A Jungian Archetypal Analysis of the Ego-Shadow Dynamic in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Abstract
While Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is frequently analyzed as a cautionary tale of scientific overreach, the precise psychological structures that reinforce its narrative trajectory require deeper investigation. This qualitative study addresses this gap by exploring how characters function as a unified, conflicting psychic system defined strictly by the Jungian Ego-Shadow dynamic among personas representing distinct psychological forces: the conscious executive center (Victor Frankenstein), the repressed unconscious (the creature), and the idealized anima (Elizabeth Lavenza). Utilizing a library-based close reading method, the analysis is grounded in Carl Gustav Jung’s (2018) analytical psychology and contemporary interpretations of Gothic trauma. A sample of 25 purposively selected textual extracts was systematically evaluated and categorized using the qualitative paradigm of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña (2020). The findings reveal a stark pragmatic disparity across psychological dimensions. The inflated Ego routinely uses intellectual rationalizations and direct commands to maintain systemic dominance and suppress the deep, unacknowledged contents of the personal unconscious. In contrast, despite its immense psychological energy, the newly animated creation experiences constant communicative resistance; its discourse consistently fails to achieve linguistic legitimacy or emotional integration due to the creator’s total lack of empathy and rigid diagnostic labeling. Meanwhile, secondary archetypal supports face severe narrative exclusion, as their attempts to anchor the protagonist’s identity are immediately suppressed through a catastrophic failure of the individuation process. Ultimately, this research demonstrates that narrative verbal authority mirrors the internal psychic warfare of the human soul, highlighting Archetypal theory as a powerful tool for exposing hidden structures of class and self-marginalization in classic literature.
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