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Essay Of Abortion In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

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The abortion of the female creature is the epitome of Frankenstein due to the symbolism of men’s power over the life of women. An abortion is the termination of a pregnancy which is seen with Victor terminating his pregnancy of the female creature. Unlike God, Victor destroys the creature’s Eve so that he would not have a company. Once again through science, Victor was making a female creature, but in this case he found more consequences than his first creation because of the fatal consequences that the creature caused. Victor started to think that what if she became “ten thousand times more malignant than her mate and delight, for its own sake, in murder and in wretchedness” (Shelley 120). Victor’s thinking process manifested, he acknowledged …show more content…

Victor fears that the female creature will not be able to satisfy the male creature since that is her purpose in being in this world demonstrating the misogynistic view of the purpose of a woman. Most importantly, Victor fears that the female creature would make a “race of devils” that would fill the Earth with terror (Shelley 121). This demonstrates the fear of women’s reproduction, which is the ability that only women can possess. Furthermore, Victor fearing the reproduction of the female creature is like men wanting to take control of woman’s choice of having a baby. When Victor destroyed the female creature, he stated: “the remains of the half-finished creature, whom I have destroyed, lay scattered on the floor, and I almost felt as if I had mangled the living flesh of a human being” (Shelley 124). This can symbolize an abortion of a “half-finished creature” or a baby who had no voice or choice in dying or this can symbolize how a woman is shut down since she seen as a negative creature that can make the male make wrong choices like Eve giving the forbidden fruit to Adam. The female creature was not made completely, yet she symbolizes the powerlessness and voiceless nature of

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(Shelley 65). This quote informs the reader that Victor is now well aware of what he has done. Victor has crafted and created life with his own two hands just to have the credibility of it. He wanted nothing more than to be considered as their “god”,

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Perhaps the most spine-chilling threat the monster makes is when he says to Victor that he will “work at [Victor’s] destruction, nor finish until I desolate your heart, so that you shall curse the hour of your birth.” (Pg. 125). Victor has acknowledged his creation’s threats to his family, but despite the imminent danger they are in, he decides to act against the creature’s wishes. If Victor were acting honorably and responsibly, he would have listened to the monster’s demands for a female companion and, considering the creature’s threats against his family, complied with the demands. Victor, characteristically, chooses to act impulsively and recklessly, by destroying the female creature.

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In Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, The creature may be known for his monstrous and unforgiveable acts, but it is his creator, Victor, who is the true monster. Mary Shelley was an English novelist, best known for her gothic novel “Frankenstein”. In “Frankenstein” the question of who is the true monster, Victor or the creature, is a prominent theme throughout the story. While the creature's actions are certainly gruesome and horrific, it is the Monster who ultimately holds the title of the true monster. Through his neglect and mistreatment of the creature, Victor demonstrates a complete disregard for the life he has created.

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“I looked towards its completion with a tremulous and eager hope, which I dared not trust myself to question but which was intermixed with obscure forebodings of evil that made my heart sicken in my bosom” (184). The feelings of hope to be rid of the creature were mixed in with fear of what future terrors he created with his hands. These thoughts accompanied Victor while working, so the closer to completion, the more distraught and ill he became. A fear plagued him illustrated through the quote, “A race of devils would be propagated upon the earth who might make the very existence of the species of man a condition precarious and full of terror” (185). Victor feared the intentions of the woman, and that she may not want the fate of exile with her partner, but might want to reproduce and create a race of demons to destroy humankind.

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When Victor destroyed the female creature, he destroyed the male creature’s chances at being human. Victor was trying to create a human being, but denied his creation the one thing that would make him a person, love. Victor denied the creature everything. He gave the creature life and then abandoned it. He did not nurture it, care for it, teach it, and love it.

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As per usual, advancements in a story are made through various literary elements, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein is of no exception. Though what sets this authors use of these elements apart is the effectiveness in which they are presented in what can be considered a prologue of sorts, the letters. As a foreshadowing to what may occur between characters of differing sexes, gender roles are established. For the development of the a main character, Robert Walton, season (a key factor in character development as discussed in the literary work To Read Like A Professor) is described in thorough detail by non other than Walton himself, as he also goes on to discuss his opinion on it. Gender roles remain an important developmental tool

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Before Brown v. Board of Education, there was Plessy v. Ferguson. Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education complement each other. The ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson was the reason for the case of Brown v. Board of Education. In the late 1800’s the south was not the ideal place for a person of color. “Official segregation in the South commenced in 1887 when Florida passed a law that required racially separate transportation” (Lively, 98).

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One character, Justine, is very passive and used as a device to make Victor feel guilty for creating The Creature; as her major contribution to the plot was The Creature framing her for her brothers death and shortly after, being sentenced to death. Another female character, Safie, is used to teach The Creature how to speak: “My days were spent in close attention…and I may boast that I improved more rapidly than the Arabian…I could imitate almost every word that was spoken… I also learned the science of letters” (Shelley 106). Even the most prominent female character in the book, Frankenstein's lover and wife, Elizabeth, is killed by The Creature on their wedding night, in order to again make Victor regret creating The Creature, and eventually die of his unhappiness. Mary Shelley's depiction of women might be her indicating the roles of women at the time as inferior, a similar thesis brought about by Mary Wollstonecraft in A Vindication on the Rights of Women.

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The second process of creation is demanding: “It was indeed a filthy process in which I was engaged. […] But now I went to it in cold blood, and my heart often sickened at the work of my hands.” (Shelley 159). Victor worries about the female creature: “she might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate, and delight, for its own sake, in murder and wretchedness.

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This suffering Mary Shelley brought upon her characters may have been a reflection of the pain she felt in her life growing up without a mother. Her personal experiences enabled her to put her feelings into her characters making Frankenstein the infamous novel it

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When Victor is then met with the living creature, he was “unable to endure the aspect of the being [he] had created, [he] rushed out of the room…” (Shelley 58). This shows Victors’ internal struggle between

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Victors lack of a guilty conscious can be seen in his own words. Victor reflects many times on his past mistakes and blames other people and the monster in order to calm his mind. One instance is when

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When it comes to scientific methods, there are a variety of ways in which one can reach their goal. Of course, there are certain rules that one must follow when it comes to scientific research. The foremost of these rules is to abide by a certain code of ethics. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein disregards the ethics of research, preferring to accomplish his goals without thoroughly thinking of the consequences that might arise from creating life for the dead. Of course, he wasn’t the only one ignoring the ethical guidelines of research.

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