Sexual Repression In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Robin wood explains how their are different versions of the other, the version that applies to Frankenstein is the proletariat. “The proletariat—insofar as it still has any autonomous existence and has escaped its colonization by bourgeois ideology. It remains, at least, a conveniently available object for projection: the bourgeois obsession with cleanliness, which psychoanalysis shows to be an outward symptom closely associated with sexual repression, and bourgeois sexual repression itself, find their inverse reflections in the myths of working-class squalor and sexuality.” In this quote Robin Wood is saying, the otherness of the working - class people such as a scientist, who usually do the "dirty jobs", is due to the common obsession with
…show more content…
Frankenstein represses himself by not forming a patriarchal family, and instead he spends all his time in his lab working on his experiments. Repression is a key element for people to become human beings. Robin Wood mentions, “Basic repression is universal, necessary, and inescapable. It is what makes possible our development from an uncoordinated animal capable of little beyond screaming and convulsions into a human being; it is bound up with the ability to accept the postponement of gratification, with the development of our thought and memory processes, of our capacity for self-control, and of our recognition of and consideration for other people.” This is talking about how repression connects to the development of our thought and memory processes, self control, and the consideration for other people. With this in mind, Frankenstein's’ monster represents the lack of repression. Frankenstein’s monster does not have self control nor consideration for other people really. There are definitely a few scenes that the monster shows emotion and concerns for other people, like when he is throwing flowers in the lake and is happy until he runs out of flowers and throws the girl in the lake. He shows guilt and concern after he throws the little girl in the lake and sees that she is dead. The monster was never taught those things and his brain couldn’t just develop to learn those things. Even though that wasn’t truly his fault, it doesn't make him
Frankenstein represses himself by not forming a patriarchal family, and instead he spends all his time in his lab working on his experiments. Repression is a key element for people to become human beings. Robin Wood mentions, “Basic repression is universal, necessary, and inescapable. It is what makes possible our development from an uncoordinated animal capable of little beyond screaming and convulsions into a human being; it is bound up with the ability to accept the postponement of gratification, with the development of our thought and memory processes, of our capacity for self-control, and of our recognition of and consideration for other people.” This is talking about how repression connects to the development of our thought and memory processes, self control, and the consideration for other people. With this in mind, Frankenstein's’ monster represents the lack of repression. Frankenstein’s monster does not have self control nor consideration for other people really. There are definitely a few scenes that the monster shows emotion and concerns for other people, like when he is throwing flowers in the lake and is happy until he runs out of flowers and throws the girl in the lake. He shows guilt and concern after he throws the little girl in the lake and sees that she is dead. The monster was never taught those things and his brain couldn’t just develop to learn those things. Even though that wasn’t truly his fault, it doesn't make him