I love this stuff! It's so interesting! We have been talking about Freud recently in my Literary Genre class with Dr. Rice, and I'm really glad I got to learn more about his theories. The information I liked the most was about repressed thoughts coming out in dreams, literature, and Freudian slips. I like the idea that we write about characters that may be one of our multiple (repressed) personalities. Amazing!
When reading Frankenstein, I didn't notice the oedipal feelings Victor had. For some reason I have trouble seeing the oedipal thing unless it is blatantly obvious. I suppose you could say it was obvious when Victor dreamed of his Elizabeth turning into his dead, rotting mother, but when reading it, I thought it was a strange dream and probably had something to do with the disgusting creature he just created. I thought it was because he had thought he chose the most beautiful pieces to create it, but it turned out to be hideous. I thought that was just a reflection of it. Did any of you think it was oedipal when you first read it, or did you think it was just a weird dream?
I'm glad there is mention of Victor approving of his creature just before it opens it's eyes on page 285. (I think maybe Victor could have done a better job if he hadn't been so cocky that he could create a human. Just a little more time picking out larger pieces of flesh, and the creature would have looked a lot better, I think.)
3 comments:
I never really thought anything in the novel was oedipal. I can see how someone can interpret Victor's dream as oedipal, but it's not the first thing my mind jumps to.
I think that if Victor would have thought through what he was creating, then it wouldn't have frightened him as much.
I have not considered this much before but the more I think about it I think that Victor's dream of Elizabeth turning into his mother may be a prophetic dream indicating that Elizabeth was going to die.
I definitely did not read it as Oedipal when Frankenstein had his dream. I thought he was just worried because the monster was loose in the world. I can agree with Andrew and say that it was prophetic of Elizabeth's death, but Elizabeth's death as Victor's mother. After looking at this passage again I agree that you can make the argument stating that Frankenstein is Oedipal. Victor loves Elizabeth, but her being his mother in his dream could be a subconscious love he has for her as more than a mother. I'm not saying I agree with the idea of Victor as Oedipal, but it is possible.
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