Victor Frankenstein shows multiple signs of bipolar throughout the story..Bipolar is “a disorder that causes your mood and your emotions to shift dramatically from time to time and is characterized by cycles, usually caused by depression and mania.” (Kaplan) In the story Shelly says that victor saw that “The moon had disappeared from the night, and again, with a lessened form, showed itself, while i still remained in the forest.” ( Shelley, 90) He was sitting alone in the dark forest watching the moon appear and reappear throughout the night so clearly he had something bad on his mind. Victor portrays this symptom because right before this scene in the book, he was in a good mood and wasn 't really feeling anything towards anything, but …show more content…
“Paranoia creates a complex delusional system that purports to show that people want to hurt him.” (Encyclopedia) “but, swelling as it proceeded, it became the torrent which, in its course, has swept away all my hopes and joys.” (Shelley 24) Victor is starting to feel that life is meaningless has he has no point to do anything now. He feels useless and hopeless and feels like he is outdated and not proceeding or attempting to improve his life in anyway.When Victor has goes through his phases of paranoia he tends to feel worthless of a person in the story and tends to not get along with some of the characters. “Most individuals who suffer from some form of paranoia tend to be suspicious of the motives of others, leading them to be hypersensitive, tense, and argumentative.” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia) “But my eyes were insensible to the charms of nature. And the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom I had not seen for so long a time.” (Shelley 41) Victor has been distracted by natures beauty and has caused him to have emotional shifts towards Elizabeth. He starts to pay attention and notice how great natures world is and his thoughts and feelings towards the people in his life to change in the wrong way. He suffers from the feeling that some people want to hurt him throughout the book. “In most …show more content…
“Symptoms of these disorders may include hallucinations and delusions severe deviations of mood depression and mania lack of, or, inappropriateness of emotional response and severe impairment of judgment.” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia) “During her illness many arguments had been urged to persuade my mother to refrain from attending upon her.” (Shelley 29) A lot of feelings and emotions are currently running through his mind in this situation and it 's causing him to freak out. He is scared to lose her wife because he loves her a lot and it 's causing him to get scared and probably say and do things he does not mean to. Considering that Victor is going through his older ages in this story he tends to have thoughts that cause his brain to function in the wrong way. “Occurring in middle to old age, these disorders involve progressive, nonreversible brain damage. Organic brain damage may also result from toxic reactions to such substances as alcohol, PCP” (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia) “I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death.” (Shelley 44) Victor was starting to go insane after see what the world has put him through and experiencing the things he has. He was beginning to hallucinate and claim that he saw Elizabeth even though she had
In “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix Arizona”, Victor has become psychologically troubled because he has put his own traditions behind. Throughout the story, the readers find out that Victor has an internal conflict due to the unhealthy relationships in his life. His father abandons him at a very young age, which causes Victor’s loss of guidance and self-identity. The day that Victor’s father abandons his family, Victor gets “really drunk and beat[s] Thomas up for no apparent reason at all”(276). If no one would have stopped Victor, Thomas-build-the-fire would have died which clearly shows the readers that Victor is mentally troubled. Not only does he lose his father but, Victor also loses his best friend on that same day. In other words, Victor is mentally traumatized after the abandonment. In fact, Rothe Eugenio, a professor in the department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health at Florida Inter...
The attitude of Victors mother reflects th... ... middle of paper ... ... ment haunts him through the rest of the novel. Victor is weak and it is only near the end of the novel that he attempts to face his creature and to destroy it to restore nature's order. Finally the pursuit of his creation destroys him.
At the beginning or the story, Victor lives in ecstasy, reveling in life’s every joy. Desolation and darkness no doubt had minor roles in his life, but these were glanced over in an instant, as Victor was remembering the times as good and perfect. The harsh dichotomy of this perspective and the perspective he maintained for the majority of the novel after the creation of the creature is stunning. After, he saw the world as always filled with darkness and loneliness. He even stated that he almost caught himself feeling happiness at one point and stopped himself. This distortion that the world became a fruitless wasteland is simply untrue, but it sheds light on how totally our feeling twist our perception of the world. By shoeing the polar opposites, the novel further emphasizes how our outlook on life shapes what we see in the world around us, for better or for
In a psychoanalytic view of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Robert Walton develops, during a “dreadfully severe” trip through the Arctic, a type of schizophrenia; this mental condition enables him to create a seemingly physical being representing each his superego and his id (9). In his mind, Walton creates Victor as his very own superego and the monster as his id. The superego and the id battle throughout the story to produce the final result: Walton, the ego.
After bringing life to something seemingly horrible, Victor Frankenstein reveals his personality of avoidance and arrogance. Instead of facing the creature he created, he runs away from the problem. His motivations for the experiment vary, but there is one clear one that he even admits. "The world," he says, "was to me a secret which I desired to divine" (Shelley 18). Victor tells us that he's curious, and more importantly that he's always been this way. Victor has been raised in a very loving family. His father and mother were kind parents who loved all of their children, and even adopted some children. Victor, however, grows up a little indulged and perhaps because of this, he is selfish. He is stubborn and unyielding about many things. For
Furthermore, after his creation breathes its first breath, Victor already despises it, which leads to his health’s deterioration and hatred of his previous love. His love quickly changes to despise when he says, “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardor that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart” (53). His statement shows how his heart does a complete 1800 and stops loving the monster the moment it lives. When Victor’s “…heart palpitated in the sickness of fear…” (54), it proves how his monster tormented his creator without having to be near him. Which also leads to the teaching of the lesson “think before you act”.
...or was not thinking of others in his actions, but only of himself. He did not consider the tumult the abnormally large creature could cause in the world, nor what the feelings of the monster would be towards him if he abandoned him. Victor also did not contemplate the safety of his friends, as he had the chance to stop the creature’s misdoings but failed to do so, risking the life of his friends. Therefore, Victor was a selfish being, who only concerned himself with his wishes and never evaluated the situation of his loved ones, ultimately causing their demise. The misfortunate events that occurred through Victor’s life could have been prevented, and also discontinued when Victor had the chance. However, Victor’s irresponsibility overcame these opportunities and he in turn, caused misfortunes for himself as well as his loved ones.
From the onset of Victor’s youth, his earliest memories are those of “Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they were unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations I can remember” (ch. 4) This is the first example of obsession that we see in the novel. This drive to learn the ‘hidden’ laws of nature is the original driving force that sets the plot in motion. Without this, Victor would have never embarked on his unholy quest to overcome mortality, thus leading to his creation of his monster.
Edward “Fairfax” Rochester is set to be portrayed as an innocent individual. An innocent individual, who doesn’t initially feel contempt with his life or even free. Although he is a character who is wealthy, he has been described as having strong features that haven’t necessarily accredited him to being the most handsome soul. Furthermore, his own family, the Rochester, have been a prominent factor in his horrific life. Because of the late Mr. Rochester, the father of Edward wrote his will in favor of Edward’s brother, he wanted to make sure that both of his sons are protected. Nonetheless, Edward young and “blind” was allegedly forced to marry a Creole woman, who had a family background of mental illness. To his dismay, his wife, Bertha Mason,
Bipolar depression has many symptoms; the main symptoms are a quick change in mood and usually followed by two or more personalities, Victor Frankenstein clearly shows these symptoms in the book. Heavy research evidence from the book “An Unquiet Mind” by Kay Redfield Jamison provide proof of these claims; explaining how Bipolar depression usually results in a multi-personality and severe mood swings. Redfield explains how these symptoms can be seen thru the patient outwardly saying they are unhappy. Text evidence of Victor Frankenstein's Bipolar behavior is found in the following quote; “I paused; at length he spoke, in broken accents: “Unhappy man!” Do you share my madness?” (Shelley 13). This provides solid evidence that Victor Frankenstein suffers from some sort of mental illness. Following along the lines of Bipolar depression; with sudden mood swings that usually indicate two or more personalities. Bipolar depression also has symptoms along the lines of having strong feelings of happiness and plunging into overwhelming feelings of sadness. Research evidence from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) explains how these Bipolar symptoms are imperative to depression and cause smaller mood swings to become an obsolete factor to the depression. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) explains how this symptom can be seen thru the facial expression of the person, going from smiling to a sad look instantly. Text evidence from the novel backs up this claim; “As I spoke, a Dark spread over my listener's countenance. At first I perceived he tried to suppress his emotions.” (Shelley 13). The quote shows how the narrator noticed a quick change in Victor's facial expressions and also added the fact of Victor trying to hide those emotions. This supports the claim of Victor Frankenstein having Bipolar depression. The final symptom of Bipolar depression are severe fits and/or
In the novel Frankenstein, the author, Mary Shelley writes about a scientist named Victor Frankenstein who brings to life a human- like creature. Viewing this book through a psychoanalytic lens uncovers the many layers that make up this text and the characters. The psychoanalytic theory deals with a person’s underlying desire, most famously, the oedipal complex. The oedipal complex is the belief that all people possess the desire to partake in affectionate relations with a parent of the opposite sex. In Frankenstein, Shelley uses Victors conscious and subconscious to suggest that Victor possesses the oedipal complex, and that he feels intense guilt for the monster that he has brought to life.
Because of Victor’s need for fame and desire for power leads to Victor becoming a monster. Victor begins his quest to bring life to a dead person because he does not want anyone to feel the pain of a loved ones death. At first he is not obsessed with his project. As he moves along in the project he thinks about what will happen to him. "Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source, many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me." (Shelley 39) He realizes that he will become famous if he accomplishes the task of bringing a person back to life. The realization that he will become famous turns him into an obsessive monster. He wanted to be admired, and praised as a species creator. He isolates himself from his family and works on the creature. “I had worked hard for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation, but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Shelley 156) By spending most of his time inside on his experiment, he has no time to write or contact his family. He puts fear within his family because they fear for him.
evil; while Victor acts out of greed. Victor’s self-centered behavior effects everyone in the novel; he hurts his family’s
Essay 2 Psychoanalysis is the method of psychological therapy originated by Sigmund Freud in which free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of resistance and transference are used to explore repressed or unconscious impulses, anxieties, and internal conflicts (“Psychoanalysis”). This transfers to analyzing writing in order to obtain a meaning behind the text. There are two types of people who read stories and articles. The first type attempts to understand the plot or topic while the second type reads to understand the meaning behind the text. Baldick is the second type who analyzes everything.
Victor Frankenstein's upbringing in a perfect society ultimately led to the destruction of his life which coincided with the lives of those emotionally close to him. Victor was raised in an atmosphere where beauty and physical appearance define one's quality of life. This superficial way of life results in a lost sense of morals and selfishness, which in turn produces a lost sense of personal identity. This can cause a feeling of failure and resentment in the later stages of life which, in Victor's case, can be externalized into a form of hatred directed toward himself.