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Frankenstein and the depiction of women
Female gender in Frankenstein
Frankenstein and the depiction of women
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Over the years, the monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has become universally portrayed in one way: a tall, green-skinned, dumb brute with no language or reasoning abilities. Society has turned the story of Frankenstein into a mere horror story, dehumanizing the monster more than was intended in Shelley’s novel. However, the message of Frankenstein is a far cry from the freak show displayed by the media. While many people may only see Frankenstein as a grotesque story meant to thrill its audience, its purpose goes much deeper as it advocates for the equal rights of women in society.
Perhaps the strongest evidence of feminism in Frankenstein stems from what happens when Victor Frankenstein tries to create life without the help of a woman. In the nineteenth century and before, a woman’s ability to bear children was the one thing that gave her power over man—the one thing women could do that men could not. However, Frankenstein, inadvertently or not, usurps this power from women as he “gives birth” to a living thing. In “Frankenstein and a Critique of Imperialism,” Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak states that “Frankenstein’s apparent antagonist is God himself as Maker of Man, but his real competitor is also woman as the maker of children…In Shelley’s view, man’s hubris as soul maker both usurps the place of God and attempts—vainly—to sublate woman’s physiological prerogative” (263). This interpretation of Frankenstein’s work suggests that in creating a new life, he has taken man’s power a step further by taking the one thing women could be proud to be able to do—childbearing—and turning it into something that was no longer unique to them.
Unfortunately, an action as extraordinary as creating life backfires harshly on Franken...
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...o the male monster since she may not be “feminine” enough, or c) not find the male monster attractive and mate with ordinary males. All of these things center around a fear of a female’s ability to reproduce and a fear of a female’s ability to choose her own path. Shelley suggests that the impact of these things is what frightens men, making them feel like they must dominate women to avoid any of the negative implications of them.
Though Frankenstein may seem like just another horror story, a closer look at its message indicates a strong presence of feminist themes. Through Victor Frankenstein’s thoughts and actions, one can easily see Shelley’s intention of revealing men’s fears toward strong women in society. While it may have not been able to change the place of women in society, Frankenstein is step toward unveiling the hidden strength of a woman’s voice.
‘[The] characters and plot of Frankenstein reflect . . . Shelley’s conflicted feelings about the masculine circle which surrounded her.’
There are many ways to interpret a literary text, especially one as laden with ethical questions and literary allegory as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Shelley's complex family dynamic - her conflicted relationship with her father, her need to please her mentor/husband with literary success, her infants' deaths - enhances the intrigue of the novel and suggests multiple themes and layered meanings. One discernible theme in Frankenstein is illuminated by the bold line that separates male character from female: The men inevitably fail the women whom they claim to love, but the women are maddeningly passive, seemingly blind to the men's inadequacies. Here, however, this passivity is a defense mechanism. Because the women's place in society depends on the patriarchal system, their choices to be passive are the only way they can assert control.
“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.
Tragedy shows no discrimination and often strikes down on those undeserving of such turmoil. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a creature more repulsive than one can imagine is brought to life by a young scientist. Although this creature is horrifying in sight, he is gentle by nature. Unfortunately, the softer side of the creature is repeatedly overlooked and the so called “monster” is driven to a breaking point. Even though the Creature committed many crimes, Mary Shelley’s Creature was the tragic hero of this story because of his efforts rescue the life of a young girl and helping destitute cottagers.
Anne K. Mellor focuses on the topic of the role of female in Frankenstein’s patriarchal society in her article “Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein”. Mellor states Frankenstein is a feminist novel which according on Victor Frankenstein’s identification of nature as being female at the beginning. She has repeated that Mary Shelly gives Frankenstein numerous hints of the feminist viewpoint. First, Mellor considers that Shelly’s inspirations were come from her mother’s work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the first feminist treatise. It represents the consequences of “social construction of gender” that the values of man and women are inequality--“the values the male above the female” (274). Next, Mellor says the Frankenstein’s
In the text, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Shelley interpreted that women are depicted as inferior beings that are subservient to men. The is highlighted by the way they are used and disposed in the text. Even when women are mentioned in Frankenstein, their femininity is overwhelmed by the dominance of masculine characters. Their marginalization can be observed in several scenes in the texts, for example during the court ruling of Justine, the rejection of a female creation and in Elizabeth’s role as Victors fiancé. In this paper, I will argue that Shelley used the lack of femininity incorporated in the novel to emphasize the detrimental effects of marginalizing women.
It’s fascinating that she was responsible for the novel Frankenstein where women are given such little importance, due to the dominant male characters. Women are given no voice at all as the story is told by three male narrators, Walton, Victor and the monster, which is only a reflection of the position men had in all aspects of life, domestic, social, political and economic in the nineteenth century.
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Shelley characterizes the female characters as passive, disposable and serving an utilitarian function. Women such as Safie, Elizabeth, Justine, Margaret and Agatha provide nothing more but a channel of action for the male characters throughout the novel. Meaning, the events and actions acted by them or happen to them are usually for the sake of the male character gaining new knowledge or sparking an emotion. Each of Shelley’s women serves an important role by way of plot progression are otherwise marginal characters. Yet, this almost absence of women is exactly the reason why they are important. This use of the female character introduces a concept of feminism; here, female politics exists due to the vacancy of a “role model.” Women such as Justine, Agatha, Elizabeth and Margaret in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein play a key role, whether it’s for mere plot progression or by their absence.
The idea for the novel of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein came to her one night when she was staying in the company of what has been called ‘her male coterie’, including Lord Byron and her husband, Percy Shelley. Mary Shelley’s whole life seems to have been heavily influenced by men. She idolised her father, William Godwyn, and appears to have spent a good part of her life trying very hard to impress both him and her husband. There seems to have been a distinct lack of female influence, her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, having died weeks after her birth, being replaced by a neglectful step-mother. These aspects of her life are perhaps evident in her novel. The characters and plot of Frankenstein were perhaps influenced by Shelley’s conflicting feelings about the predominately masculine circle which surrounded her, and perhaps the many masculine traits that we see in novel were based upon those of the male figures in Shelley’s own life. In this essay I will attempt to show some of these traits.
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.
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)
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.
When overviewing the life of Mary Shelley, it is an undeniable fact feminism saturated the viewpoints of Frankenstein’s author. Hence, reading Anne K. Mellor’s Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein provides valuable insight into discovering the deeper message sown within the fabric of this early eighteenth century novel. However, though we may be able to say with certainty Frankenstein is a tale in the dangers of the destruction of women, the bold point requires further evidence to substantiate the sound logical reasoning behind Mellor’s argument. Let us focus on the point of contention where logic is strong but evidence is rather lacking: Creating a society of only men.
Mary Shelley’s magnificent minor character Justine endures a horrendous death and maintains courage and grace when faced with a daunting trial. The powerful description of this strong young woman magnifies the gross wrongdoings of Victor Frankenstein and belittles his masculinity as he is seen as weak in comparison. Frankenstein is incapable of possessing the qualities inherent to Justine thus supporting the idea of womanly might as a formidable force.Through the representation of Justine’s intense, unwavering courage during her trial and Frankenstein’s absence of masculine bravery and justice, one can see that Shelley’s minor character is an affirmation of the undeniable strength of women.
Mary Shelley, the author of the novel Frankenstein grew up in the early 1800’s with her father, a radical philosopher that believed in the equality of the sexes, and her mother, a vindicator of women’s rights. Shelley followed the footsteps of her parents and became a strong feminist advocate, and supporter of gender equality. The development of her novel granted her with the opportunity to express her feminist ideologies in a subtle, and realistic way, unlike any other authors during her time period. Thus, in the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley incorporates her feminist beliefs with the purpose of portraying the realities of a woman’s life during the early 1800’s.