Frankenstein - Carl Jung Psychology

CARL JUNG- PSYCHOLOGY AND FRANKENSTEIN
Within every person there is typically a sense of self and structure of morality.
- Statements like “killing is wrong” forms our morality with the antithesis “killing is good.
- Carl Jung takes a perspective on the human psyche in his theory of the shadow
archetype.
- The theory follows that everyone’s perceptions of themselves that form their
identity inevitably give rise to their opposite qualities within themselves which
they must suppress.
➔ In literature, this manifests itself in the form of foils- pairs of characters made to contrast
each other.
◆ Seen with Victor and the Creature.
● Victor ends up disgusted with the act of creation and reckless pursuit of
knowledge.
● His monster covets the power of creation in order to make a bride for
himself.
➔ Projection is a big part of Jungian shadow. The shadow pertains to everything that we
repress unconsciously.
◆ One of the ways people cope is through projections.
● Victor reviles his creation which could be his way of reviling all the traits
he can’t accept within himself.
● He created the monster’s appearance with his own hands and judgement-
if it’s as hideous as he describes then it is really his fault which shows that
he is disgusted with his own inadequate abilities of creation.
● He is mad at the monster because he is disgusted with the limits of his
abilities.
➔ Another medium that the shadow comes out is through dreams of evil, disturbed and
repulsive images.
● This can be seen through Victor’s dream embracing Elizabeth who begins
to decay and turn into his dead mother.
◆ The specifically repulsive qualities of a shadow figure seen in dreams give clues
to the things that person is repressing.
● Victor’s dream reveals his fear of death and his grief of losing his mother.
He tries eliminating death rather than working through that fear- the fear
of not being able to control things and people and situations.
- The opposite of the shadow is called the ‘Persona’. The persona basically strives “to
behave in ways that will earn for us a positive social image, emphasizing aspects of
ourselves that are valued by others and trying to ignore or deny the rest.”
- What people want others to see of them- what is good in them.
- Victor puts on his persona for others to see him as smart, handsome, impressive,
especially in the science community. Therefore, anything that tries to oppose
these views, within himself or by others, are pushed aside so the persona ca
nstand.
- After the monster kills william and frames Justine, if Frankenstein were to
tell the truth, people would either hate him or label him insane. Therefore,
Frankenstein decides to keep his persona positive and withhold this
information from others.
- The persona is part of the personality that adapts to the world.
- Throughout Frankenstein’s life, his personality adapts to his surroundings
and situations like his mother’s death.
- The shadow refers to the aspects of the psyche that are rejected from the consciousness
by the ego because they are inconsistent with one’s ‘self-concept’. The shadow is the
unconscious, undesirable aspects of a person that the persona chooses to reject and
ignore.
- In Frankenstein, Victor’s consciousness would not allow an insane, angry and
depressed persona to come across to others so he pushed those aspects into
the unconscious. This can be also seen when he hides his illness from others.
- The persona is shown to the world and the shadow is hidden.
- The more one allows this unconscious shadow to go on unnoticed, the more it is set
apart as separate from the persona, the more unhealthy one becomes. This is seen
through Frankenstein’s mental downfall.
Sigmund Freud- Thanatos Drive:

- Theory of the Death Drive- defined as a human's desire to engage in behaviour that is
risky, blatantly harmful, wrong or all of the above.
- This is seen in Victor’s attempt to cheat death at the beginning of the book.
- At the other end of Freud’s spectrum is the Eros Drive- composing our drive to procreate
and give life. This serves the opposite phenomenon of the function of the shadow.
- They are so desperate to master life and to find a lover of their own to reaffirm
their identity.

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CARL JUNG- PSYCHOLOGY AND FRANKENSTEIN

Sigmund Freud- Thanatos Drive:

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