Frankenstein Gender Roles Essay

Mary Shelley's classic novel, Frankenstein, tells the story of a young scientist named Victor Frankenstein, who creates a creature from bits and pieces of body parts which were once lifeless in this unorthodox scientific experiment. Throughout this novel many themes were introduced some including; science, family, and revenge. But the one that interested me most were the gender roles integrated within the story itself. Taking this classic novel from a feminist point of view, it is apparent many signs of entitlement and superiority coming from the male character’s. And regarding the female gender roles within the novel it is apparent there is a sense of submission and inferiority within the character presented in the story. Through the eyes of

This is something the women are excluded from due to their roles as passive tools in the representation of the male characters. The women are instead confined to their houses or villages while character like Victor, Henry, the monster, and the crew on the ship which saved Victor, all have this privilege of traveling. This is another gender role that was prevalent during the 19th century. Women during this time were confined to their houses to take care of the home and also the children. While the males were free to be adventures and travel the world, whether it be looking for new trade routes for recognition (just as the crew was doing that saved Victor) or just to travel for the experience and camaraderie of a friend (just as Victor and Henry did as they explored different parts of Europe, during the time in which Victor was supposed to make the monster a wife). Many of these roles seen in the book can also be traced to 19th century Europe where women were confined and the men were free to do as they