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Women of Frankenstein

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Women of Frankenstein
The Women of Frankenstein
"When reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, one cannot help but notice that the women characters seem to have little substance compared to the male characters. This may have been caused by the time period in which she wrote: one in which females was considered to be inferior to males. There are many factors in this novel which contribute to the portrayal of feminism. The three points which contribute greatly are, the female characters are there only to reflect the male characters, women are seen as possessions for men to protect, and finally women in the novel are portrayed as stereotypical women in that time period. Mary Shelley 's novel portrays feminist qualities, and is a feminist novel. Firstly, the female characters in the novel are there only to reflect the male characters. To start, in the novel itself, no women speak directly. The book has three basic narrators: Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and Frankenstein 's monster. The female characters are very weak in this novel, especially Elizabeth, Victor 's cousin/fiancé. She is portrayed as the perfect woman, especially after Victor 's mother, Caroline dies. She takes the place of the mother figure in the household"
(http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/9721.html).
"The women in Frankenstein fit into several roles, including loving mother, innocent child and the concerned, abandoned lover not, however are they equal politically, socially or economically. All the women are universally passive, acting out only to demand action from the men around them. For example, Caroline Beaufort works to support her father and expressed her power within the home through her childrearing. Elizabeth stands up for Justine 's innocence, but is powerless to stop her execution. Safie also undermines the stereotype of the passive woman by rejecting her father 's attempts to return her to her life in Constantinople. Women, especially Elizabeth, are seen as possessions, needing protection from



Bibliography: "Feminism in Frankenstein." 01 Oct 2005 Parish, Allison. "Feminist Theory (with Special Focus On Frankenstein." 01 Oct 2005 Patterson, Arthur Paul. "Brides of Frankenstein." (2005) 19 Sept 2005

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