Introduction
Human inquisitiveness kindles daring pursuits. It instigates every exploration, search, and discovery (Rocod 1). The inherent quest for knowledge and inquisitive thinking create an innumerable of possibilities, some of them yield happiness and results in frustration and despair. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, also subtitled as The Modern Prometheus provides finer details of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who defies all odds to breathe life to a non-living matter (Rocod 1). Victor Frankenstein is a contemporary Prometheus. According to Greek mythology, a Prometheus is credited with the creation of man from clay. Victor steals the sacred fire that belongs to the gods and issues it to humanity. In the book, Victor endeavors to assume the role of God, which is to provide life to mankind. The novel demonstrates Victor’s failure in his ambitious scientific pursuit and the unprecedented impacts of his actions (Rocod 1). It further illustrates how a neglected responsibility that propels a chain of morbid events. The elements of rejection and abandonment create a sequence of anger and revenge and lead to the destruction of human relationships. The paper seeks to analyze the author's choice of a minimum portrayal of women in modern society and its implication towards understanding gender roles.
The role that women play in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is scant, and one of the provided reason is that it was published in 1818, at a time where female writers emerged and tried to take a stand an against patriarchal society, and it's a male-dominated and oriented organization (Knudsen 5). This was also a period when women were perceived to need help from men and subjugate to their husbands while in marriage. The author also conceded her thoughts to the notion of the proper lady, dedicated to her family at the cost of her character and aspirations, when Mary tried to improve the communication on the need for women to be treated in equal measure as men (Knudsen 5).
While explaining the role of women in Frankenstein, the author chose to write from different perspectives, using three protagonists-all male. First, the women are depicted, solely, through the male perception. They are treated as lesser sex, which inexorably decreases their significance in the story, and such they function as tools, created to replicate the male characters (Knudsen 13). The author states that “the women function not in their right, but rather as signals ad channels for men’s relations with other male colleagues” (Wollstonecraft Shelley 283). This aspect can be related to the role that Walton’s sister plays in voicing out her admiration and affection towards Victor Frankenstein.
In the novel, the author highlights the sufferings women face, and their weakness by creating feeble female characters that succumb one by one in the development of the novel. For example, Victor and the monster display the elements of cruelty and a cold society that pays no attention to women, and which is the reason for their suffering and ultimate death (Abid 303). Victor’s lack of humanity, his egoism, and self-centeredness makes him forget all about Elizabeth and put her at the least of his list of priorities (Abid 304). He dedicates his entire time to science and developing the monster in dark secrecy instead of thinking of the woman who is patiently waiting for him, and displays affection to him without expecting anything in return. On the other hand, Elizabeth displays the image of a passive and inactive woman who is denied the will and liberty to make a decision (Abid 305). She does nothing in the novel, but wait for Victor to decide whether or not he will betroth her. She is further described as being a gift to Victor, since the day she was presented into the Frankenstein family
Another instance of social disdain on women can be explained from the following narrative. Justine, Moritz, a deprived and gentle girl who was adopted by Frankenstein’s family is accused of the murder of Victor’s youngest brother, William, and is apprehended notwithstanding her innocence (Abid 306). The shocking reality is that Victor knew they real killer, but decided to keep silent, and the let the execution of young guiltless girl progress in a selfish act to safeguard himself and conceal his huge secret in the dark (Abid 306-307). Also, the above excerpt displays men’s preference to go towards any mile to ensure things work to their advantage.
Since the society during that time was male-dominated, Justine chooses to keep silent and does not take any action to prove her innocence, since she was sure that she would not get any assistance. She is further compelled to accept the comments made by a male confessor by avowing that she did perpetrate the crime of killing William, and therefore deserves a capital punishment in the form of the death penalty. Just like Elizabeth’s case, Justine is a victim of the patriarchal society that demeans women and renders them helpless when trying to fight for their right justice (Abid 307).
Mary Shelley uses the incomplete female monster to further illustrate how Victor Frankenstein and his monster disdained and disregarded women in society. It is seen when Victor mentions to Walton that he demolished the female monster before the creation was finished since he realized that once she is animated he might not be able to control her actions, and his secret might be exposed as a result of that (Abid 307). She could have had a free will and developed an aggressive character to shape her destiny and existence without the help of a male over her string character and gritty.
Another instance of women being disregarded in the society can be seen through When Elizabeth who does not get any help from Victor to look after his ailing mother in law since he is busy preparing for a trip to the university of Ingolstadt to study and interact with other customs (Hillerstrom 5). After Victor’s mother dies, Victor had the gusts to state that “his other was dead, however, we had pending agendas which was waiting for us, and we must progress with our way of lie with the rest and learn that we are only fortunate to be alive” (Wollstonecraft Shelley 40-41). He further stated that the trip to Ingolstadt was already planned and could not be postponed. The societal roles of women in the traditional society can be seen by Elizabeth’s taking the role of the mother of the household after Caroline's death. “Elizabeth appeared steadily on life and assumed its duties with resilience and zeal” (Wollstonecraft Shelley 41).
On the discussion of males roles in the traditional society, Mary Shelley advances it through Felix, who learns how a male should function while spying on the De Lacey family (Hillerstrom 9). Felix is caring and gentle, while her sister, Agatha are out the creature tries to talk to their father. Felix’s father is blind and unable o be impacted by the creature’s wretched appearance (Hillerstrom 9). All goes well, until the children, Felix and Agatha return to the cottage and impose the Creature way. This hurts the Creature significantly because he notes Felix’s betrayal as if they had an intimate relationship (Hillerstrom 9). Towards the climax of the novel, the Creature utters to Robert, “Was there no injustice in this? Am I to be suggested as the only criminal, when all human race sinned against me” (Wollstonecraft Shelley 275). This disloyalty remains within the Creature since he felt a strong bond to Felix who is a role model in a manner Victor cannot match up (Hillerstrom 9). The curious thing is to seem when Felix is the most significant male protagonist to the Creature because Felix is the only one who is not a victim of stereotypical gender roles.
The Creature, being miserable desires to be happy and also admits that females also need to be happy. He, therefore, requests a female for himself to which Victor unwillingly consents. Victor considers Creature’s request while commencing his project (Hillerstrom 9). However, Victor had reservations about a female creature who might become more powerful than the male Creature. He also feels threatened because by creating female Creatures it means they would have to reason on their own instead of conforming to the societal cues set by men. Hence, Victor destroys the female Creature before it is awakened (Hillerstrom 9). This is to the surprising consternation of the Creature who vows vengeance. The Creature is raged because he is cognizant that his existence is destined to be alone. The basic fear that Victor has is that of women being freed from the social systems designed to keep females under control (Hillerstrom 9). The stereotypical gender roles would not apply to the female creature, making the female creature to have the liberty to decide whatever she wants, and also a being that is stronger than normal males.
Notwithstanding their appearances of the Creature and Safie seeming different, their characterization shares similar stories (Hillerstrom 10). Although she is a female, Safie is a traveler, and her habit is considered to be a male norm, whilst the traditional society holds that women should concentrate on household chores (Hillerstrom 10). Based on the argument context, Safie is seen to have done contrary to societal expectations. Safie, being a foreigner, is also literate enough to comprehend French (Wollstonecraft Shelley 8). In early society, education is chiefly seen as a male impetus, as women lacked education opportunities, particularly in the 19th century. Safie also assists the De Lacey household monetary. “Felix and Agatha consumed more time in amusement and dialogue and were helped in their labors by servants” (Wollstonecraft Shelley 156). Safie was also taught by her mother to “defy all odds to aspire for higher powers of intelligence, and an autonomous spirit that has long being denied by the religious doctrines of Muhammad” (Wollstonecraft Shelley 146). This illustrates that the female presence of a maternal figure can motivate young females who feel the pressure of the patriarchal society on their progress and growth (Hillerstrom 10). As per Victor, Safie represents the character of women who will go against all odds to ensure they liberate themselves from the yokes of oppression within the society and go on to achieve their desired goals. He also acts as a testament to how the current society is, where women are breaking the glass ceiling and making tremendous strides in political regimes like Angela Merkel, and in the Technological field, such as Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook, Ginni Rommetty, CEO, IBM, and Meg Whitman, CEO, Hewlett-Packard (Hp). Safie’s social class is what enables her to escape the yokes of traditional roles. Finally, Shelly uses Safie to depict how an arguably minor characters display a successful life that is not dependent on traditional gender roles since all the other female characters conform to the traditional gender roles (Hillerstrom 11).
Conclusion
The paper has examined the minimum illustration of women in modern society and its implication towards understanding gender roles through conducting a textual analysis of Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. In the novel, women are vilified, belittled and secluded from getting necessities like education, power, and authority. The most surprising fact is that Safie, a minor character defies all odds and on several occasions, she does not conform to the dictates of the society. She is educated and also yearns to seek high authority in society, after getting inspiring advice from her mother. All the characters who conformed to convectional gender roles die without fulfilling their dream, and only Safie has the opportunity to achieve her quest for achieving power. In this way, the author shows that accepting traditional gender roles is like a death sentence.
