Banerjee additionally argues against notions that Shelley isn’t solely concerned on the usurpation of woman’s creative power (Banerjee 1) because the male and female family of Frankenstein are equally destroyed by his creation. Rather than just pulling women up into man’s sphere of separation from nature, Banerjee suggests that Shelley wants to remove the dichotomy; “for the family to ensure the well-being of all members men need to commit to it as much as women.” (Banerjee 12). But I find that there are many instances when feminine does work to bring stability, even though it is divided into different spheres, instead the problem is that the entities are ill-defined in Victor’s own androgynous impulses. For example, Victor’s father and mother …show more content…
As Dickerson points out, the female characters are largely in the background of the story as “Ambiguous figures: present but absent” (Dickerson 80), which serves the concept of Frankenstein as a ghost story. Dickerson also considers the females as keepers and guardian angels of men, and therefore “the women in Frankenstein’s house are failed keepers” (86) because they are “Passive and tame, silent and silenced” (87) especially in their lack of rhetorical capabilities. But whereas Dickerson focuses on the contrast between Safie’s distinct voice at the center of the story compared to all the other female characters to conclude the importance of women empowerment, I consider the mystifying of the female and Victor’s subsequent ignoring of the domestic life as a failure of Victor’s character to recognize the feminine within himself, as though a ghost. He is the teller of his story and while he consistently imbues the Elizabeth with angelic traits, he also reveals a sense of possession over her, first when he takes the present of Elizabeth’s adoption literally as his “mine to protect, love, and cherish” (Shelley 36), and again when he wants to fulfil his oath to his creation so that he “might claim Elizabeth, and forget the past in my union with her.”(153). Victor sees …show more content…
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
In conclusion, in Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein, the female characters always fulfill the limited and archetypical roles that are set for them by society. In this novel, many female characters are considered to be possessions. In fact, they are considered to be the servants of men. “I have a pretty present for my Victor—tomorrow he shall have it.” (Mary Shelly, Pg. 70)
‘[The] characters and plot of Frankenstein reflect . . . Shelley’s conflicted feelings about the masculine circle which surrounded her.’
Mary Wollstonecraft, mother of Mary Shelley and author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, held the firm belief that women were equal to men. As such, it is hard to imagine that the daughter of a prominent women’s right advocate would only portray passive and disposable women in her novel, Frankenstein. Despite this, the story only includes women such as Justine Moritz and Elizabeth Lavenza, “each of whom relies upon male intervention and agency to save them” (Cadwell). While it can be argued that these women were used to show the flaws of misogyny, on the surface they each provide nothing more than character development for the male leads or a means by which to further the plot.
Mary Shelley and Jonathan Swift were completely us”(Swift, 73). Swift doesn’t think highly of chambermaids. Swift in general portrays females, even his wife, in a rather unjust way. The girls of Brobdingnag “would strip themselves to the skin, and put on their smocks in my presence, while I was placed on their toilet directly before their naked bodies, which, I am sure, to me was very far from being a tempting sight, or from giving me any other emotions than those of horror and disgust.”(Swift 133) Gulliver’s thoughts clearly address the youth of Swift’s time. Contrary to Swift’s writing, Shelly’s Frankenstein portrays females in an esteemed fashion. Females play active roles in Frankenstein, whether to Victor or to Felix. In fact, women help Victor develop in the reader’s eyes which is impossible to notice unless they are mentioned. Elizabeth is the guiding light of Victor, before and after his maddening state of creation. When Victor is re-united with Elizabeth he describes her in romantic fashion, “time had since I last beheld her; it had endowed her with loveliness surpassing the beauty of her childish years.” (Shelly 67) This is completely opposite to Gulliver. Whether it be his mom, Justine, or Elizabeth; Victor has positive encounters with females. It can also be noted that the Frankenstein monster “demand[s] a creature of another sex… and it shall content me” (Shelly 135). This request that the monster asks for is crucial as it shows the necessary interactions between males and females that Shelly, not Swift, shows.
This novel supports Shelley’s thought about society’s attitude toward female authors and how they were considered inferior. She demonstrates how female authors are shunned by society, just like the creature is shunned. The creature embodies the feminist ideals Shelley weaves into the novel and highlights societies unfair treatment of women. In some ways Shelley identifies with Victor because both of their creations were not what they expected them to be and were worried about the criticism they would receive for it. They both hid their creations for a while, Shelley did not immediately claim the novel and Frankenstein did not claim his experiment
Mary Shelley’s novel entitled Frankenstein demonstrates women of the Romantic Era as powerless citizens of society. Throughout the novel, the women are secondary characters and are portrayed through the men’s perspective. Therefore, many would think that these female characters are passive and dependant as they are often described as companions and nurturers. Despite the unequal rights of women, Shelley, one of the earliest feminist, has developed female characters who show agency. This trait of taking charge of one 's course of life is reflected through Justine Moritz as she is willing to die for her beliefs, in Safie who defies her father’s and religious wishes and when Victor Frankenstein decides to abort
Within Frankenstein, the level at which a female is portrayed is quite low. Like we have heard in class, women were not necessarily respected as much as men were when the novel was written. Published in 1818 by Mary Shelley, her story tells of the adventure of young Victor Frankenstein and the creation of his creature. Though deep within this narration of Frankenstein’s life, there seems to be an underlying theme seeping through Shelley’s writing. Shelley seems to venture into the idea of feminism and grotesquely show how men are treated much better than women. Her novel includes various concrete examples to support this hypothesis.
After learning about the life of Mary Shelley, I have grown to appreciate the novel, Frankenstein, even more since the first time I read it. She led a life nearly, as tragic as the monster she created through her writing. Mary seems to pull some of her own life experiences in Victor’s background, as in both mothers died during or after childbirth. Learning about Mary’s personal losses, I have gained a better appreciation of her as an author and a woman of the 17th century. She had association with some the most influential minds of that
In Mary Shelley’s novel there is a defined contrast between the characteristics and behaviors of Justine and Victor. For example, Justine’s actions during her unfair trial undoubtedly represent the quiet, menacing strength of women and highlights the insufficient masculinity of Victor. Justine, the wrongfully accused murderer of William Frankenstein,possesses unwavering courage which is illustrated when Shelley writes, “ The appearance of Justine was calm and she appeared confident in innocence and did not tremble”(64). This statement refutes the absurd interpretation of Shelley’s women characters as being feeble and weak. It superbly demon...
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...
Many women like those in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein suffer from inequality and oppression. Many women are treated like property and are deprived of rights that men have. The women are murdered and created in Shelley’s novel to represent how quickly women can be replaced. Women are clearly presented in the novel as classless individuals who are forced to comply as submissive beings living under the wing of man, the dominant leader in Frankenstein society.
“Allure, Authority, and Psychoanalysis” discusses the unconscious wishes, effects, conflicts, anxieties, and fantasies within “Frankenstein.” The absence of strong female characters in “Frankenstein” suggests the idea of Victor’s desire to create life without the female. This desire possibly stems from Victor’s attempt to compensate for the lack of a penis or, similarly, from the fear of female sexuality. Victor’s strong desire for maternal love is transferred to Elizabeth, the orphan taken into the Frankenstein family. This idea is then reincarnated in the form of a monster which leads to the conclusion that Mary Shelley felt like an abandoned child who is reflected in the rage of the monster.
When reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, one cannot help but notice that the women characters seem to have little substance compared to the male characters. This may have been caused by the time period in which she wrote: one in which females were considered inferior to males. This difference between the sexes can be looked at using a variety of different perspectives. Johanna M. Smith, a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, discusses this issue using feminist eyes in her essay entitled "'Cooped up': Feminine Domesticity in Frankenstein." The main points in Professor Smith's essay are that the female characters are there only to reflect the male characters, and that the Frankenstein family has a weird style of living, which she describes as a "bookkeeping mentality" (Smith 279).
In “Frankenstein” penned by Mary Shelley, one cannot help but notice the role of women in the novel compared to men. Even though Mary Shelley is the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, a mother advocating for women’s rights in society, she displays the roles of Caroline, Elizabeth, and Justine as passive women. This may be the time period when women were considered inferior to men. Caroline, Elizabeth, and Justine are depicted as possessions by men, admired for their superficial beauty, and do not take action without the permission of men. On the other hand, Shelley illustrates Safie as a woman who speaks up for her own rights when her father forbids her to find Felix.
...nd the images of Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and the fiend supplement each other. If we take one of them away, Frankenstein's plot will be different. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley uses the same methods to create the male and female characters, and makes women even more positive, selfless, and purer, than men. The presence of women adds romanticism to the novel, without which Frankenstein loses its spirit. Mrs. Margaret Saville, Elizabeth Lavenza, and Justin Moritz act independently, and in the most difficult moments of their lives they encourage the men, and take care of them forgetting about themselves. So, both the female and the male characters in Frankenstein are important, and we cannot manage without them. The only question about the position of women in the novel remains open: if the author of Frankenstein were a man, would the fiend become a woman?