Treatment Of Women In Frankenstein

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women in Frankenstein are generally portrayed as pure and innocent. Although there are a few exceptions, such as Caroline Beaufort, a girl who works to support her impoverished father, women are generally seen as kind but powerless. For example, Elizabeth stands up for Justine’s innocence, but cannot prevent her own execution. For both Victor and the monster, women are the ultimate companion, providing comfort and acceptance. For Victor, Elizabeth is the absolute joy that can take his mind off of his guilty conscience. Similarly, the monster seeks a female of his kind to be with him through his own horrifying reality. Each eventually destroys the other’s love interest, transferring the women’s status’ from an object of desire to an object of revenge. In this novel, women are not able to act on their own. As a result of reading Frankenstein, I have realized how different women were portrayed in the 18th century, rather than now in the 21st century.
After reading Frankenstein, I have realized how far women’s rights have come throughout the years. In this novel, women are constantly treated like objects. During the time Shelley was writing Frankenstein, females were considered to be lower class …show more content…

Caroline works to support her father who has fallen ill, and then nurses him until his death. This displays the qualities of Caroline, and other women in the novel, who were all portrayed as caring and selfless. Therefore, she puts the needs of her father before her own. Caroline plays a very motherly caregiving role in the novel, which is evident when Elizabeth becomes ill. While Caroline takes care of Elizabeth, she contracts scarlet fever and subsequently dies. Caroline was a caring, modest, and feminine character who was portrayed as being too frail to continue in the novel; however Victor is the one who begins to describe his mother’s atributes instead of