The Role Of Women During The Patriarchy Society

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein primarily focuses on Victor and his monster, but women also play a part. There are three major female figures in the novel; the housekeeper for the Frankenstein family: Justine, Victor’s “adopted cousin” and later wife: Elizabeth, and the never completed female monster. To both Victor and the monster woman are desired objects that offer comfort and companionship, but as the novel goes on, women become targets for revenge. This goes to show that the women in Frankenstein prove to be both powerless and powerful when it comes to dealing with the men that surround them.

The novel “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, and the article “Of the Pernicious Effects” by Mary Wollstonecraft, both have relations when regarding the importance of feminism during their time periods. Throughout Shelley’s novel feminism is addressed because she uses female characters to further her plot and display her viewpoints. If Wollstonecraft evaluated the female characters in Shelley’s novel, she would realize that Elizabeth, Justine, and Safie all show an importance to the flow of the novel and the purpose of equality that Shelley is sending about feminism through these characters.

In the post classical period, different societies viewed the women in different ways, therefore they were all treated differently. Due to all the passages being around the world, it shows how differently and similar these societies treated women. All have a different opinion on women’s role and position within their society. Some views were negative while others are positive and think both sex’s are both equal. In document 1, Islam: The Koran, it talks about how women are made from men.

The idea that women were suppressed by the rigid patriarchal society leading women to become innocent victims in society is explored significantly in Frankenstein . Through a feminine reading perspective, men dictated women in the Victorian era which lead to them being subservient to the hegemony and becoming silenced victims. This theme is a common gothic preoccupation as women were always depicted as passive and had to accept that they were powerless compared to the superiority of men. Many of the female characters suffered from the patriarchal ideologies such as Justine who mentions, "I have no power… I am only left to conjecture concerning the probabilities by which it might have been placed in my pocket". Justine's dialogue characterises and reinforces the concept of women accepting their submissive role of having no voice and being vulnerable, therefore becoming silent victims of society. The vulnerability of women is further explored when the protagonist, Victor, discusses about Elizabeth and mentions that she "regretted she had not the same opportunities of enlarging her experience and cultivating her understanding" which emphasises

Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein seems to focus on the characterization of men yet what is ironic is the fact that she is a woman. After the birth of Shelley, her mother Mary Wollstonecraft who was one of the first and most important feminist advocates had died, leaving Shelley to continue in her footsteps (“Feminism & Women in Frankenstein”). Growing up, she was exposed to the work done by her mother and this led her to become exposed to feminist ideals at a very early age (“Feminism & Women in Frankenstein”). In Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, it is controversial of why she chose to characterize both sexes in the way she did and this controversy on women’s roles held of one the central themes in the text. Some critics argue that

Because Caroline knows she will no longer be there to make those sacrifices anymore, she passes the torch to Elizabeth by telling her, “Elizabeth, my love, you must supply my place to my younger children” (Shelley 38). This in turn sets up another generation of confined women in the Frankenstein household. Caroline’s sacrifice and Elizabeth’s adoption of the homemaker role subtly represent the struggle of women in this time period to go against the grain of gender roles in society (Brackett). Not only are women confined to limited caretaker roles in Frankenstein, they are continuously and unreasonably vanquished by larger male roles as well. For example, Justine becomes a pawn ensnared in a masculine game of cat and mouse between two irresponsible male roles, Victor and the Creature. Although she truly took no place in the murder of William, nobody believed her and she is executed because of Victors silence (Brackett). The unwarranted wronging of females occurs once again when the creature shows a complete disregard for women by brutally murdering Elizabeth. The monster leaves her “lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down, and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair” (Shelley 173). This brash, unadulterated act of savagery towards a woman by a male lead brightly highlights the underlying disposition of men to women, not only in the book, but in Mary Shelley’s era (Brackett). Overall, women in Mary Shelley’s

Women in the novel are considered as the submissive sex compared to their fellow counterpart who are men. In characterization, Shelley characterizes the different women characters in the book as disposable, passive, as well as utilitarian. The female characters being submissive serve nothing in the novel other than an active channel for their male counterparts. This kind of treatment women get in the story teaches a lesson to the male actor. The female characters in the novel are Agatha, Elizabeth, Justine, Safie, and Margaret. An example of female character mistreatment is the framing of Justine for the death of William Frankenstein. Despite being innocent, her gender betrays her and therefore framed. Perhaps the most critical emotional channel in the novel is Frankenstein’s betrothed Elizabeth. Described as a passive, gentle character from the beginning, Elizabeth has always been a soft spot for her fiancé. Frankenstein views her as a possession: “I looked upon Elizabeth as mine - mine to protect, love and cherish. All praises bestowed on her I received as made to a possession of my own”.

In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the reader feels great sympathy for the female characters in the novel. The characters Caroline Beaufort, Elizabeth Lavenza and Justine are characterized as good hearted and upright woman, but nevertheless face an injustice death. In Frankenstein, women in the text are being destructed through an inevitable miserable fate to get the idea of the passive woman that devotes herself to the benefactor and her lack of agency across, in which is demonstrated in the passivity of Caroline, Elizabeth and Justine’s role that leads to their misery.

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.

Caroline Beaufort died from scarlet fever and Elizabeth Lavenza died at the hands of the fiend created by Victor Frankenstein. On the other hand, Safie would never forget the horror of encountering the monster, but remained alive. The influences of being a mother, woman novelist and daughter of a feminist pioneer are evident in Mary Shelley’s representation of Caroline’s self-sacrifice, Elizabeth’s submissiveness, and Safie’s simultaneously strong and passive role in Frankenstein. Furthermore, these attributes correlate to each female character’s fate.

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein tells his story from the bright beginnings, to his boundary-crossing brilliance that led him to his ultimate downfall. Throughout the book, we follow mostly Frankenstein’s interpretation and thoughts about a variety of topics, including the women involved in his life, as well as those described to him by his Creature. There are only a handful of women who are relevant to Frankenstein’s tale: Safie, Elizabeth, and even Nature herself. These important characters represent the main themes of Mary Shelley’s depiction of women in her novel Frankenstein: beauty, love, happiness, and a force to be conquered by men.

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.

When Justine is framed for the murder of William Frankenstein, both she and Victor know she is innocent. However, because Justine resembled a passive woman in the 17th century, she admits to a murder she never committed. Justine parallels women in the 17th century because their little impact on their society. In Justine’s defense, she admits, “But I do not pretend that my protestations should acquit me,” (Shelley.84) Justine talks like this because she knows that there is no way a woman can plea to be innocent. In Amy Sturgis’ interpretation of Frankenstein, Sturgis’ argues that Shelley uses Victor’s independence to help show a feminist lens.

A women's role has changed tremendously and is making its greatest impact in our society today. Many years ago, women's contribution to society was limited and controlled by men. Women are standing tall and are playing a major role in many important areas. Women's role has changed at an accelerating rate and have part in areas such as Politics, Professional Training Jobs, Medicine,Business and Law. Formerly they were not part of any political matter, but they have advanced in many aspects. For example, women have attained power and have been growing in political office.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein demonstrates a variety of women from distinct backgrounds where the majority faces a doomed fate due to the patriarchal society. Furthermore, the overall representation of women in Frankenstein is passiveness and submissiveness towards the decision and actions of men; they are portrayed as absent due to their minor roles. The “absence” of women could have been the very reason why there are so many downfalls throughout the novel. The death of Victor’s mother due to scarlet fever, the innocent Justine executed, Elizabeth (the beautiful wife) killed by the creature, proves the powerlessness and the passive nature of women that led to their unfortunate death even though, the only woman, Safie broke the chains of the