ied in the dream was the symbolism. In his works on dreams, Freud often stresses the existence of sexual motivation in dreams. He identifies many symbols of genitals and sexual intercourse. One of the symbols for the phallis is a snake. I extended that symbol to include the graveworms that are mentioned in Victor’s dream. The existence of this symbol led me to examine the possibility that sexual feelings may have caused this dream. The two characters that are mentioned in the dream are Elizabeth, his intended wife, and Caroline, who is his now deceased mother. The presence of Victor’s love object and his mother ensure the existence of sexual feelings in the dream. The way in which Victor describes embracing and kissing Elizabeth implies that he has sexual desire for her. He may also have a genuine sense of love for her, but this aspect is not as clear. Victor’s feelings for Elizabeth could be expected by examining his childhood. As he was growing up, Victor was quite sheltered. His only contact with women being his mother and Elizabeth. When Elizabeth was brought into Victors house his mother presented her as “ . . . a pretty present for my Victor.” Victor at one point also states that Elizabeth was “the beautiful and adored companion of all my occupations and my pleasures.” The fact that Elizabeth was termed a present by Caroline, and Victor uses the word “pleasures” seem to suggest that she was intended to be not only Victors playmate as a child, but also his “plaything” as an adult. The fact that she was “given to him” can be related to the euphemism of “giving one’s self” which is to engage in sexual acts with a person. I venture to say that the dream reveals that Victor’s lust was not confined to Elizabeth. I find evidence for this in the transformation of Elizabeth into Victor’s mother. Elizabeth’s image may have only been a way to mask his mother in a socially acceptable manner. In Victor’s mind it may have been his mother that he

Some topics in this essay:
Ingolstadt Delighted, Victor Elizabeth, Elizabeth Victor, Elizabeth Caroline, Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Elizabeth’s, Caroline Victor, Elizabeth Victor’s, Complex Freud’s, Caroline Elizabeth, mother elizabeth, anger towards mother, towards mother, freud’s theories, victor elizabeth, elizabeth caroline, anger towards, elizabeth elizabeth, dream elizabeth, scarlet fever, wed elizabeth, mother elizabeth elizabeth,