does his monster), until the mind is practically drowned out by the self. “A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me” (Shelley 58). By grasping firmly to the idea of playing God, Victor lets his imagination, his deception free him into believing that the dead could inevitably be brought back to life without repercussions. With this he loses all moral graces and overlooks the rationality of his actions. The task overtakes him and gains enough control to have Frankenstein go the depths of grave-robbing. Of course this intention is fueled by the death of his mother, the representation taking on a meaning that comes to symbolize an awakening of the dead, a new beginning, and an immortality that in reality can never be given without a price. With Lacan in mind one cou... ... middle of paper ... ... another example to how powerful Lady Frankenstein was even in death. Mary Shelley takes the psychological and truly sinks her teeth in it in this novel. From the paranoia of her protagonist to the sense of empathy that readers seem to face when dealing with the monster; it is as if she is taking one on a ride of emotions and self reflection. Shelley, though perhaps a bit too modern for her time, produced a novel that truly took the mind and made one be able to dissect it like no other. Work Cited Collings, David. “The Monster and the Maternal Thing: Mary Shelley’s Critique of Ideology”. Frankenstein. Joanna Smith. Bedford/St. Martin’s: New York, 2000. 280-94. Print. Freud, Sigmund. “From the Interpretation of Dreams”. 913-956. Print. “Jaques Lacan”. Wikipedia. 9 Nov. 2009 Wikipedia.org. Web. 21 Nov. 2011 Shelley, Mary. “Frankenstein” Smith. 28-189.

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