Female Void in Frankenstein

Frankenstein was published in 1818 anonymously it was not until 1831 that it was revealed that the author was in fact a female Mary Shelley1. There has been much debate on the issue of femininity in Frankenstein in that the main characters are male and the women play a passive role. In this essay I will argue that at the centre of Frankenstein there is not a void where a feminine understanding should be but rather there is a void of absent mothers and the novel depicts the condition of women in it's era and is a critique of a patriarchal society.

In the novel there are many strong women depicted, Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein's mother is described as the ideal domestic mother. Even before her marriage we are given the impression that she was a strong resilient woman, who looked after her father with care and a compassion and overcame poverty and isolation. Unlike the other characters in the novel such as Henry Clerval, Elizabeth and the De Lacey's, Victor's mother had been present and had an influence in his life. We see that Victor had a happy childhood “No youth could have passed more happily than mine”2. Victor also has another positive female influence in Elizabeth his cousin and future wife. Elizabeth seems to be the aesthetic counterpart of Victor. His cousin Elizabeth lost her mother at a young age, Justine's mother in a sense abandoned her and Clerval's mother is not mentioned at all. So here we can see perhaps that Victor was in a unique vantage point in that he had experienced domesticity in his life through the efforts of his mother. Caroline Beaufort even in death is portrayed as self sacrificing, rather than see her adopted daughter suffer alone she wished to comfort and ease her pain even at the risk of getting ...

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...er-indulgence of their son they also created a monster of sorts.

In conclusion Frankenstein can be read as a female critique of male ambition and showing the failings of a patriarchal society who undervalue a woman's role in society and more importantly a male's lack of understanding of what it means to be a mother. Shelley through having absent mothers and not having the women in her novel take an active role as such has cleverly highlighted the importance of females in society. Hence there is no void where a female understanding should be as there is in the background a presence of strong women and also the monster in learning what it is to be human shows us the difference in the sexes.

Works Cited

Bann, Stephen (ed.), Frankenstein, Creation and Monstrosity, London : Reaktion, 1994.

Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, 1818 Text, Oxford University Press, 1969