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Frankenstein Feminist Analysis

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Frankenstein is a feminist novel because Mary Shelley advocated the rights of women by acknowledging the problems faced by women through each character. This novel is written in 1818 when people were not aware of these problems. Shelley also created flawless female characters and faulty male characters to show women as victims of men’s decisions. By portraying women as victims, Shelley is suggesting to stop treating women as inferiors and give them equal amount of choices and opportunities as men. Shelley used multiple point of views in the Frankenstein, mainly to show that it is not just one man but the whole society who treats women as inferior. In this essay, both male and female characters will be analyzed using a feminist lens. There were …show more content…

Shelley showed that all men are shallow and they only care about beauty and even if their own creations (children) are not beautiful, they will leave them in the wild. Shelley portrayed the double-standards of the society by showing that a woman is not supposed to leave her ugly creations due to the pressure by society but a man can do whatever he desires. Shelley demonstrated that men are not able to nurture a life like women, even if they are able to give life and this is the reason we need women in a society. The idea is sarcasm by Shelley that even though men are fully capable of taking care of a life, they will not due to their shallow …show more content…

First, the monster killed Victor’s youngest brother, William. William was the only flawless male character showed by Shelley, “very tall of his age, with sweet laughing blue eyes, dark eye-lashes, and curling hair. When he smiles, two little dimples appear on each cheek, which are rosy with health” (45). By showing William as flawless, Shelley is suggesting that men are not born faulty but society damages them, relating it back to the theme of novel of nature vs. nurture. In a letter from Victor father, he said, “William is dead!—that sweet child, whose smiles delighted and warmed my heart, who was so gentle, yet so gay! Victor, he is murdered!” (49). Even in this line, Shelley is showing William as perfect and gentle victim of Victor’s evil desire to create the monster. Shelley killed William, a young child character first who according to her was perfect, because she suffered the lost children. The pain can be seen by Shelley’s choice of the word “murdered.” It shows the pain that loss inflicted on the parents since the letter was written by the father of the

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