Trope In Frankenstein

Frankenstein is one of the most famous and adapted novels of all time, and many say that Mary Shelley invented the genre of science fiction through it’s creation, but can Frankenstein add feminism to it’s list of virtues? At first glance, it seems as if not. The novel focuses mainly on the conflict between two men, and the main female character in the novel, Elizabeth, falls into the classic gothic trope of the perfect, angelic heroine, who has little to no flaws or agency. Yet upon further examination, it is clear that Shelley parodies and builds on the gothic trope of the perfect woman in order to bring to light the detrimental effects of writing flat female characters, ultimately giving Frankenstein a feminist tone. How do you know that

In the 1818 edition of the novel, Elizabeth is a blood relative of the family and comes to live with them after her mother dies and her father remarries (20). Yet, in the 1831 edition, she is an orphan that Mrs. Frankenstein plucks from obscurity because of what a special child she is. They find Elizabeth in the home of a poor family, and Victor remarks that she was different from the other “little vagrants” (30 [1831]). He says that Elizabeth, “bloomed in their [the poor family’s] rude abode, fairer than a garden rose among dark leaved brambles” (30). Victor describes Elizabeth almost as if she is an otherworldly creature, saying she is an “apparition” and “fairer than pictured cherub” (30). Shelley felt that it was necessary to go back and change Elizabeth’s original origin so that it was more exceptional, even to the point where she seems supernatural. While it is likely that Shelley went back and made the change to her birth origin in order to make Elizabeth and Victor’s relationship less incestuous, her distinction between Elizabeth and the other children serves the purpose of highlighting Elizabeth’s almost ridiculous and magical

She is destined to be his bride from a very young age (20 [1818]), and the only moment where she does something of her own volition is when she decides to visit Justine despite her adoptive father’s protest, but she is only willing to go if Victor joins (65). From the beginning of the novel, Victor himself describes Elizabeth more as a pet or object than a person. He says that he “loved to tend on her, as [he] should a favorite animal” (21). Not only does the use of the word “animal” indicate that Elizabeth is not in control of her own destiny, but it also contributes to the idea that she is overly innocent. In the 1831 edition, Shelley makes Victor’s assumed ownership and dehumanization of Elizabeth even more prevalent, as Mrs. Frankenstein presents Elizabeth to him as a gift. Victor says, “[I] looked upon Elizabeth as mine — mine to protect, love, and cherish” (30). He treats her like a precious object that the doesn’t want to share; she exists solely to be a companion for Victor. For example, when he returns home to Geneva after the murder of Clerval, he comments that Elizabeth seems more subdued and has lost some of her vivacity but that this “made her a more fit companion for one blasted and miserable as [he] was” (160 [1818]). Victor