Beauty and the beast: Diagnosing narcissistic personality Disorder in Shelley's Frankenstein and Güntekin's Sara

The present thesis examines the personality traits of Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, and of Sara, the protagonist of Reşat Nuri Güntekin's novel Bir Kadın Düşmanı. Our claim is that both Victor Frankenstein and Sara suffer from narcissistic personality disorder, comorbid with other disorders. Comorbidity refers to the existence of more than one disorder in the same person at the same time. In Frankenstein's case, vulnerable narcissism is comorbid with obsessive compulsive disorder, and In Sara's case, grandiose narcissism is comorbid with histrionic personality . People with narcissistic personality disorders are also known to have some other common traits under an umbrella term, the dark triad: Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism. According to a rating scale developed by Dr. Peter Jonason and Gregory Webster, dark triads are measured by manipulativeness, deceitfulness, insensitivity, constant need for attention and admiration, lack of remorse, and lack of concern with morality of their own actions. We are going to try to identify the characteristics of narcissistic personality disorder in both Frankenstein and Sara, along with the traits of comorbidity and the dark triad. Key Words: Narcissism, personality disorder, Frankenstein, Sara, Güntekin