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feminis in frankenstein
feminis in frankenstein
gender roles perception
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The creatures understanding of the roles genders play in life is that of a person who has never fully experienced any real interactions with either gender. The majority of his knowledge about gender and the roles they play comes through observing the De Lacey family, consisting of an elderly father, a daughter Agatha, a son Felix, and his wife Safie. Through his observations and eavesdropping they have taught him that both male and female have a compassionate and admirable side, but his brief interactions with both the De Lacey’s and others have revealed a darker side of the male gender which is more violent and untrustworthy than that of the female. But through his experiences with the De Lacey family he comes to believe that a life is only worth living when you have a female companion with whom you could share your life. The creatures experience with the De Lacey family is what gave him his knowledge and views of the world in which he lives.
Although his encounters with both genders has never gone favorably for him, while both experience fear upon witnessing his monstrous figure, it is only the male who through his fear reacts in a hateful or violent manner usually while protecting a female companion; the most tragic example of this is when the creature reveals himself to the family to whom he has come to love and admire (De Lacey Family) “Agatha fainted; and Safie, unable to attend her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung: in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground, and struck me violently with a stick.”(Shelley 110) It is through interactions like this which turns the creature from admiration towards the male gender t...
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...anion. The creatures understanding of the world seems to be that of fear and hatred, and only through the companionship of a female will he ever truly be happy or free from his anger and loneliness. “My companion will be of the same nature as myself, and will be content with the same fare.” (Shelley 120) This statement alone shows the ignorance of the creature, thinking just because a creature is made with his disadvantages and likeness that she would share his same dispositions on life, that she would come to love him, or that she would be content to live in solitude from humanity. Through his own hands the creature is possibly creating a world even more dreadful than before, a world in which a creature has his disfigurements but doesn’t share his affections.
Works Cited
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Oxford World’s Classics, 1818 text. 106-120. Print.
"Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you contains several thematic elements; specifically, the element of betrayal. Through a complex plot, Shelley creates dynamic characters who come to the realization that the dangers of searching for the unknown secrets of life can lead to ruined and tarnished relationships. The irreversible damage that comes with finding the unknown appears to have a substantial effect on the character’s relationships with one another; especially, the central relationship between Victor Frankenstein and the monster. To the reader’s surprise Frankenstein is not the monster, but the doctor and creator of the monster, Victor. Victor Frankenstein, the creator of the monster and avid scientist, is perhaps the most complex character due to the
Shelley’s women are objectified, used, abused, and easily discarded. The female monster that the male creature wanted Victor to forge is destroyed before she is ever created. Victor “thought with a sensation of madness… creating another like to him” (Shelley) and “tore to pieces”(Shelley), the existence of a new female monster, taking away her life before she even has the chance to live it. The female monster is characterized as passive, disposable and serving a utilitarian function, providing nothing more but a channel of action of the male characters in the novel. The ruination of the female creature is used by Shelley for the sake of teaching a male character a lesson or sparking an emotion within him, in this case, Frankenstein’s demolition of the creature’s companion
On page 81 of the novel, the monster is thinking to himself as he said, “My thoughts became more active, and I longed to discover the motive and feelings of these lovely creatures…” (Shelley 81). It is distinct in the quotation how the monster is seeing his humanistic abilities—he has feelings and he has motives. He is beginning to understand the relationships the human population has with one another and he would like to be able to experience a humanistic relationship with someone who is similar to him. The ethos in the quotation is distinct because the monster’s desolate emotion could incite and emotional response from the audience—the audience could become empathetic to his situation. On page 85 of the novel, the monster was discussing his life to date as he said, “But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing. From my earliest remembrance I had been as I then was in height and proportion. I had never yet seen a being resembling me or who claimed any intercourse with me,” (Shelley 85). The monster has the knowledge of his psychical difference in comparison to the human population. The ethos in the quotation is distinct because
One day as I was walking along through the tall blades of grass, I came upon a massive figure. I thought to myself, oh just another one of these uninteresting creatures, but this one, this one was different. This one was clad with long flowing hair, and other features that did not fit my ordinary image of these marvelous creatures. I quickly realized it was going to place itself on the ground, and I was in its way. I quickly sprung to safety as the massive creature collapsed where I was previously stationed. How rude, I thought, It ruined the perfect flow of the grass. But I did not ponder too much on it as it was commonplace for these large creatures to land here. By the tree. Next to the water.
Human companionship is one of the most basic needs of humans that can be seen in the Creation story. It is tricky for any human to find the perfect companion especially if one is one of a kind. In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein two characters exemplify this need. Dr. Victor Frankenstein and The Creature are in search of companionship, and they will go to great lengths to achieve it.
In the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the author’s view concerning the role that human connections play is that humans need others in their lives in order to function correctly. As conveyed by Shelley, isolation and separation from any other beings leads to misery. Not having companions around also leads to a lack of the ability to behave constructively. Shelley’s views are conveyed throughout the novel through the decaying well being of certain characters.
The creature who has been leading a solitary existence by observing the Delacey family, exclaims “The more I saw of them, the greater my desire to claim their protection and kindness; my heart yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creatures” (Shelley 112). Being isolated from most of society, the creature’s only contact with mankind is through observing the Delaceys. Unlike any base monster, the creature has “yearning” that originates in his heart. Because the creature relates with the Delaceys as “amiable creatures” his desire for companionship with them is brought forth, further distinguishing him as distinctly human. Miserable and lonely, the creature desires to also “claim their protection and kindness” which demonstrates how the creature desires even more than just mere companionship but also to be loved. Most importantly, the creature desires acceptance into their family as one of their own. Although he observed the family, the creature took a radical and somewhat desperate choice to abduct Victor’s younger brother: “If I could therefore seize him, and educate him as my companion and friend, I should not be so desolate”. (Shelley 121). Such extremes show to what lengths the creature was willing to go to gain companionship and acceptance. Without companionship, the creature cannot survive in happiness, but he yearns for it and cannot do without it. Once again, the human need for companionship comes to the forefront of the creature’s purpose and endeavors and he is not fulfilled without it. Far from being an emotionless, brutish monster, the creature need for a friend aligns it to mankind’s basic
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, as the name implies, centers on the character of Victor Frankenstein. Over the course of the novel, the point of view switches across a cast of several characters, all of which have interacted with Victor, some more than others. Victor’s pursuit to find the source of life, and the events thereafter, show him making countless questionable decisions, hurting the people close to him, and getting away wit hit all because of the society he lives in. These points unequivocally prove that Victor Frankenstein is a sociopath.
Friendship is one of the most common human desires found all over the world in every different type of people. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, this deep-seeded need is explored, especially as it manifests itself in the hearts of three great men. Captain Walden writes to his sister about the loneliness that he is experiencing on his journey at the very start of the book. Then, as the story progresses, a similar want can be found in Victor despite his tightly woven relationship with Henry Clerval. The Creature is constantly denied his lust for companionship demonstrates the horrible consequences of incessant loneliness. His amiable nature combined with his grotesque appearance proves to be a horrific collaboration that serves only in gaining rejection as he is shunned, quite irrationally, over and over again by all living beings. The Creature's suffering could only be abandoned if he were able to encounter an unprejudiced and completely tolerant friend. Shelley masterfully conveys the importance of a kindred spirit and the overall necessity of loyalty between people.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein reflects her real life; a life filled with loss. She lost her mother, and so did Victor Frankenstein. It would only make sense that the theme of the novel is human connection. Throughout the story, the monster searches for it, as well as Victor, and quite frankly everyone else.
To men women exist in a world in which they are to be seen and not heard. The author analyzes and makes a connection between the women as not only women in general but as wives, mothers, and daughters also. This is to show that they all have something in common in their life. In addition, the author explores the relationships between these women in order to show how they all connect from their own personal experiences. In the novel, women are viewed mainly as child bearers and help mates for their husbands. Men believed that women are not capable of as much as men are. Reading the text from a female perspective shows that the women experiences from deal...
In order to properly determine whether or not characters or parties in multiple works are “Human”, it is first necessary to attempt to define what it is to be “Human”. Humanity, or being human can be interpreted as many things, such as possessing empathy, like in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, or a characteristic found in the genes, as Oryx and Crake implies. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein suggests a more absolute definition, one where any deviation from the natural process of birth creates a being that is referred to as “monster” and “devil” - “human” is out of the question.(Shelley, 68) I argue, however, that humanity is best characterized by not what traits it has, but what traits it does not. Humanity, as a whole, is not immortal, it is not omnipotent or omniscient, and it cannot create life - certainly not sentience. Humanity could be described as a struggle toward obtaining these traits, in other words, being human separates us from animals in that we struggle to be greater than we are, whereas animals are content to simply survive. What happens when a human crosses this threshold, completes its struggle? Frankenstein, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and Oryx and Crake all deal with this concept, and come to the same conclusion. When the struggle leads a human to create another with humanity by means other than reproduction, the creator and creature cannot coexist.
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein is book about the importance of human relationships and treating everyone with dignity and respect. The main character of the book is Victor Frankenstein who is a very intelligent man with a desire to create life in another being. After he completes his creation, he is horrified to find that what he has created is a monster. The monster is the ugliest, most disgusting creature that he has ever seen. Victor being sickened by his creation allows the monster to run off and become all alone in the world. Throughout Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses the theme of human relationships to illustrate the bond that man has with other beings and the need for love and affection. The importance of human relationships is shown throughout the book in many ways. Victor’s mother says to him, “I have a pretty present for my Victor—tomorrow he shall have it”(18).Victor is very excited that he has such a precious gift that will always be his. They become very close and refer to each other as cousins. However, there is a deeper a relationship between the two, and Victor vows to always protect and take of the girl whose name is Elizabeth. Mary Shelley uses this quote to explain how special Elizabeth is to Victor and that she is gift sent to him. Victor’s mother reinforces this again when she says to Victor and Elizabeth, “My children, my firmest hopes of future happiness were placed on the prospect of your union. This expectation will now be the consolation of your father. Elizabeth, my love, you must supply my place to my younger children. Alas! I regret that I am taken from you; and, happy and beloved as I have been, is it not hard to quit you all? But these are not thoughts befitting me; I will endeavour to resign...
Essay 2 Psychoanalysis is the method of psychological therapy originated by Sigmund Freud in which free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of resistance and transference are used to explore repressed or unconscious impulses, anxieties, and internal conflicts (“Psychoanalysis”). This transfers to analyzing writing in order to obtain a meaning behind the text. There are two types of people who read stories and articles. The first type attempts to understand the plot or topic while the second type reads to understand the meaning behind the text. Baldick is the second type who analyzes everything.
When speaking about the natural philosophers that inspired him to uncover the mysteries of life, Victor talks about how little the philosopher knows, “He had partially unveiled the face of Nature, but her immortal lineaments were still a wonder and a mystery. He might dissect,” (Shelley 40). The depiction of nature as female and as something still not understood shows that Victor’s mission isn’t simply to create without the feminine, but to understand it. When Cross examines the creature’s learning of language, she makes the point that “the creature seeks language as a way of compensating for his appearance…however, the very language he learns determines not only the structures of his relationship, but his very identity, as the product of a specifically gendered and structured discourse.” (Cross 557). Here, Cross considers the creature to be symbolic of women in art, attempting to be included by learning the male dominated discourse, but never being accepted because of their inherent nature. However well the creature works as a symbol for the lack of feminine acceptance in academics, the creature is always identified as male, by Victor and the creature himself. Instead, if the creature is in some part a reflection of Victor himself, then Victor’s isolation, after his creation slays William, is self-imposed to prevent the acquisition of sympathy, by his fear of