Frankenstein, or the Voice of Chaos - A Psychoanalytical Reading of Mary Shelley's Journey Into the Subconscious of a Gifted Mind

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to trace "Frankenstein" back to its origin in an attempt to revisit the creative "chaos" behind Shelley's gothic horror story, in order to unveil a hitherto undiscovered latent meaning that lurks behind the narrative structure. By subjecting Shelley's "Frankenstein" to a psychoanalysis that draws on Freud in focusing on the "dream" as wish fulfillment, while showing how a formalist approach can be a part of psychoanalysis by the introduction of Maslowian theory, along with the incorporation of a proposed cognitive disposition of the implied author into the analysis - this essay, in a sense, seeks not only to offer an original reading of Mary Shelley's "hideous progeny", but also to revive the (in the wake of New Criticism) somewhat forgotten author herself.