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How Does Shelley Present The Victimization Of Women In Frankenstein

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Frankenstein and Feminism In her 1818 novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley portrays the victimization of women as passive objects in a patriarchal society, proving her flagship novel a groundbreaking feminist work of her time. In the story, Justine finds herself charged with the murder of William Frankenstein without the ability to change her outcome. The author used this scenario to depict the victimization of women without any means of voicing their opinions or defending themselves. While imprisoned and under trial, Justine resigned herself to her ultimate fate: "that pang is past. God raises my weakness and gives me courage to endure the worst. I leave a sad and bitter world; and if you remember me and think of me as of one unjustly condemned, …show more content…

Victor Frankenstein, representing patriarchal beliefs, destroys the female monster due to a fear of female power and sexuality. As Victor contemplated sexuality and desire, he concluded that he should kill the female creature, suggesting that the female body is more menacing than the male body and deserves less consideration. Readers can interpret Victor’s lack of tolerance for the female creature as misogyny and fear of female sexuality: “I thought with a sensation of madness on my promise of creating another like to him, and trembling with passion, tore to pieces the thing on which I was engaged. The wretch saw me destroy the creature on whose future existence he depended for happiness, and with a howl of devilish despair and revenge, withdrew.” (Shelley) This particular situation comes back to the ideas of female victimization and the mistreatment that men did not have to deal with. Victor did not even give the female creature the right to life while he did with the male one. Further representing the patriarchy, Victor particularly feared the autonomy that the female creature would’ve had since it wouldn’t Pires …show more content…

Margaret Saville is yet another character used to further the story, and apart from the role of receiving letters, it is otherwise irrelevant. Margaret’s sole function as a receiver of Robert Walton’s letters reinforces the domestic normalcy expected at the time, which only furthers the portrayal of passive females in a patriarchal society. Elizabeth Pires 4 Lavenza, Victor’s adopted sister and eventual wife, has also suffered much. She lost her family at a young age, she lost her adopted mother, Victor put off her wedding, and she ended up being murdered by Victor’s creation. The author also portrays her as a character whose function is to further Victor’s story: “The death of William, the execution of Justine, the murder of Clerval, and lastly of my wife; even at that moment I knew not that my only remaining friends were safe from the malignity of the fiend; my father even now might be writhing under his grasp, and Ernest might be dead at his feet. This idea made me shudder and recalled me to action. I started up and resolved to return to Geneva with all possible speed.” (Shelley) The quote shows how the monster has furthered the story by slaying Elizabeth, as Victor insinuated at the end of

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Throughout Unit 1, the stories have had a similar story line, which greed and power trumps doing what is right. Christopher Columbus found new land and stripped from those who rightfully owned it, slave traders ripped Equiano from his home to make money off of him, and Salem citizens accused honorable people of witchcraft for personal gain. The stories of Columbus, Equiano, and John Proctor all relate back to show that being an American can be described by the urge for power and the temptation of greed. When Columbus took off to find a quicker route to Asia, he had no idea what he would eventually find.

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Later in the novel, the creature gets angry at Victor as he did not finish or made a female creature for him. The creature wanted someone to be with so that they can make a family. “You have destroyed the work you have begun; what is it that you intend? Do you dare to break your promise?”(172). This conveys the theme, the fact that it made the creature angry that his female creature was destroyed.

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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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This is not as strong as the argument I presented, however, because the creature only sought out revenge because Victor destroyed his mate after already putting him through so much suffering. If Victor had followed through with his promise as an honest person would, then the creature would have never felt the desire to devastate his

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Guilty Until Proven Innocent: An Analysis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein “Justine died, I rested” (111), were the words of the male protagonist, Victor, in Mary Shelley’s original 1818 text of Frankenstein. In Frankenstein, Shelley depicts a flawed legal system as it favors men and leads to women’s destruction in three trials: Justine’s, Victor’s, and the De Lacey families’ trial. The justice system in the novel is sexist as there are moments where male characters shirk responsibility at the expense of women. This paper will unpack each ordeal to further argue the sexist law system, such as Justine’s death penalty, including the De Lacey’s trial and Victor’s dismissal. Justine Moritz suffered from Victor Frankenstein’s responsibility, the

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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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In the film Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein the theme of mistreatment based off physical appearance is portrayed through Frankenstein 's monster. The society is often fearful of the creature and made judgements of his actions based solely off his disturbing physical appearance, without knowing his true characteristics. Even Victor, the man who created the fearful monster eventually abandons him because he is is appalled by his creation. He believed that by creating a being made of the finest parts, the end result would be of equal quality, but when the monster awakens, Victor can see what he has created and recognises that he has done wrong. The creation of an unnatural being, by unnatural means ultimately disgusts Victor.

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Despite this, the theme of Victor’s absence and its effect on the creature ultimately remains. Wondering around searching for acceptance, the monster is often left feeling alone and resentful after being pushed away by humans. Even though the creature is quite clever, most of its time is spent attempting to adapt and conform to a society that does not accept it. It begins to view Victor as the source of its suffering and loneliness and seeks a way to enact revenge. The monster killed Victor’s brother, William, but this was more than just revenge for his abandonment.

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In James Davis’ literary essay “Frankenstein and the Subversion of the Masculine Voice,” he discusses the oppression of women and the minor roles of females in Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein. With a feminist perspective, Davis claims, “He [Victor Frankenstein] oppresses female generation of life and of text; he rends apart both the physical and the rhetorical ‘form’ of female creativity. In fact, all three male narrators attempt to subvert the feminine voice, even in those brief moments when they tell the women’s stories” (307). Throughout his essay, Davis demonstrates the underlying message of Shelly’s subversion towards men and the social consequences of misogyny. Davis draws parallels between the three men, Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and Victor’s creation, Frankenstein, in which they

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When Victor rejected The Creatures want for a girl companion he replied, “I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your wedding night.” When this was said, Victor knew of the possible danger that Elizabeth was now in but refused to warn her of this danger and this lead to her death. The penalties that Victor faced due to keeping the existence of this creature a secret it what lead to the deaths of the people that he cared for, and the fact that he had the ability to save these lives but chose to not even try says a lot about

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Riley Dupert Mrs. Peleshi English V 03/07/23 Frankenstein Topic 4 A Lack of Feminism in Frankenstein Frankenstein lacks feminism and female power entirely. Most of the women in the story do not further women’s rights but instead diminish them. Though the story has hardly any female characters, only one stands out. The women in Frankenstein are submissive and adhere to the rule of men over women at that time.

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Shelley writes that “she died calmly and her countenance expressed affection even in death” (Shelley 33). This furthers the idea that women were to remain tranquil and presentably at all times. There is not much detail on her death or the aftermath of her passing, which exemplifies the lack of importance of the female characters. Justine, who was charged unjustly for the murder of William, is sentenced to death and accepts her fate willingly. Although innocence, she remains calm and shows no sign of fear and sacrifices herself.

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Victor realizes that he has lost control of the monster’s actions and regrets not taking the proper precautions in seizing the monster when he has the opportunity. Ultimately, Victor is victimized. After the murder of Elizabeth, Victor reflects on the deaths of his loved ones and says, “The death of William, the execution of Justine, the murder of Clerval, and lastly of my wife; even at that moment I knew not that my only remaining friends were safe from the malignity of the fiend” (174). Victor suffers watching his loved ones die one by one, yet lacking the ability to save them. Overall, Victor’s victimization is due to his timorousness dealing with his initial

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731 Words | 3 Pages

With no female monster to keep the male creature at peace, Frankenstein’s world becomes dark. This is because at the exact point that Frankenstein swears he will never create a female companion for the monster, it marks Victor’s ultimate demise as the monster claims he will get his revenge. While during the 18th century, in a marital relationships the man held most of the power, in the novel Frankenstein the real power lied in the life of the female monster. If we were to break the novel down, we would be able to see that had Victor simply created a female monster, the original creation would have stopped his rampage and never have exacted his revenge on Victor by murdering his wife to be. This lack of women obviously reflects Mary Shelley’s feminist views of the time period.

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Public Policy: Financial Aid (FAFSA) Information Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a mean of financial aid available for future college students that have financial circumstances. Typically, FAFSA is usually available for families that have low-income. The United States Department of Education is the provider of this financial aid that students may fill out a free application to receive financial support. The financial aid is also available for parents whom may are trying to re-register for college courses.

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