Female Criticism In Frankenstein

Mary Shelley’s story of internal turmoil, the cruelty of altering the laws of nature, and the consequences of redefining the laws of nature is a harrowing one, known widely by many audiences, yet it is never the nature of the characters that is discussed, only the outcome. Shelley’s deliberate use of different character foils portrays the deeper connections and themes in her 1818 novel, Frankenstein. The creation and presence of Frankenstein’s monster directly foils the character of Victor Frankenstein himself, illustrating overarching themes of self inflicted isolation and internal conflict, exposing the dangers and consequences of complete and total narcissism, and revealing a truth many still refuse to accept: we, as humans, are capable

Frankenstein, a novel by Mary Shelley, written in 1818 is known as a gothic work of the 19th century. Sometimes it is also referred to as Female Gothic. But even though it is said to be a Female Gothic, there is no heroine or an important female figure in the novel (Weyand 2014: 2). In Mary Shelly’s novel, women are sometimes considered as the objects of discourse. Margaret Saville who cannot respond to any of the letters written by Walton or she is represented by the author as not responding to any of his letters. Even Justine and Elizabeth, who do respond to the discourses aimed at them. But their responses in every case are curtailed by their deaths by a fierce system of male authority within which the narrative is more or

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, all of the female characters are unassertive. Their personalities are one-dimensional, and they never try to take control of their own situations. This characterization seems antithetical to how Mary Shelley, the daughter of a renowned feminist, and an active feminist herself, usually portrayed females in her works. I will argue that by portraying all of her female characters as weak, Shelley is actually criticizing the gender norms of her society, which exalted the meek and timid housewife. She implies that if women do not play an active control in the lives of their family, conflict, within one’s self and against others, will become a lot more common.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein does not seem like a novel that empowers women. Based on the doormat-esque female characters and entitled male protagonist, one might easily assume that Frankenstein is a typical male-penned, patriarchy-saturated 19th century work. However, when examined with feminist ideals in mind, Shelley’s novel actually makes a progressive argument about the role of women. Though the female characters are certainly lacking in both number and substance, this absence hinders Victor and his goals and does not merely assert that women are useless. In addition, the role of maternity and maternal figures amplifies the meaning of Frankenstein; the creation and caring for of life manifests as an immensely important process with both benefits and consequences, not as merely “women’s work”. Through an analysis of the existing female characters and the lack thereof, as well as by understanding the maternal figures present and how they further the novel, one can see how Shelley’s Frankenstein reveals that feminine roles are necessary for a functional society.

In addition to her proposition that a patriarchal society will ultimately lead to chaos, Shelley uses the character of Frankenstein to illustrate that men are not the strong leaders of society they claim to be. Frankenstein is brave enough to go as far as creating life without a woman; however, as soon as his brainchild comes to life, Frankenstein essentially

The notion of what it means to be human is heavily addressed in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, as Victor Frankenstein, the eponymous character, produces a creature that resembles a human in both an internal and external sense. Despite the creature’s obvious human-like qualities, society rejects him continuously. To some extent, this blatant disregard resembles the difficulties that accompanied the feminist movement. Mary Shelley’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women, which is now recognized as one of the earliest feminist works. This work famously compared the plight of females to that of slavery, writing that women are bound to “slavish obedience” (Wollstonecraft 158). Wollstonecraft explains “it is vain to expect virtue from women till they are, in some degree, independent of men” (149). In other words, Wollstonecraft argues that women are only spiteful when they feel they are marginalized. Just like women in the eighteenth century, the creature in Frankenstein struggles to maintain his rights, as Victor constantly deems him inhuman. The creature displays human-like qualities through his abilities to communicate, understand emotion, and self-reflect. The aggression he shows throughout the novel is merely a consequence of his untimely abandonment by his creator. As indicated throughout the novel, humaneness does not lie in external appearances, but in an ability to feel compassion and have rational thoughts. The creature’s capacity to

Whether an author is conscious of the fact or not, a fictional work cannot avoid reflecting the political, social, economic, and religious background of the author. Therefore, regardless of Frankenstein's categorization being that of science fiction, Mary Shelley reveals her own fears and thoughts, and, as a result, reveals a great deal about the time and place in which she wrote. She mentions specific geographical locations throughout Europe, she raises ethical questions concerning the synthesis of life, and she writes in the context of popular contemporary philosophy and the importance of environment vs. experiences. Most importantly to this essay, however, is the

Mary Shelly effectively portrays the role of men and women throughout her novel, Frankenstein, by utilizing extensive figurative language. The gloomy mood that is conceived within this work truly exposes the character’s emotions and actions. Several themes are established, affecting the character’s health and wellness. Gender has influenced, and primarily “set the role”, several reactions and choices by the characters, including those of Caroline Beaufort, Elizabeth Lavenza, and Justine Moritz. The women in this novel remain oddly passive, although Shelly was the daughter of an important feminist. Shelly’s refusal to create strong female figures clearly illustrates, and defines, women’s role in society, at the time.

Katie Smith Mrs. Schroder English IV Honors 29 November 2016 The Women of Frankenstein Frankenstein was a very influential novel, but it showed no influence on women’s rights. The way that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein makes it to seem like women have no role in the novel and often do not get written about. The time period that Frankenstein was written in often did not allow women to play a huge role.

The female characters in Frankenstein represent the treatment of women in the early 1800’s. Women who are deprived of their female roles and are enclosed in a feminine sphere of domesticity. In the novel, Frankenstein, the women characters are treated as property and have little privileges in relationship to the male characters, the women suffer and are eventually destroyed showing how unimportant they are in the book’s society, and when it comes to reproduction of human’s, man thinks it pointless to have women play that role. These attacks on the innocent prove that women are second-rate in the novel.

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein embodies the literary romanticism of the Modern Gothic era of gender equality. Mary Shelley who grew up with the influence of a Feminist mother, Mary Wollstonecraft who wrote The Vindication of the Rights of a Woman suggests that she would develop the same values of encouraging women's equality and general roles. Ibukun an active blogger on edublogs who’s authored articles, including The Impact of Society’s Marital Ideals on an Individual’s Pursuit of Happiness and the article Observations on separation, pointed out, "Through the monster and the few female characters in the piece Shelley allowed aspects of Mary’s life to be reflected in her work while creating a powerful narrative". Mary Shelley's novel had

In the novel Frankenstein, the author Mary Shelley reinforced the role of female nature in a book that is predominantly male-oriented. The female character is an underlying feature throughout the whole novel. For example, when Victor Frankenstein created his Monster from dead body parts, he disregarded the laws of female reproduction. Both Anne K. Mellor and Jonathon Bate argue that Victor defiled the feminine nature when he created his Monster from unnatural means. Mellor argued in her essay, “Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein,” that Victor eliminated the necessity to have females at all (355). There will not be a need for females if new beings are created in a laboratory. The disruption of mother nature is one of the novel’s original sins (479). In Bate’s essay, “Frankenstein and the State of Nature,” he argued that Victor Frankenstein broke the balance between female principles of maternity and mother nature (477). Frankenstein broke nature and undermined the role of females. The argument of Mellor was more persuasive than the discussion of Bate because she was able to provide more evidence that Victor Frankenstein dishonored the role of female nature.

Cixous claim that “the phallic tradition of writing was at once too great for [women]” and is only “reserved for “great men”’ is undermined through Shelley’s use of the male voice (Cixous 243). Shelley uses flawed male morals and their elimination of women to draw attention to Victor and the monster’s obsessive and destructive behaviour, thus using their own “marked writing” against themselves to “dislocate [anti-feminist ideas] from within [and] explode them, turn it around, and make it” feminist (Cixous 251). The women are viewed for what they have to offer men, but male selfishness and mistreatment leaves them to die. In turn, Frankenstein shows how the lack proper representation and equality of the sexes is disruptive to society, and

In one article, it was written that, “Mary Shelley (1996) is one such author, having created the classic story Frankenstein - and perhaps literature’s most infamous orphan - after an inspirational dream about a terrifying fiend” (D’Amato 118). This shows that D’Amato believes that both Shelley’s dream and novel may have been both an outlet to her own cut off from society as being a woman was very stifling during the time that she wrote the novel. It talks about how her imagery in the novel was her way of expressing the hideous way that women were not allowed to express themselves to the fullest of their right.

Although her mother died in her early life, as Frankenstein’s did, she left her feminist legacy behind for Shelley to grasp, namely her keystone piece: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. By understanding her mother’s struggle to argue for such a lost cause during her life, Shelley managed to write Frankenstein in such a way that clearly defines the issues in women’s rights, but not so obviously that someone not searching for them could find them. Instead of directly opposing the norm by writing an independent female protagonist, she passively depicts very plain, flat female characters that fulfill the same personalities they would have in reality. The creature is a more symbolic representation of women’s issues: while he is not a woman, he endures many of the struggles that women face due to their sex at birth. This, rather than representing a direct connection with women of the Victorian Era, allows for anyone born of a disadvantageous life to empathize with the difficulties and emotional turmoil the creature experiences throughout the duration of the