frankenstein1
Mary Shelley put herself ahead of the revolutionary movements in feminism in the early nineteenth century. In her writing, she was attempting to show the problems in her own society in an age before others had begun to have similar ideas. Shelley wanted a more balanced society, increasing the power of woman, and decreasing the stature of man. Victor Frankenstein's newest creation, a monster, appears as such a horrible creation that people often label it as evil before ever giving him a chance. However, the monster is much more human one might think. The monster has a desire to learn and a want to love, but these feelings and emotions seem to disappear with Victor's denial of a female partner for him. "You must create a female for me, with whom I can live with in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being" (Shelley, 124). But why should Victor not create such a creature to satisfy the monster? The answer is quite complex. In Victor's mind, the creation of a female monster would allow for, "a race of devils... propogated upon the earth, who might make the very exitence of the species of man a condition precarious and full of terror" (Shelley, 140). It is the females' ability to reproduce that is Victor's prima
In the novel, Shelley portrays her own repression within her society in several scenes. It was Shelley who was one of the pioneers of the feminist movement, and her contribution, along with many other feminists, have played a huge role in the equalization of women over the last two centuries, to the point in our society today where women are as close to being socially equal to men, although there are still discriminations made today, notably in the workplace, where it is not uncommon to have a male being paid more to do the same job as a female. With the creation of a female monster, men would not necessarily be in power. Mary Shelley shows us in this novel that women are more than objects or possessions; women have abilities, they have power, and they have potential. The period of the early to mid 1800's, which is the time of Frankenstein's creation, Mary Shelley lived in a society in which she, as a woman, was essentially powerless (Ellis, 123). It is interesting that Mary Shelley would voice her thoughts of feminism and the opression of women in this novel mainly through the voices of two male characters in the novel, Victor and his creation. The courtroom scene gives us not the impression of Justine as being weak, but of Justine as a victim. Primarily in reading the novel, one realizes that a woman never actually speaks. Even the monster wants a female to keep him satisfied, he never stops to think that this female may not have the same feelings for him, nor does he care. With help from Shelley and the feminist movement, more women, and men too for that matter were able to realize this. Feminist critics have claimed that Frankenstein is primarily a novel about the opression of women in which the monster represents a social outsider who can never be accepted as an equal no matter what he does. Although it may seem unorthodox to some, Shelley gets her point across. If Victor were to have created a female, he would have given some of the power held within society by males to the female. It is only after rejection and feelings of frustration and loneliness does the monster become agitated and violent (Ellis, 131). Victor, in his movement against feminism, attempts to hold women back in their fight to prove themselves as equals.
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Acceptance Essays
