Gender Roles In Frankenstein

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Consequently, the characters within the story are dominated by men who hold more power over women. It is apparent that throughout the story women are projected to be objects and are frequently overshadowed by the fate of the men. Shelley dismisses the need to capture women throughout the novel and does so by killing them off. Anne Mellor states: “Frankenstein has eliminated the necessity to have females at all” (Mellor, “Usurping the Female”). Some of female characters such as Victor’s mother, Elizabeth, and Justine Moritz all face death. For example, Victor’s mother dies from scarlet fever, and the other women are murdered by Victor’s monster. While Victor is shown to have more of a voice than Elizabeth, such as when Justine is accused of …show more content…

James Davis states: “The structure of Frankenstein has been compared to a series of concentric narrative circles in which three men who narrate their autobiographies push the women to the perimeter, relegating them to passively serving as an audience for male stories.” (Davis, “Frankenstein and the Subversion of the Masculine Voice.”) This is but another example of how Elizabeth’s voice remains as background noise versus an equal opinion. She is not recognized, just as though women throughout this novel are shown as inferior to men. Anne Mellor states: “One of the deepest horrors of this novel is Frankenstein’s implicit goal of creating society for men only: his creature is male; he refuses to create a female; there is no reason that the race of immortal being he hoped to propagate should not be exclusively male.” (Mellor,” Making a Monster”) Through Victor’s perspective it feels as though the women at this point show little importance and significance. Their presence during these times are for pure decoration and can easily be removed, hence his notion of taking the place of women and creating something …show more content…

At the beginning of the novel, there is a massive storm that takes place. This raging storm consisted of intense lighting that completely destroys a tree near Victor’s home. The lightning is very symbolic because not only does it foreshadow the use of electricity within the novel but it provides a warning sign for the destruction that eventually takes place. The lightning represents a variety of things: the destruction Victor causes in the future, and what could be seen as a sign from the gods to which Victor is obstructing nature. Victor goes against this warning sign and creates a creature that dispels a woman’s natural purpose of procreating. The female monster represents the suppressed women within the story that are subdued among the men. He believes that the female monster may not agree to isolate herself along with his first creation, the uncertainty troubles him immensely. Mellor explains that Victor “is afraid of an independent female and, afraid that his female creature will have desires and opinions that cannot be controlled by his male creature.” (Mellor, “Usurping the Female”). Victor destroys the female monster for multiple reasons. The first reason being, Victor is uncertain that the female monster will comply with the male monster’s desire to leave society. Secondly, destroying her would ensure no procreation would occur. Anne Mellor states: “What Victor Frankenstein fears is female sexuality

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