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  • Essay / Analyzing Shelley's Frankenstein from Different Perspectives

    As a relatively new form of accepted literary criticism, genre studies cannot help but incorporate aspects of multiple other forms of criticism. Gender criticism depends on the distinction, or lack of distinction, between the dichotomies constructed in society; It focuses on both the perceived and inherent traits of gender and sexuality, and why these differences are indicative of the society that produces them. In summary, gender criticism draws on nature, a biological set of traits or values, as opposed to nurture, a social set of traits or values. Two pre-existing forms of criticism favor both sides of this debate. Feminist criticism focuses on the social roles that gender conforms to in society and examines the differences produced in literature by differences between the sexes. Psychoanalytic criticism integrates the innate desires and traits present in all of humanity, regardless of social roles and assumptions. In Frankenstein, the interplay between these three objectives can be examined by examining three factors essential to the plot: the monster, the role of men, and the role of the mother. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay The monster, especially when considered in the context of his relationship with Victor, reveals a myriad of assumptions about the human society and human nature. Through a psychoanalytic lens, the terror of their relationship is explored, through Victor's inability to escape his own undesirable image and through his failure to realize his Lacanian desire to replace his mother's role. From a feminist perspective, the terror of their relationship could be explained by the gender roles present, or more precisely by the absence of female influence in a process so similar to birth; the monster reveals the necessity of the female role in society. Genre criticism incorporates and departs somewhat from these two perspectives, asserting that Victor's relationship with his monster can be explained in terms of homosexuality, and that "Frankenstein's creature can also be read as the incarnation of lesbian panic” and explores social terror. that lesbians arouse. Male desire also invites three similar but divergent perspectives. In psychoanalytic criticism, desire is defined more broadly as the dissatisfaction present after exiting the womb, ultimately resolved only at the time of sexual intercourse or in death. Psychoanalytic criticism can explain the destruction and pursuit of domination that constitutes Victor's way of coping with the inability to satisfy his desire. Feminist criticism, on the other hand, can define male desire "as a complex construct producing and reproducing a constellation of behaviors and goals, many of which are destructive." We then explain the tragedy that occurs in Frankenstein by the absence of a predominant female influence. Gender criticism takes these concepts of male desire and male destruction and presents the idea that men are conditioned to exhibit destructive behaviors, and that Victor's social expectation to conform to a traditionally heterosexual role is the cause of the tragedy. Keep in mind: This is only a sample.Get a custom paper from our expert writers now.Get a Custom Essay Finally, the presence of a maternal role is an integral part of these lenses when analyzing Frankenstein . In psychoanalysis, the maternal role is a vessel of desire, in the same way.