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Essay / The reflection of the mirror - 1096
Within Frankenstein is a world divided between the selfish ideas of a madman and the monster created by his madness: in Lacanian terms, between the symbolic order and the imaginary order . According to Lacan, “the Imaginary [is a] field of images, imagination and deception” (Wikepedia.org); Victor's imagination reflects only on the monster created by his own guilty hands. For Victor, his creation reflects the idea and the ego that are cultivated through him, it is the spark that takes the ordinary and transforms it into the “alienated”. While Victor imagines himself part of society, he soon realizes how his job has instead done the opposite, sheltering him completely. “I avoided my fellow men 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 up (as he does with his monster), until the mind is virtually drowned out by the self. “A new species would bless me as creator and source; many happy and excellent natures owe their existence to me” (Shelley 58). Clinging tightly to the idea of playing God, Victor lets his imagination, his deception, free him and make him believe that the dead could inevitably be resurrected without repercussions. With this, he loses all moral graces and neglects the rationality of his actions. The task overwhelms him and takes enough control that Frankenstein goes deep into grave robbing. Of course this intention is fueled by the death of his mother, the representation taking on a meaning which comes to symbolize a awakening of the dead, a new beginning, and an immortality which, in reality, can never be given without a price. With Lacan in the lead, a piece of paper... another example of Lady Frankenstein's power even in death. Mary Shelley takes the psychological and really sinks her teeth into it in this novel. From the paranoia of its protagonist to the feeling of empathy that readers seem to face when faced with the monster; it’s as if she’s taking us on a journey of emotions and personal reflection. Shelley, although perhaps a little too modern for its time, produced a novel that truly captivated the mind and allowed it to be dissected like no other. “The Monster and the Mother Thing: Mary Shelley’s Critique of Ideology.” Frankenstein. Joanna Smith. Bedford/St. Martin: New York, 2000. 280-94. Print.Freud, Sigmund. “On the interpretation of dreams”. 913-956. Print. “Jacques Lacan”. Wikipedia. November 9, 2009 Wikipedia.org. Internet. November 21, 2011Shelley, Mary. "Frankenstein" Smith. 28-189.