In “Frankenstein” penned by Mary Shelley, the author depicts the roles of Caroline, Elizabeth, and Justine as passive women by taking action only through the men around them. During the 1820s, when Elizabeth Blackwell saw the deaths of many people on ships being thrown overboard, she became inspired to become a doctor. However, during her time period, women were not allowed to get an education. Finally, Mulan, takes the place of her old father to join the Chinese army, despite her passiveness. A closer look at the roles of Caroline, Elizabeth, Justine, Mulan, and Elizabeth Blackwell reveal a time period where women were treated as objects and followers by men. At the beginning of the story, Victor describes how his mother, Caroline …show more content…
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). In another letter that Elizabeth writes to Victor before Victor and his father leave from Paris to Switzerland, Elizabeth asks Victor if he has fallen in love with another person and waits for his reply in marriage. Elizabeth states, “Tell me, dearest Victor. Answer me, I conjure you, by our mutual happiness, with simple truth – Do you love another” (Shelley 166)? Although Elizabeth comprehends that she has been best friends with Victor during their childhood years, she has no role in preventing Victor from falling in love with another person. If Victor falls in love with another person, Elizabeth forfeits her love for Victor and allows Victor to choose to woman that he adores. In that same letter that Elizabeth
Even though Elizabeth, Victor’s sister, lives an amazing childhood and is always happy, she is an outsider in certain aspects. She was a “sweet orphan,” (Shelley 17), and the only Frankenstein not to be a blood relative. Although she is an outsider, Elizabeth lives a mostly happy life. Also, De Lacey, the old man that Frankenstein’s monster watches, is very different than the rest of his family. Victor’s monster perceived the old man “to be blind,” (Shelley 77). He seems to be at peace with the fact that he is blind, but still is “outside” of the group of people that can see. Furthermore, Victor’s dad loses his wife, daughter, and one of his sons. With Victor being away making Frankenstein a mate, he feels very isolated and alone, with only Ernest to talk to. A few days after Victor gets home, “[his dad] [died] in [his] arms,” (Shelley 147). Many characters in Frankenstein cope with being an outsider in different
In Elizabeth’s letter, she is worried about Victor’s health and asks him to write to his back as soon as he can. She also tells him that Justine Moritz has returned to their house after her mother died. When Victor gets well, he introduces Henry to the professors at the university. He decides to go back to Geneva and waits for a letter from his father telling him when he will leave. Meanwhile, he and Henry take a walk through the country, moving their feelings with nature's beauty. When they arrive back to the university, Victor finds a letter from his father telling him that his youngest brother, William, has been killed. Sad and shocked, Victor leaves right away for Geneva. When he arrives, it is nighttime and Geneva’s gates have been shut, so he spends the evening walking in the woods around the border of the town. As he walks near the spot where his brother’s body was found, he sees the Creature and becomes certain that his creation is the one who killed William. The next day, Victor finds out that Justine has been blamed of the murder. After the body was found, a servant had found a picture of Caroline Frankenstein, which belonged to William, in Justine’s pocket. Victor says that Justine is innocent, but the facts against her were
Elizabeth is portrayed as very loving and devoted to Victor, but her feelings and efforts aren’t reciprocated in the same way. Victor Frankenstein fully consumes himself in his scientific pursuits, and leaves him unable to understand emotions, which leaves Elizabeth feeling overlooked. Elizabeth expresses her concerns to Victor, stating, "You have been ill, very ill, and even the constant letters of dear kind Henry are not sufficient to reassure me on your account" (Chapter 6). Despite Elizabeth’s love for Victor, her needs are often overshadowed by his ambitions, highlighting the theme of unrequited love and the ultimate consequences of neglecting
He tells of the void he feels in his soul. He tells of the bitter grief one experiences after the death of loved one and what it feels like to no longer see them and hear their voice. Mary Shelley illustrates that this life is not the end, but there is another life where loved ones will be seen. Victor’s mother is demonstrating how special Elizabeth is to her and that she wants her to take care of the family and to someday marry Victor. Later in the novel, Victor leaves for school. Victor’s father tells him, “I know that while you are pleased with yourself, you will think of us with affection, and we shall hear regularly from you. You must pardon me if I regard any interruption in your correspondence as a proof that your other duties are equally neglected”(33). After, Victor leaves for school to begin his studies he becomes self-absorbed in his work. Family is very important to Victor’s father. Victor realizes that he has become too involved in his studies and knows that it is unhealthy to behave in such a way. However, he does not want to quit and begins to justify his actions. He suggests that if others had given up, then history could have been altered. Victor feels isolated and lonely. He thinks of his family and how disappointed they are that they have not heard from him. Shelly uses this quote to emphasize the importance of human relationships and how important they are to a person’s well-being. The theme of human
While in Paris, Victor receives a letter from Elizabeth saying, “[t]ell me, dearest Victor. Answer me, I conjure you, by our mutual happiness, with simple truth—Do you not love another?” (Shelley 194). Elizabeth is convinced that Frankenstein has found another love that satisfies him more when he is on his journeys—although she writes in the most respectful way. Frankenstein is aware that Elizabeth will believe anything that he says and he is able to use that to his advantage knowing that Elizabeth will wait great lengths of time—as she already has—to marry him. In his response to Elizabeth’s letter, he justifies his love to her but also informs her he has “one secret, Elizabeth, a dreadful one; when revealed to you, it will chill your frame with horror, and then, far from being surprised at my misery, you will only wonder that I have surprised what I have endured” (Shelley 196). Frankenstein is desperate to marry Elizabeth still knowing the consequences of his actions as the creature previously tells him. Conscientious of his decisions, out of his selfish love for Elizabeth, Victor wants to marry Elizabeth and tell her of the threat only after the ceremony is finished. Although Frankenstein does have a good intention in marrying Elizabeth, it is destroyed by his selfish behavior.
Near the start of the book, the reader can see that Victor is very fond of his adopted cousin. The reader can see this through his continued communication with her and by the description that Shelley uses that tells the reader of the countless hours they spend together. This lasts until Victor leaves to go off to school. When he is away from home Victor receives countless letters from his “beloved” Elizabeth and fails to read or respond to any of the letters (Shelley, 66). This implies that Victor feels that he no longer needs a female companion and thus is why he no longer interacts with Elizabeth.
Part of your identity has become snagged by perceived insults and threats to the way you see yourself, causing inner conflict or escalating existing problems. Knowing this, we can conclude that Victor’s battle of his own insecurities led to a series of even bigger problems. To make this claim, the reader needs to know about the Victor’s character, but more so how terrifying he can be. The reader does not yet know the capacity of Victor’s love for Elizabeth. In turn, the reader does not how much regret festers inside of Victor. He suffers his own internal despise for his own monstrous creation. My topic of my essay is the numerous amounts of about conflict Victor had faced. The four topics I will be addressing are Person
The fight for domination amongst the sexes is a battle as old as civilization, where the ideas of gender hierarchies first began. These conflicts often manifest themselves unwittingly through literature, showing subtle signs of deeper tension that has ensued for centuries. The struggle between masculine and feminine becomes apparent through Frankenstein, a battle that results in the death of the potentially most powerful figure in the book. Frankenstein yields characters motivated by complicated thinking, specifically the title character, Victor Frankenstein. Victor is a brilliant 19th century Swiss scientist who succeeds in generating life with electricity, creating a creature that
Elizabeth Lavenza is another important character of the novel. We know the story of her life from the beginning to the end, and can notice that she changes during the narration. In the beginning, the only daughter of the deceased sister of Victor Frankenstein's father, "she [is] docile and good tempered, yet gay and playful as a summer insect" (923). She is yet a child, she does not realize the complexity of life, and does not know what suffering is. The character of Elizabeth becomes apparent when the mother of Frankenstein has died. Then "she [is] continually endeavoring to contribute to the happiness of others, entirely forgetful of herself" (927). When Frankenstein returns to Geneva after the death of Henry Clerval, he sees a new change in Elizabeth. "She [is] thinner, and [has lost] much of that heavenly vivacity that [has]
For centauries, women have been forced to live life in the outskirts of a male dominated society. During the 1800’s, the opportunities for women were extremely limited and Mary Shelly does an excellent job in portraying this in her gothic novel, Frankenstein. Furthermore, in this novel, Mary Shelly shows how society considers women to be possessions rather than independent human beings. In addition, the female characters rely heavily on men for support and survival, thus proving their inability to do it on their own. Lastly, the female characters in this novel are in many ways victimized by the male characters. In conclusion, in Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein, the female characters always fulfill the limited and archetypical roles that
One such aspect of Shelley’s life portrayed in the novel was the role of women in society. In general, the predominant contenders in literature in the Romantic era were men. Mary Shelley, who was tutored by her father, had to publish her novel anonymously because it would not have been accepted otherwise. In Romantic literature, women were depicted as passive with a sense for nature and intuition. This can be seen in Frankenstein during Victor’s description of Elizabeth Lavenza: “While I admired...pretension” (Volume I, Chapter I, p 39). This quote can be viewed as an oppression of women due to the patriarchal structure of the language, as well as an emphasis on the nature of women. Mary Shelley also criticizes this oppression, but does not criticize overtly. This may be due to the fact that Shelley read her mother’s works as a child, and was influenced by the pro-feminist ideals that her mother advocated for. In addition, Frankenstein, at its core, is an expression of Shelley’s political viewpoints. The years 1811 to 1817 were ones of severe deprivation and hardship for the new working class created by the Industrial
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
Frankenstein has caused many feminist critics to castigate not only roles the female characters have within the book but also the deprivation of women throughout the novel. Mary Shelley isolates the female characters to their gender role responsibility and also possess them to have passive roles. - ABSENCE OF WOMEN - Feminists have criticized Frankenstein for the confinement and objectification of women to gender roles within the novel. Although when analyzing the text, it is apparent that Mary Shelley’s life is unconsciously filtered through her novel Frankenstein. It seems as though Victor’s emotions are projected from the author with her feelings of indignation, tribulation, and heartbreak from her life. Her work was a reflection of the constant death that plagued her life; from the death of three of four children, Percy, mother, and several others. What was going on with her? Why did she have the mentality that that was okay? What was going through Mary Shelley’s mind? Many writers have considered this to be odd considering her mother was a strong advocate for women.