Similarities Between Frankenstein And Fifth Business

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In society, individuals are very accustomed to the mistreatment of the minority. Antisemitism jokes are of abundance, and women can easily be found to be the victim of gender stereotypes and injustices. Society has an evident lack of consequences for perpetrators of such mistreatment towards minorities, increasing the need for advertisement in favor of the minority. The novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davies validates the mistreatment of the minority, whereas the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley opposes such actions. Both authors create characters with sexist characteristics that reflect poorly on women. Characters in these novels also judge the minority solely by their appearance. To begin with, author Robertson Davies creates female

To him, femininity is synonymous with weakness, and masculinity is synonymous with power, and he creates his characters accordingly to this belief. Similarly, author Mary Shelley also creates characters in a sexist manner in her novel Frankenstein. She creates female characters who serve little purpose other than to be disposed of by males. This can be seen in the way the Creature values the lives of females in the novel. In an attempt to seek revenge on Victor Frankenstein, the Creature frames servant to the Frankenstein family, Justine, for the heinous crime of murdering Victor’s young brother. Much like Diana’s dedication towards Dunstan, Justine lives her life dedicated to serving the Frankenstein family. The Creature’s decision to frame the beautiful and hardworking Justine for his crime shows how Mary Shelley feels her characters are quite disposable, demonstrating the same lack of value Davies shows for his characters. This sexist character creation can also be seen in Elizabeth’s submissive nature. This can be seen when Elizabeth is writing to Victor, suggesting that he marry

One example of this in the novel, is the way Leola is regarded by Dunstan and Percy. Dunstan and Percy both strive to become the partner of Leola solely because she is visually appealing. To them, she is a trophy to be won. Leola wants to be loved, and even finds herself genuinely developing feelings for these two men, and yet they still regard her only as a trophy. This judgement is what eventually drives Leola to attempt suicide. She realizes that she is only a pawn between Percy and Dunstan and cannot cope with the idea that neither men have ever actually loved her. Despite the downfall of Leola, characters Percy and Dunstan see no consequences resulting from their treatment of Leola. Percy continues to be a very wealthy and successful man, finding a new wife after his divorce with Leola, and Dunstan finds himself a comfortable life, working in a school for boys. It is this lack of consequence that exemplifies Davies feelings that it is okay to mistreat minorities such as women. Similarly, in the novel Frankenstein, author Mary Shelley creates the character of the Creature, who others judge solely by appearance. Everyone shuns the Creature, even his creator, because of his ugliness. Much like Leola’s reaction to Percy and Dunstan mistreating her because of her appearance, the Creature feels very alone in the world that “[sins]