An examination of Patriarchy in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.

this in such a way that the reader feels sorry for the monster, but we

The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley revolves around two characters, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, and his creation, the monster. Throughout the novel, parallelism is seen between these two characters, where they both have a pursuit of knowledge, crave revenge, and appreciate nature.

This novel reflects Shelley’s own childhood, which consisted of her feeling obligated to rebel against her own father’s wishes and his choice for her marriage. Frankenstein is a way for Shelley to tell her own experiences with parental conflict and how she feels she was affected by her demanding father and the environment she grew up in, by comparing herself to Victor’s monster. Shelley analyzed her own characteristics, and the characteristics of her father, and placed them within Victor and the

Elizabeth frequently makes sacrifices for the Frankenstein family from early childhood all the way until her death. She assumes the role of womanhood at a young age after Caroline 's death. Rather than living out her days of childhood, she comes almost a mother figure to Victor and his younger brothers. While Victor is allowed to seize opportunities to travel and further his education, Elizabeth instead stays in Geneva (Shelley, 23).

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, illustrates an interesting story focusing in on many different themes, but what most readers may miss, is the similarities between Victor Frankenstein and the creature he created. As the story develops, one may pick up on these similarities more and more. This is portrayed through their feelings of isolation, thirst for revenge, their bold attempt to play god, and also their hunger to obtain knowledge. These are all displayed through a series of both the actions and the words of Frankenstein and his creature.

	In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, families are a very important part of the structure of the novel. Frankenstein’s family is critical because the reason why the monster was created lies within the family. Almost every family mentioned in the novel was either incomplete or was dysfunctional. Frankenstein’s family in particular was missing a female role. The Frankenstein family had no mother, but they did have Elizabeth who was the only other female in the house and she was adopted when she was just a child. The monster was created because of this absence, not necessarily to fill the role of the mother, but to fill in the role of the missing family member. However, the monster is shunned away when he is animated and the fall of the

In Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein is about a young scientist named Victor Frankenstein who creates a creature through the studies of science, Victor abandons the creature leaving him helpless, the creature then realizing he will never belong in society cursing Victor causing Victor only misery and destruction.  In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birthmark” is about a scientist named Aylmer who seeks to remove his wife Georgiana's birthmark so that she can be perfect, but in doing so kills her instead because of the strength of the potion. In Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birthmark” the characters Elizabeth and Georgina represent the women’s roles motif expressing the theme that women are seen as begin disposable because men view women as only having one purpose in society which is to serve others.

Like Caroline and Safie, Elizabeth Lavenza’s father causes her unhappiness. However this is drastically confounded by the egotism of Victor Frankenstein who seeks to take on the vitally female role of the creator. Elizabeth is constructed by Shelley as an extremely positive character, whose ‘saintly soul’ shines ‘like a shrine dedicated lamp’ in the Frankenstein’s ‘happy home’. She, like her foster mother Caroline, keeps the family together ‘veiling her grief’ for the benefit of the children. However, when victor attempts to take on the role of a woman and ‘create life’ Shelley shows us that it is an unfortunate masculine characteristic to doom idealism with egotism and the pursuit of glory. Despite his noble goals of ‘unfolding the mysteries of creation’, to confer ‘inesteemable benefit’ on all mankind, Victor’s masculine egotism endures

            Another character that caught my attention was that of Elizabeth. Elizabeth was not related to the Frankenstein?s, however she is taken in by them and grows up as one of their own. She is in every way described in the book as an always compassionate, always innocent, gentle soul. She is kind to all, and even when faced with times of trials and tribulations seems to lift herself above most people to be understanding and compassionate to others. When Victor wants to go away to school, even though she can?t stand the thought of him being away she accepts his decision and wished him well as she does when he decides to travel to England for some time. She accepts Victor?s dejection and despair even though she never understands the cause of it, but most remarkable of all she finds it within herself to believe Justine innocence and even speak on her behalf at the trial. These instances of true compassion and outright empathy are created by Shelley to augment the evil of the monster. Throughout the book Shelley portrays Elizabeth as nothing but perfect. In the story Victor refers to her as ?the best hope,

Elizabeth longs to understand how Victor is doing in his studies at Ingolstadt. However, since she is a woman and she is approved to become part of the Frankenstein family by “They [Victor Frankenstein’s parents] consulted their village priest, and the result was that Elizabeth Lavenza became the inmate of my parents’ house … (Shelley 30)”, she can only visit Victor Frankenstein under the approval of Victor’s father. Even though Victor cannot see his beloved Elizabeth, he realizes that through his first letter that she writes, she acts like a spirit in Victor’s mind waiting for him to come home by mentioning, “Get well – and return to us. You will find a happy, cheerful home, and friends who love you dearly” (Shelley 57).

Is it fair for someone so pure hearted, like Elizabeth Lavenza, to be treated so selfishly? In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Elizabeth made the most of the cursed life that she has been given. This sweet and gentle girl became the pride and joy of the Frankenstein family, since the day that they took her in. From the very beginning, she was meant to become Victor Frankenstein’s wife and she does, even if only for a short while. By analyzing Elizabeth’s physical and emotional attributes, personality, goals,and circumstances, maybe we will be able to understand her better.

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.

Mary Shelley portrays Elizabeth as a perfect stereotypical woman of the time. She is described as 'a being heaven-sent, and bearing a celestial stamp in all her features' (page 34), so we see that she is angelic, beautiful and very feminine. Elizabeth is the backbone of the Frankenstein household, making it a beautiful place with a loving atmosphere:

Shelley has also “othered” Elizabeth in terms of the words used to address her. There are many instances within the story referring Elizabeth as an “insect” and an “animal”. These words signify that Frankenstein does not consider Elizabeth as a normal human being; in better words, he thought of Elizabeth as a stereotypical woman of the 19th Century. He expected her to be like a "Heidi" who would "lug goat milk up the hills and not think twice"(Moore, 277). Throughout the novel, Elizabeth is described as a perfect, obedient, and submissive woman. She was destined to marry Frankenstein from a very young age, not that she opposed it, but nobody ever asks her consent. The disregard of Elizabeth is evident when Alphonse Frankenstein, Victor’s father, does not take into contemplation Elizabeth’s wish about Ernst Frankenstein’s future. He ignores Elizabeth’s suggestion and tries to force his idea upon