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dream sequence, therefore, has several curious ramifications when viewed
in light of Kristeva’s abject. First, Elizabeth’s disappearance from the
scene at the appearance of the corpse argues for her incompatibility with
the reality that death represents. Second, the appearance of the monster
that follows the image of the corpse strengthens the connection of the
monster with death and reality. Since abjection is associated with the
failure to distinguish between subject and object that is prerequisite to
the symbolic order, the appearance of the corpse signifies both Elizabeth’s
and the monster’s potential failures to enter into the symbolic. Though
placed in a gender role as wife to Victor, Elizabeth’s marriage is never
consummated. Her death serves to confirm what the interjection of
the corpse has already done in Victor’s dream: Elizabeth’s identity is
problematized and broken down by the reality of death. The appearance
of the monster following the corpse, however, not only cements the
monster’s place outside of the symbolic order, but also gives precedence
to his identity. The sequential nature of the dream makes Elizabeth and
the monster appear interchangeable to Victor, but the ultimate presence
of the monster at the dream’s ending reveals the creature’s superiority
over fixed identity. Death, as represented by the corpse, morphs into
the monster, and the monster is the only vision which Victor sees while
awake, confirming his unyielding and undifferentiated existence.
Devon Hodges argues that “the monster does not desire to be a
rebel; he wants to be assimilated into society” (160). He also contends
that the creature’s “monstrousness is projected on him” (161). Tackling
Hodges’ first claim, it seems that, while the monster does make an effort
at assimilation, it is entirely on his own terms. Declaring himself to be
Victor’s “fallen angel,” rather than his “Adam,” the creature assigns himself
an identity (93). This identity is not built upon societal structures, but
rather the literary work of Milton. The significance of the creature’s
formation of identity from a literary text lies in the multiplicity of
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meanings that can be derived from the source. Interpretations of Milton’s
Satan and Adam are undefined and continually undergoing reassessment.
Seen in this light, the monster’s identity, therefore, maintains adaptability
in its Miltonian foundation.
In telling Victor about his experiences with fire the monster states:
“How strange, I thought, that the same cause could produce such
opposite effects!” (97). The creature’s demand that Victor make him a
female mate may appear at first a call for integration into the structures of
the symbolic order. However, upon closer examination this request breaks
down into a confirmation of the creature’s resistance to assimilation that
is inherent to his monstrosity. While the call for a female mate seems
to fall into the role of a traditional male figure, the monster’s demands
do not signal assimilation into society. The monster’s mate would be
equally monstrous. Rather than escaping his monstrosity, the creature’s
attempt to normalize himself would only result in affirming the very
thing which he rejects. A mate fashioned unnaturally in the same manner
as the creature would affirm his otherness and inability to integrate into
the order of society. Just as fire produced two different effects depending
upon the creature’s proximity, so the creation of a mate for the monster,
though an objectively “normalizing” process of assimilation, would not
produce the same effect in the monster’s identity as it would in a male
member of society.
Marshall Brown argues that the creature as a monster is defined by his
“lack of a place in the cosmic order,” therefore, “A book about a monster
lacks a stable ground for experience” (196). The successful creation of
the female monster and the possibility of a future in South America
would represent too stable of a development in the creature’s identity.
He would have a “place in the cosmic order” if his plans succeeded, and
the monstrousness that defines his all-encompassing identity would be
nullified. Even if his plans did come to fruition, the very fact of the
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