Psychological theories relating to Frankenstein (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein) - Case Study Example

Although Frankenstein has been noted for its treatment of the philosophical, mythological, scientific, and feminist questions, it is fundamental to realize that the novel also undertakes an in-depth study of the psychology of mind, human nature and, most significantly, alienation. The offers an important case of reference to an analysis into how human brain creates one’s mental world and the novelist portrays the images of her politico-cultural world and value system through the characters of the novel.

Significantly, Mary Shelley has been greatly novel effective in unleashing the images of her mental world into the intellectual sphere of her novel in a subjective, complex and problematic way and establishes the relationship between the theories of the mind and the motivations of the characters. “Mary Shelley translates politics into psychology. She uses revolutionary symbolism… Her characters reenact earlier political polemics on the level of personal psychology.” (Sterrenburg, 144) Therefore, a reflective analysis of the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley corroborates that the motivations of the characters in the novel are directed by the mental world of the novelist.

Psychological theories dealing with the working of human mind can be greatly useful in comprehending the construction of a literary work, especially the characterization of a novel. . In order to comprehend the theories of mind in relation to the motivations of the characters in the novel, it is essential to realize the philosophical context of the work which is suggested by the theory of the ‘tabula rasa’ or ‘clean slate’. “This theory, held by the Empiricists, maintains that the mind, at the beginning of a person’s life, is empty; after birth, the senses receive impressions and are able to formulate ideas.

” (Joshua, 25) The mental world of the novelist created by the socio-cultural and political images of her contemporary situation was crucial in the creation of the major characters in the novel. Significantly, the major characters of the novel, the young student of science and the monster created by him, offer a crucial example of how the mental world is linked to character-motivations. An investigation into the complex and multifaceted personalities of Frankenstein and the creature is essential in realizing the motives of these characters as the making of their mental world.

Similarly, every significant question concerning science and society as discussed in the novel brings out this crucial link between the motivation of the character and their mental world. In a profound understanding of Mary Shelley’s creation account in the novel, it becomes lucid that the mental world of the creator has a great influence on the motivations of his creation. Thus, the mythic ambiguity of the central characters, Victor Frankenstein and the creature, points to the underlying moral ambiguity of the story.

In Shelley’s creation account, neither the creator nor the creature in his rebellion has morally pure motivation. This characteristic feature of the novel corresponds to the link between the mind and the motivations