Making Daemons of Death and Love: Frankenstein, Existentialism, Psychoanalysis

Abstract

Psychology and literature are kindred approaches to the depth dimensions of life. By reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in light of existentialism and psychoanalysis, we may develop a deeper appreciation of the novel and of key psychological phenomena such as death-repression, the return of the repressed, and the daemonic. In evading life’s challenges, Victor Frankenstein makes daemons of four great existential mysteries: death, love, nature, and spirit. His disowned conflicts return to haunt him in the guise of the creature, in his implicit captivation by death, in his alienation from people and nature, and in perversions of authentic spirituality. In contrast, Shelley was able, via Frankenstein, to transform her suffering and hope into a deep, enduring work of art.