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Adoption, Tragedy, and the Failed Search for Origins in Frankenstein
- Adoption & Culture
- The Ohio State University Press
- Volume 7, Issue 2, 2019
- pp. 244-256
- 10.1353/ado.2019.0017
- Article
- Additional Information
Abstract:
Frankenstein is, metaphorically, a tragic adoption story about the creature's failed search for origins. Shelley's novel also sucks readers into a failed search for the ultimate origin of unbearable events. I present a new theory of tragedy, showing Frankenstein as an allegory about the “overdetermined” nature of tragedy in general.