Characters In Frankenstein

Imagine a life in which there are no females in the human population. How different would people grow up to be? Many people have at least one of these female figures in their lives: a mother, sister, or an aunt. These female role models have a huge influence on people, especially with teaching them how to go about in life. Such is the case in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The use of female characters is crucial to the plot in Frankenstein, usually serving to teach the male characters a lesson, to be comforting, and coming in the form of a male figure.
There are numerous ways in which one can be taught a lesson by a female figure, creating a pathway for how to live their life. In Frankenstein, Victor is taught lessons through the use of several

The creature’s horrific features causes Victor to abandon the creature, leaving the creature indignant and hurt. In order for Victor to feel the hurt and abandonment the creature felt, the creature gets revenge on anyone associated to Victor-two of the victims being Elizabeth and Justine. The creature frames Justine by placing the picture of Victor’s mother next to Justine while she is sleeping, causing her to be framed for the the murder of William Frankenstein, and eventually executed. Victor knows Justine is not at fault and admits to “[suffering] living torture… all was to obliterated in an ignominious grave, and [him] the cause. A thousands times rather [he] have confessed [himself] guilty of the crime ascribed to Justine” (Shelley 68). Justine is a character in the novel that serves the purpose of having Victor acknowledge his wrong doing in abandoning the creature.

The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates found in the Encyclopedia of Women and Gender “one of the most consistent findings in gender research is that men invest heavily in their wives as support providers” and he states that “from an early age, women are socialized to be more nurturing…” (Coates). Women are often sought after for support and comfort, as is the case in Frankenstein. Caroline is one of the first characters to show gratitude for others, taking in Elizabeth assuming the current family she is staying with would not be able to provide for her but also keeping Victor in mind, hoping they will later on get married. She has always been a caregiver to all her children. While Caroline is on the verge of death, she tells Elizabeth she “must supply [her] place to [her] younger children” (Shelley 28). As she is dying, she thinks of her boys, making sure they will have someone to be there to take care of them. Elizabeth does what she is told and takes care of Victor, William, and Ernest. She does not get a chance to mourn, as Victor recalls her “[veiling] her grief and [striving] to act the comforter to [them] all… She forgot even her own regret in her endeavours to make [them] forget” (Shelley 29-30). Elizabeth is forced to tackle on the role of a comforting mother early on, instead of that of a mourning teenager. She does not allow herself to grieve, deciding to comfort those around her instead