This paper discusses the genesis of the famous story of Frankenstein which arose from a dream experienced by Mary
Shelley whilst on a holiday shared with her husband Percy Shelley, Lord
Byron, Dr Polidori and her step sister Claire Clairmont. The novel
relates how the creature created by Victor Frankenstein horrifies him,
is rejected by him and called a monster. The monster's ensuing despair
and subsequent murderousness is eloquently described. The whole book is
clearly connected to Mary
Shelley's experience as an infant whose mother died after giving birth
to her and her subsequent loss, as a mother, of her own new born infant.
It is suggested that the novel imaginatively describes what it is to
have been primarily rejected as an infant and to feel regarded as a
monster.
© 2015, The Society of Analytical Psychology.
