Monday, February 17, 2014
Victor Frankenstein's God Complex
Victor
Frankenstein is undoubtedly a troubled man with a troubled mind. His
obsession to divulge nature's mysteries via scientific inquiry drives
him to mania. We can see plainly this mania manifest itself as his
relentless persistence to create life, though his motivations are
more elusive. There is evidence that Caroline Beaufort's death may
have contributed to Frankenstein's mania as he says "I need not
describe the feelings of those whose dearest ties are rent by that
most irreparable evil"[43]. The "irreparable evil" in
this line is death and Frankenstein's disgust for it may have
motivated him to rid the world of death. Frankenstein also says "I
might in process of time (although I now found it impossible) renew
life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption"[54]
indicating that renewing life had always been a direction
Frankenstein was interested in taking his research and that he had
tried and failed to do so. More likely than this rather benevolent
interpretation though is Frankenstein's burning desire for power. His
will to create stems from his will to aggregate power such that "A
new species would bless [him] as its creator and source; many happy
and excellent natures would owe their being to [him]. No father could
claim the gratitude of his child so completely as [he] should deserve
theirs" [54]. Succinctly put, Frankenstein develops a God
complex. Frankenstein's psychology isn't entirely surprising given
his inspiration. A quick Wikipedia search reveals that Cornelius Agrippa,
Albertus Magnus, and Paracelus (Frankenstein's intellectual muses)
are occult philosophers. In other words, these philosophers believed
in some facet that the world could not be completely understood
through the scientific method -- that science could only examine the
relationship between "things". The intrinsic nature of a
"thing", according to Agrippa, could only be understood as
a sort of philosophical magic or alchemy. Frankenstein attempted to
wield this alchemy and in turn wield the most essential knowledge of
the universe's most basic qualities.
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It is true to that Victor does have a God complex, he created a creature that far more superior than he is. While God made men in his image, Victor created something that is not even man nor animal, not even in his image. The grotesque monster in the state of suspended animation that neither age nor can be ravage by disease. With its characteristic, the creature is then playing God over Victor. Is Victor really playing God or just delusional? Victor elevated his status to God, but in turn he diminished his status by having a being greater than he is.
ReplyDeleteVictor’s God complex is seen in the eyes of his creation as well. When talking with Victor about how events came to pass, the creation tells Victor, “I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel” (105). The creation’s discovery and acceptance of Victor as his God shows how much knowledge the creation has obtained. This aspect could also be paralled to Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden for eating from the tree of knowledge. However, one aspect of Victor’s God complex is quite interesting: as soon as he realizes the grouteque nature of his creation, he abandons it to suffer alone, directly creating a monster filled with rage towards the human race. The abandonment of his creator forces the creation to fend for himself in a world he does not understand with people very much unlike himself.
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