"Happy Mind, Happy Life."

Frankenstein Entries

ENTRY 1

“Psychoanalytic Criticism and Frankenstein”

“Freud’s theories are either directly or indirectly concerned with the nature of the unconscious mind. Freud didn’t invent the notion of the unconscious; others before him had suggested that even the supposedly ‘sane’ human mind was conscious and rational only at times, and even then at possibly only one level. But Freud went further, suggesting that the powers motivating men and women are mainly and normally unconscious” (301).

“What the ego and the superego tell us not to do or think is repressed, forced into the unconscious mind. One of Freud’s most important contributions to the study of the psyche, the theory of repression, goes something like this: much of what lies in the unconscious mind has been put there by consciousness, which acts as a censor, driving underground unconscious or conscious thoughts or instincts that it deems unacceptable. Censored materials often involve infantile sexual desires, Freud postulated. Repressed to an unconscious state, they emerge only in disguised forms: in dreams, in language (so-called Freudian slips), in creative activity that may produce art (including literature), and in neurotic behavior” (301-302).

ENTRY 2

“Frankenfish”

Image result for frankenfish steve greenberg"

“Steve Greenberg, ‘Frankenfish’ (2009). GMOs (genetically modified organisms) or ‘Franken food’ – food either genetically modified in a lab or grown using hormones, steroids, and other scientific modifications – has been a major source of inspiration for contemporary political cartoons” (252).

“Born This Way: Reading Frankenstein with Disability”

“While the animation scene and the developmental events that follow it invite us to compare the Creature’s experience to the trajectory of a rejected or abandoned child, after this accelerated acquisition of linguistic and other skills, the novel’s focus shifts to the question of what to do with a socially problematic and uncontrollable adult” (373).

Excerpt from Paradise Lost by John Milton (1673)
"All hope excluded thus, behold in stead     
Of us out-cast, exil'd, his new delight, 
Mankind created, and for him this world. So farewel hope, and with hope farewel fear, Farewel remorse: all good to me is lost; Evil be thou my good..." (105-110).

6 Comments

  1. phussey

    Visited 🙂 1/29
    Awesome connection to the chapters that we read!!

  2. jchretien1

    Visited on 1/29. Very interesting choice of excerpts. The concept of desire/the unconscious mind is very interesting in relation to Victor’s intense drive to achieve his aim, the public’s “knee-jerk” reaction to the monster, and various other topics!

  3. jchretien1

    Visited 02/05 Nice entry! I think the “disability” article was interesting too (it was interesting to see the perspective shifted from Victor’s madness to the creature’s experience as marginalized person). The “Frankenfish” comic is also very relevant to modern GMO debates.

  4. phussey

    Visited!! That was an awesome choice for a quote from the Born this Way Article. I agree that this is an important point in the article.

  5. cirish1

    Hey Olivia!

    I really enjoyed your second entry in your Commonplace book with the Frankenfish cartoon. Since I’m a marine science major I thought this was a great connection!

  6. cskowronski

    I love the connection of Frankenstein to todays issues associated with genetic modification. Super interesting!

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