A G-d like Ego

Aliya Harker

Aliya Harker
3/6/2016
Professor Alicia Pennington
Mosaics 1

A G-d like Ego

Throughout our written history you will always be able to find at least
on character, typically a male, who exhibits a G-d like ego. In Mary Shelleys
Frankenstein, she lets nothing go to waste with her representation of Victor
Frankenstein. For years many scholars, literary analysist and other writers
have accused Doctor Frankenstein of playing G-d in his creation of the
Creature. They argue that by Playing G-d in his creation of the monster he
played to his own superior g-d like ego. Mary Shelley portrays Frankenstein
as having a sociopathic personality, where everything he does, he does to
benefit himself. He is not able to work and love at the same time, which is
seen in throughout with his relationship with Henry, William, Justine, his
father and especially Elizabeth.
Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein during a time when everything was
very patriarchal. It was unknown for a woman to be able to write a novel of
such caliber, like Frankenstein. Even more so she was able to write the main
character with a mans voice. Shelley is able to she her verbal eloquence
and her state of understanding considering the male ego. In one character
she is able to represent the entire entity of the male ego in the late 1700s to
the early 1800s in one character. Men controlled everything, not just society
but, the culture and especially the woman. With this control comes the

superiority and the development of an ego that most can equate to that of Gd like.
The character of Victor Frankenstein emanates everything that Shelley
sees as the typical male ego of her time. Frankensteins ability to distance
himself from his family and to completely submerge himself in his work
normally would not coincide with a super ego, but adding in his supreme
want to play G-d. According to Sigmund Freud the Superego, is only partly
conscious, and represents the internalization of parental conscience and the
rules and norms or society. The functions to reward and punish through a
system of moral attitudes, conscience, and a sense of guilt. This can be
broken into two different part, a persons ideal self and their conscious. Saul
McLeod a teacher of A-level psychology at Wigan and Leigh College, defines
a persons ideal self as an imaginary picture of how you ought to be, and
represents career aspirations, how to treat other people, and how to behave
as a member of society. While the conscience is defined as what punishes
the ego and makes a person feel guilty for what the Id proposes. The
conscience is supposed to be the light against the darkness of the Id.
In the case of Victor Frankenstein, Shelley described him in some way
as to not have a conscience. Frankenstein is unable to anything that does not
benefit himself and is unable to love in the way that most people do. It would
seem that in Frankensteins psyche, while normally a persons conscience
will work as a barrier between the Id and the Ideal self. For Dr. Frankenstein,

he has no such barrier. He is unable to feel guilty or any remorse for his
actions, mainly the action of creating the Creature and anything associated
with the Monster.
When Frankenstein told the Creature that he would create him a mate
and then turning around and saying no is just one example of him feeling
empowered. The question is whether he would have been able to create the
female with the ability to pro-create and is that the reason why he did not do
it? Most would say that, that is not the case, and Frankenstein was just
merely exercising his control and power over his creation. So symptoms
that Frankenstein exhibited early on in the novel was when he was first
working on his creation, he fantasized about his future success, power,
intelligence and the lack empathy towards others. Sometimes I grew
alarmed at the wreck I perceived that I had become; the energy of my
purpose alone sustained me My labors would soon end, and I believed that
exercise and amusement would drive away incipient disease; and I promised
myself both of these when my creation should be complete. (Shelley 45)
There have been many different representations of Frankenstein
through books and movies. While the movie is a comedy, Young
Frankenstein written and directed by Mel Brooks in 1974, is one of the
better representations of Frankensteins ego. Gene Wilders character Dr.
Frederick Frankenstein, an American scientist who is the grandson of the
egregious scientist Victor Frankenstein. Growing up he never displayed the

signs of having a Superego or the need and want to Play G-d. He never
believed the stories of the Creature that his grandfather created. It wasnt
until he discovered the process and began to understand and appreciate the
science behind reanimating a dead body that he started to develop the ego.
As he gets drawn to his grandfathers research, he tries to disassociate
himself but, without success. Over time the thought of succeeding in
Playing G-d leads Frederick to develop the Ego of his grandfather.
The argument that Frankenstein is Playing G-d can be easily
explained and can be settled by the argument of his ego. Frankenstein
psychologically was unable relate and bond with others in the way that
people are normally able to do. He does not have the barrier like most do
where they can empathize with others. Frankenstein was unable to
empathize with his Creation and take responsibility for the Creatures and his
own actions. He just believed that he was superior to everyone else and that
he alone was the victim. Victor Frankenstein was a sociopath and
psychologically sick. Never will he be able to empathize and never will he
ever be able to have a relationship with anyone.

Bibliography:

Mcleod, Saul. "Id Ego Superego | Simply Psychology." Id Ego Superego | Simply Psychology. N.p.,
2008. Web. Mar. 2016.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Bram Stoker, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Signet Classics:
Frankenstein ; Dracula ; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Rizzuto, Ana-Maria. The Birth of the Living God: A Psychoanalytic Study. Chicago: U of Chicago, 1979.
Print.

Vaz, Neha. "A Psychological Analysis of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley." Prezi.com. N.p., 18 Nov.
2013. Web. Mar. 2016.