The Id, Ego and Superego Shown in Frankenstein and Dr....

Frankenstein: the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson both show Freud’s ideas of Id, Ego and Superego as well as of innate desire. Frankenstein: the Modern Prometheus shows Freuds stages of psychosexual development. Collectively both novels should be considered Freudian through these ideas. Jekyll and Hyde works as a symbolic portrayal of the goodness and evil that resides in equal measure within the soul of a man. It pre-empted Freudian psychoanalysis by twenty-five years and yet is similar to some of his theories. In Frankenstein both the monster and Victor exemplify Freud’s developmental stages. According to Sigmund Freuds psychoanalytic theory of personality,†¦show more content†¦It is all at an end. And indeed he does not want my help; you do not know him as I do; he is safe, he is quite safe; mark my words, he will never more be heard of (Stevenson 66). Despite saying this Jekyll still succumbs to his Id and Hyde is drawn out again. Jekyll knows of the evil that comes out when he transforms into Hyde. Jekyll says â€Å"This, as I take it, was because all human beings, as we meet them are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil†(Stevenson 108). Here Jekyll clearly states that he knows Hyde is evil yet he still cannot overpower his Id and then his Superego is overcome. By turning into Hyde, Jekyll feels free and can do whatever he wants without the slightest hesitation. Following his innate desires Hyde murders Sir Danvers Carew and tramples a young girl. These actions are done through the Id and even though Jekyll is civilized law abiding man once the Id has taken over and he transforms into Hyde, his dark side is unleashed. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are but one; one body but two conflicting characters, the good and evil. In Frankenstein: the Modern Prometheus we see t he monster as the outward expression of Victors Id or his demoniacal passions. Freud believed that personality develops through a series of childhood stages during which the pleasure-seeking energies of the id become focused on certain behaviors. These childhood stages are known as the psycosexual developmental stages.Show MoreRelatedThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde : Literary Review1515 Words   |  7 PagesThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Literary Review The Romantic era was plagued with class conflict, poverty, and labor issues. The Victorian novel allows those who had access to them discover and focus on moral issues with society. Among the novel that were created during the era, the genre of a gothic novella emerged. Well knowns gothic novellas included Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Robert Stevenson’s gothic novella The StrangeRead MoreHomosexuality in Victorian and Elizabethan Literature.6608 Words   |  27 Pagesand called it Dracula. Mary Shelley created a a physical being out of a mans suppressed homosexuality due to his Victorian male upbringing; a man named Frankenstein. Robert Stevenson described what happens when a homosexual male attempts to live double lives to cover up his true feelings, and entitled it The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The Elizabethan era, like the Victorian era, had its own view of homosexuality. Iago, a man with the tong ue of a serpent, is believed to be homosexual