Creator and Created in Mary Shelley's<i>Frankenstein</i>

Hetherington, Naomi

doi:10.1179/ksr.1997.11.1.1

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Where he deludes himself is in looking beyond the strength and warmth of his emotions and expecting them to improve his life in a tangible and realist sense. When the world cannot sustain his feelings, the evil within him reasserts itself, destroying his hope for solace with the thirst for revenge [7] . The monster desires to be deeply understood and sincerely accepted, but the cruelty of the social environment makes his character increasingly surly and morbid.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gradually, the monster is able to distinguish between different emotions and, as he began to learn the DeLaceys' language through observation and repetition, he could label and interpret them [7] . By watching them through a chink in his out-house and the different ways in which they related to one another, an emotional response was excited in the creature's own breast.…”

Section: Loss Of Belongingness and Love: The Beginning Of Self-destru...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, even when he succeeded in his revenge, he did not feel the slightest joy and chose to leave the world. His own death was his only means of consolation and absolution [7] .…”

Section: Self-actualization Deprived Of Esteem: the Root Of Tragedymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Monster’s Tragic Self-actualization in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

2023

AJHSS

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Mary Shelley's representative work Frankenstein is the first of modern science fiction in western literature. Frankenstein, the protagonist of the novel, abuses science and creates a manlike monster. The monster cannot engage himself in the human society and eventually goes to ruin. In light of American social psychologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchical theory of needs, this paper analyzes the five levels of needs that the monster is confronted with as he steps into human society. After mastering the basic survival skills to satisfy his physiological need and safety need, which can be categorized as deficit needs, the monster tries to meet belongingness and love need by observing human's daily life, mastering human language, and establishing emotional connection with human beings. However, human's indifference and abandonment deprives him of esteem and recognition, which leads to his devastating revenge against his creator-Frankenstein. This paper points out that the monster's selfactualization without love and esteem is the root of his tragedy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Loss Of Belongingness and Love: The Beginning Of Self-destru...mentioning

confidence: 99%