During the 1800s, when Mary Shelley began writing, she struggled to show her husband Percy that she was responsible for herself and her artistic talent. Shelley describes Percy as constantly anxious about having to prove himself and find glory (Knudson 11). Percy thought he was a better writer than his wife and therefore thought he could control her and her writing. Mary fought as long as she could, but ultimately, she "surrendered to the ideal of the true lady, devoted to her family at the expense of her own identity and aspirations, when she claimed that the literary reputation she had once desired was now “infinitely indifferent” to her since family had become her primary concern” (Knudson 11). After waging a vicious battle for her own rights, Shelley put her emotions and grief into her novel Frankenstein, showing the dangers of gender roles in society at the time. Shelley's character Frankenstein has many feminine characteristics that blur the definition of gender. She also creates a "monster" who exhibits some of the same characteristics as women and shows the oppression women had to endure by making the female characters in her novel seemingly invisible. Through the subtle traits of her characters, Shelley has written a novel showing the threat of a world of unequal lives. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Victor Frankenstein, Shelley's main character in her novel, never seems to be a normal child growing up. His interests in science and nature have always led his mind to stray from the current events of his life, and he finds great pleasure in abnormal things. As Frankenstein grows up, he doesn't change much, other than finally fully immersing himself in science, searching for a way to bring a creature back to life. For countless years, he goes through a stage bordering on madness as he only thinks about this creation, and finally, once it comes to life, he realizes his mistake. The blurred lines of the genre begin with Frankenstein's first creation coming to life. By resembling a mother who gives life, Victor seems to completely blur the cultural definition of gender from his creation (Hobbs 3). After his creature comes to life, Frankenstein begins to exhibit characteristics similar to those of hysteria, which during this period, was a condition applied primarily to women. Nineteenth-century doctors occasionally diagnosed men with this disorder resulting from excessive drinking, pride, disappointment, terror, or anxiety about affairs: forces that were strictly external and uncontrollable (Hobbs 4). Colleen Hobbs writes that among all these characteristics of male hysteria, Frankenstein hysteria is closest to the symptoms associated with female hysteria. Female hysteria tends to involve restraint or misdirection of passion, which is a lot like Frankenstein. With female-like features, Shelley creates a complete mess in her novel. By being emotionally classified as a woman, Frankenstein is placed in a condition that has little to no power. This leads to the destruction of the novel because he is a man and attempts to demonstrate dominance and power; two things she lacks due to her femininity. Shelley attempts to show the dangers of the abused woman by putting a man in her place. This is what Hobbs shows who writes: "in describing Victor's response tocomplications raised by his monster, Shelley attributes a classically feminine illness to a male character, producing gender stereotypes that reveal themselves as inadequate and dangerous constructions” (4). After the creation of Frankenstein's "monster", Frankenstein becomes weaker and needs Clerval to take care of him for several months. He appears to have gone mad, as he is unable to look at anything related to science and Clerval must stay by his side at all times. By depending on a man to take care of him, Frankenstein proves that he has no power or independence and shows more feminine characteristics for this time period. Shelley uses this tactic of female hysteria to show the degree of emotional restraint that is imposed on a woman. Hysteria arises from the inability to pursue what women are most passionate about and even Shelley herself had to deal with the constraints imposed by her husband Percy. Shelley manages to complicate the issues behind emotional control and shows how problematic this is in her novel. The madness associated with Frankenstein is madness due to repression and misdirection of passion, which is self-destructive for Frankenstein, thus showing the dangerous nature of oppressed women (Hobbs 4). If it leads to so much destruction for Frankenstein, how can it be any less worse for women? Another recurring theme of women's oppression in the 19th century was the lack of education. Frankenstein's creation is the closest character to possessing this trait. Frankenstein's creation is seen as misunderstood and left behind and Shelley manages to make him more than just body parts sewn together. In addition to being a murderous and vengeful “monster,” Shelley also manages to compare this creature to women of this period. David Collings writes in his article "The Monster and the Mother Thing: A Critique of Mary Shelley's Ideology" that the monster is actually a representation of women during the 1800s as he is uneducated and unknown. Frankenstein's creation constantly monitors the De Lacey family and is even present when their family friend Safie comes to live with them. Safie, from another country, is then taught to speak French by the family and the creature learns with her. Colling's writes: "It is not surprising that the monster learns with Safie, as if he too were both a stranger and a woman" (289). Colling's continues to explain that Frankenstein's creature is placed in a role that women usually play, which involves eavesdropping on conversations (289). The creature spends the first year of its life observing and listening to these people, as women seem to have done in the past. The comparison of the monster with women shows the degradation of women at that time. The creature is feared but is inherently good and is incapable of wielding power because no one is willing to accept it for what it truly is. He is also denied formal education and acceptance into society. Colling's writes: "If Safie represents woman as she is accepted in language and family, the monster embodies woman as she is excluded from the world of images and words" (290). While women at this time learned the language of their community, they did not learn much else. At that time, it was frowned upon for women to go to school, as their primary concern was their family. The monster learns French, like the Safie woman, but he is not accepted in the world of words and conversations, like all women at that time. Shelley compares the monster to women in this era to show how oppressive gender “man” truly is. . Percy didn't believenot that she had to write as she did and, being unable to communicate, she was forced to listen to her husband and respect his wishes; wishes that only seemed to hold her back. Shelley is a 19th century woman who has been told how to live, and with this she shows a monster, like herself, incapable of communicating with others. An important characteristic of Frankenstein's women is also the presence of "invisible women". .” From the first reading, the novel unfolds with many strong male characters who seem to overshadow any female characters. The female characters do not seem to play an important role in the novel nor do they have much means of communicating with the audience or with the other characters. Shelley begins the novel with letters from Walton to her sister Margaret. The reader is only able to see one side of these letters and so his sister's character is seemingly disposable, but thinking about it again, without Margaret there would be no reason for Walton to tell her story. Shelly seems to write in a way that shows women are necessary, but not entirely significant. Like Margaret, Shelley's other female characters also seem disposable as the story is read almost without female characters. Female characters like Agatha, Safie, Elizabeth, and Justine seem to function solely as tools for men and nothing more. Women seem completely invisible and have no other importance. Each of these women is also extremely passive and submissive, exhibiting all of the same characteristics of the stereotypical 19th century woman. Justine is a powerful example of the stereotypes and passivity of women of this era. Accused of a murder she did not commit, Justine becomes the embodiment of passivity because she admits her guilt, even though she is completely innocent. She believes that it would be better to die knowing that she herself is innocent, rather than fighting to live (Shelley 73). As a result, Justine becomes a docile victim of the circumstances of her life. Shelley cleverly uses the name “Justine” to show how skewed the world of men is. This innocent girl, whose name is derived from "righteous" or "justice", gets neither of these things because she lives in a man's world where, despite false accusations, she is sentenced to death. Justine is also seen as a maternal symbol and by putting her life in Frankenstein's hands, as he is the only one who can prove her innocence, Shelley shows that Frankenstein kills the creator, thus being the only one in the entire novel to create anything. something new. This makes his feminine characteristics even more apparent, as he appears to be the only one capable of procreation, even though he is a man, thus creating a world of total domination of women, although Frankenstein himself is closely linked to these feminine traits . These traits that conflict with his actions as a man ultimately lead to the downfall of the novel because Frankenstein cannot live a life on the edge of masculine and feminine. Elizabeth appears, like Justine, docile and passive, constantly calming Frankenstein and caring for her father. She is the most important female character in Shelley's novel and appears to be Shelley's greatest critique of the oppression of women during this period. Although at many points in the novel Frankenstein seems indifferent towards Elizabeth, there are a few moments where he claims to regard her as his own possession. Upon his first meeting with Elizabeth, he declares, “Elizabeth is mine – mine to protect, to love, and to cherish.” All the praise that was bestowed upon him I received as having become a possession that was mine” (Shelley23). This may be related to Victor's feminine characteristics. In reality, he does not have this power over Elizabeth because he seems to have traits that define him as more of a woman. Frankenstein only believes that he has this power which creates an imbalance within him. Elizabeth is also a character who symbolizes the “death” of self during marriage during this period. If a woman married at this time, she completely surrendered herself to her husband. All her property and assets bore her husband's name and, like Shelley, she had to abandon her aspirations and look after the family. The creature warned Frankenstein that he would be with Frankenstein and Elizabeth on their wedding night, and Frankenstein took this as if the creature was going to kill him; “In that hour I would die, and immediately I would satisfy and extinguish his wickedness. Their prospects did not make me fear. (Shelley 153). Shelley later wrote that Elizabeth was actually the victim on their wedding night, showing the symbol of death at the wedding at that time. While saying her vows at the end of the night, she was killed. Like Justine, Elizabeth then becomes a victim of her circumstantial life, centered on a man, and is killed. Without Frankenstein, the two women could have lived, like Safie and Agatha, who fled his creature. Running from Frankenstein's creature shows that women can only be safe if they move away from the dominant power of men, or in Frankenstein's case, the imbalance of power. It seems that Shelley is asking an important question about the dangers that men pose. Without men, are women safer? Another example in which Shelley showed women as dominated by men is when Frankenstein's creature asked Frankenstein to make him a mate. He begins by declaring, “I demand a creature of another sex” and asserts that he wishes this female creature to then be unhappy at his side (Shelley 131). If he is as unhappy as he claims to be, why would he want to drag another being into the picture with him? Like many women at that time, this female creature would have no choice but to follow the male and live an unhappy life; the creature and Frankenstein determine its fate. When Frankenstein destroys the creature later in the novel, the creature speaks to him displeasedly, saying, "Shall every man find a woman for his bosom, and every beast have his mate, and I shall be alone?" (152). In its fit of agitation, the creature claims that women are only used as male companions and nothing more. The destruction of the female creature also shows the symbol of the destruction of the female reproductive power. It seems that in this book, men hold all the power, including something only women can do: reproduce. The entire novel shows Victor attempting to take on the role of reproduction when he first brings his creation to life. In this, Shelley shows that without women, men create monstrous things. Michel writes, “Frankenstein is the story of a man giving birth to a creature who destroys his life,” and showing the destruction of male reproduction, Shelley provides a dangerous worldview of men (355). Clearly, Shelley made his characters the epitome of disposition: by the end of the novel, all the women associated with Frankenstein were dead. Showing the roles of elimination and submission that these women play in Frankenstein, Shelley dramatizes the real-life roles that women were a part of in the 19th century. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Shelley struggled to live a submissive life under.