Essay On The Nature Of Frankenstein - 1461 Words

In â€Å"Insurmountable barriers to our union’: Homosocial male bonding, homosexual panic, and death on the ice in Frankenstein† James Holt McGavran makes a compelling argument about the nature of Frankenstein’s creature in Mary Shelley’s â€Å"Frankenstein.† He argues that the creature represents his creators repressed sexuality and that Victor’s rejection of the creature stems from â€Å"homosexual panic.† The revulsion Victor feels is due to being faced with a physical manifestation of his sexuality and being forced to confront it. McGavran claims that the mutual obsession with one another that the creature and Victor share is due to attraction, and that the creature represents an ideal lover for Victor. He goes on to offer proof of both Shelley’s†¦show more content†¦this idea helps provide clarity to one of the most contested moments in the text, which is why exactly Victor turns on his creation immediately after s eeing him when he had previously â€Å"desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart† (Shelley, 39). McGavran argues that it is the fact that the creature is a physical representation of Victors sexuality that forces him to have to acknowledge his homosexual desire. McGavran points out that Victor had â€Å"selected his features as beautiful† (Shelley, 39) which means that â€Å"the creature has not always revolted his creator† (McGavran, 47). This reinforces both the idea of homosexual panic and McGavran’s argument that the creature represents his â€Å"ideal male lover† (47) as Shelley makes a point of saying that Victor wanted his creature to be attractive. Further, after the creation of the creature, Victor: â€Å"travers[es] the streets, without any clear conception of where [he] was or what [he] was doing. [His] heart pal pitated in the sickness of fear; and [he] hurried on with irregular steps, not daring to look about [him] (Shelley, 40). That he is too afraid to look about him suggests that he is filled with shame over his realization of the nature of his creation. In the article, McGavran touches on feministShow MoreRelatedThe Theme of Nature in Frankenstein Essay2231 Words   |  9 PagesIn 1818 Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley. In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein brings a creature to life. The creature kills William, Henry Clerval, and Elizabeth. 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