Female Roles In Frankenstein By Mary Shelley
Throughout Frankenstein by Mary Shelley female characters are in the novel, but none of them have played a strong role in the book. Mary Shelley’s mother was a writer and advocate of women’s rights, and while Mary Shelley does write off of her personal experiences; in this case she does not. Elizabeth, Caroline, and Justine’s passive roles in Frankenstein are what Mary Shelley uses to draw attention to the monster and Victor’s behavior, and gender roles.
The female characters were only used to help develop a lesson or story for a male character. For example, Elizabeth personifies the motif of passive women the most as she is waiting for the attention of Victor. While Victor is the center of all the chaos he gives no attention to Elizabeth,
“I continued some time walking up and down the passages of the house and inspecting every corner that might afford a retreat to my adversary…when suddenly I heard a shrill…” (Shelley 172). This only helped develop a story for Victor, while Elizabeth was just off to the side. Victor also takes away a role from women, and that is reproduction. Victor creates life without a woman, which then again takes away the importance of female characters in Frankenstein.
An interesting literary device that was used throughout the book was the tone and diction of the book. Frankenstein is narrated by men the entire book and Mary Shelley being a female, she is writing this in a male perspective. The men are telling the story of the women, and in a sense takes away the voice of women in the book. The absence of a female voice brings more attention to the important lessons that the males are developing through their voice.
Although Percy Shelley may have co-written parts of Frankenstein, the passiveness of women is very prevalent throughout the book. Mary Shelley writes about the loss of importance of females through her variety of literary devices throughout the book. The degrading of gender roles and male perspective is what develops not only the story but motifs that enhance the literature.
The female characters were only used to help develop a lesson or story for a male character. For example, Elizabeth personifies the motif of passive women the most as she is waiting for the attention of Victor. While Victor is the center of all the chaos he gives no attention to Elizabeth,
“I continued some time walking up and down the passages of the house and inspecting every corner that might afford a retreat to my adversary…when suddenly I heard a shrill…” (Shelley 172). This only helped develop a story for Victor, while Elizabeth was just off to the side. Victor also takes away a role from women, and that is reproduction. Victor creates life without a woman, which then again takes away the importance of female characters in Frankenstein.
An interesting literary device that was used throughout the book was the tone and diction of the book. Frankenstein is narrated by men the entire book and Mary Shelley being a female, she is writing this in a male perspective. The men are telling the story of the women, and in a sense takes away the voice of women in the book. The absence of a female voice brings more attention to the important lessons that the males are developing through their voice.
Although Percy Shelley may have co-written parts of Frankenstein, the passiveness of women is very prevalent throughout the book. Mary Shelley writes about the loss of importance of females through her variety of literary devices throughout the book. The degrading of gender roles and male perspective is what develops not only the story but motifs that enhance the literature.