Feminism in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Mary Shelly shows the theme of feminism in her book Frankenstein through the characters, and the female characters are portrayed in the novel. In Frankenstein, women have a passive role. Women do not take an active part in the whole narrative. Frankenstein elaborates on several challenges that were still affecting women by intentionally portraying them as weak beings who should be submissive to their counterparts.
The most prominent female character in Frankenstein is Elizabeth, the one who Victor has a love interest in and would like to marry her soon. Even though Elizabeth is shown as the leading lady character in the novel, Victor does not value her well. Therefore, he considers other male aspects, for example, Henry Clerval to be more important than her. Even though Victor has an affection towards Elizabeth, it is also apparent that he sees her as a member of the submissive gender and should be submissive to men. The writer shows that Victor degrades Elizabeth by undermining her existence, and she is referred to by his mother when they are still young as his “future wife” (Shelly 20).
On the other hand, Gilbert elaborates how Elizabeth is owned by victor when he says Adam’s rib is Adam’s (Gilbert 53). The writer shows how Victor perceives Elizabeth by likening her to beasts when Victor says, “I loved to tend on her, as I should on a favorite animal…” He also goes ahead and describes her as to be “… as playful as summer’s insect” (Shelley 20).
Additionally, Mary Shelley dehumanizes Elizabeth when she uses her as a prop in monster’s play while searching for a payback counter to Victor. Elizabeth’s role in the monster’s play is used as a metaphor to show how she was viewed as Victor’s possession. Her role was to show how men in the world regard the females, that is, as passive, submissive, and used by men solely for pleasure and convenience.
The writer further elaborates on the presence of Elizabeth in the novel by showing her opinions regarding marriage. Her untimely death during her wedding and in the wedding gown reflects the author’s negative attitudes towards marriage. Elizabeth’s murder during her wedding reflects how Shelley views marriage as a death wish. The author describes an “ideal” relationship when she introduces Safie and Felix. Even though they are not legally married, they have a deep affection and also spark the longing of having a mate in the monster. Safie is idealized as an epitome of an ideal woman. Safie is shown as a woman who is self-governing, determined, and brave. Although Safie is the best description of an “ideal” female personality, her existence in the narrative is short-lived. It disappears just after a few pages not to be mentioned again in the entire novel. The fast disappearance of Safie in the story indicates how women, even though they may be ideal, they are nothing more than a figment of the imagination.
When creating the female monster, Victor is scared that the female creature may be an independent thinker, be self-governing, and have human-like needs (“Romanticism and Feminism”). He is also worried that the beast may be rigid and difficult to control by a man (Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein 360). Shelly shows that the primary desire for women on earth is to have children. This is evident when Victor was creating the female monster. In the narrative, it is said that among the leading results of the considerations that the daemon wanted was to have children, and this, therefore, defines women as having a primary desire to be mothers. While creating the female creation, Victor wanted to create her without the womb so that she doesn’t bore children. He had a strong feeling that that would solve the challenge of racing devils. Victor did not want the female creature to propagate the race of devils in the world, and at the same time, the creature will not be lonely. However, Victor goes ahead and destroys his second female creation; this, therefore, showed that he viewed women as mothers. According to him, being a woman is considered to be motherhood.
Conclusively, women are seen as weak human beings who should be submissive to men. Even though a lady might have good characteristics and excellent skills to perform particular tasks, they are sometimes not appreciated. Women are depicted by the author through Victor to have a primary role of being mothers and have no other desire except that of bearing children. They are viewed as men’s possession, and their fundamental desire in the world is to have children. Women are still facing these challenges in the world today.
Works Cited
Gilbert, Sandra M. “Horror’s Twin: Mary Shelley’s Monstrous Eve.” Feminist Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 1978, pp. 48–73. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3177447. Accessed 20 Aug. 2020.
Mellor, Anne K. “Possessing Nature: the Female in Frankenstein.” Romanticism and Feminism (1988): 220-32.
Mellor, Anne K. Romanticism, and Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2018. Internet resource.
Shelley, Mary W, and J P. Hunter. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text, Contexts, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2012. Print.