Frankenstein and Male Reproduction
Frankenstein and Male Reproduction
Mary Shelley 's character of Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus, is driven to madness by his envy of women and their ability to reproduce so much so that he tries to reinvent the nature of reproduction without the female with disastrous results. Dr. Frankenstein 's scientific experiment, which produces a deformed, human from spare body parts is a commentary on male reproduction and predicts the bioethical consequences of the modern practices of selective breeding and cloning.
Mary Wollenstoncraft Shelley was the only daughter born to literary greats William Godwin and Mary Wollenstoncraft. Mary Shelley was the mistress and then wife of the poet Shelley. She read widely in five languages, including Latin and Greek. Pregnant at 16, and almost constantly pregnant throughout the following years, yet not a secure mother because she lost most of her babies soon after they were born. She also was not married when she began to write Frankenstein when she was eighteen years old. (Female Gothic The Monsters Mother by Ellen Moers) Shelley was inspired by her mother 's The Vindication of the Rights of Women, which portrays the consequences of a social construction of gender that values males over females. The society in which Victor Frankenstein resides is an exact replica of what will happen if a society continues to exist in this manner. The rigid nineteenth century society is founded on the division of sex roles where the male inhabits the public sphere and the female is relegated to the domestic sector. All of the men in this Gothic novel work outside the home as public servants, scientists, merchants or explorers. (Anne K. Mellor Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein) Having put off his marriage to Elizabeth, Dr. Frankenstein manipulates his father into believing he must explore other parts of the world in order to repay his debt to the monster. "Alas! To me the idea of an immediate union
Mary Shelley 's character of Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus, is driven to madness by his envy of women and their ability to reproduce so much so that he tries to reinvent the nature of reproduction without the female with disastrous results. Dr. Frankenstein 's scientific experiment, which produces a deformed, human from spare body parts is a commentary on male reproduction and predicts the bioethical consequences of the modern practices of selective breeding and cloning.
Mary Wollenstoncraft Shelley was the only daughter born to literary greats William Godwin and Mary Wollenstoncraft. Mary Shelley was the mistress and then wife of the poet Shelley. She read widely in five languages, including Latin and Greek. Pregnant at 16, and almost constantly pregnant throughout the following years, yet not a secure mother because she lost most of her babies soon after they were born. She also was not married when she began to write Frankenstein when she was eighteen years old. (Female Gothic The Monsters Mother by Ellen Moers) Shelley was inspired by her mother 's The Vindication of the Rights of Women, which portrays the consequences of a social construction of gender that values males over females. The society in which Victor Frankenstein resides is an exact replica of what will happen if a society continues to exist in this manner. The rigid nineteenth century society is founded on the division of sex roles where the male inhabits the public sphere and the female is relegated to the domestic sector. All of the men in this Gothic novel work outside the home as public servants, scientists, merchants or explorers. (Anne K. Mellor Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein) Having put off his marriage to Elizabeth, Dr. Frankenstein manipulates his father into believing he must explore other parts of the world in order to repay his debt to the monster. "Alas! To me the idea of an immediate union
Cited: Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley Ellen Moers "Female Gothic: The Monsters Mother." Frankenstein.by Mary Shelley A Norton Critical Edition. Paul Hunter. Place of Publication: University of Chicago, 1996. 214. Anne K. Mellor "Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein." Frankenstein.by Mary Shelley A Norton Critical Edition. Paul Hunter. Place of Publication: University of Chicago, 1996. 274.