The Nature of Subjection
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley consists of various motifs that range from masculinity to how the monster depicts the gothic elements of the story. Among these motifs is women subordination; through Shelley’s depiction of women’s roles as well as their outcomes. Now looking from our author’s family background, Mary Shelley is the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, a strong advocate for women’s rights; thus as readers, we get a sense that the novel is predominately female-oriented, consisting of a strong female lead, but Shelley somehow strays from this idea and gives us the opposite of what we expect. In Frankenstein, through Shelley, her feminist notion is brought to light by portraying women as weak, disposable, and subservient to men and that through this passivity, male power is not threatened in order to inflict patriarchal dominance.
Unlike today, when women can acquire the same political, economic, and social rights like that of men, Frankenstein mirrors that of the eighteenth and nineteenth century where women’s rights are hard to come by and the most prominent female character deprived of such benefits is Elizabeth Lavenza. According to Anne K. Mellor, the book is set in an “encoding of the female as passive and possessable [which serves as] the willing receptacle of male desire” thus, in Chapter 1, when Victor Frankenstein’s mother, Caroline, says that Elizabeth “was at that time the most beautiful child she had ever seen, and shewed signs even then of a gentle and affectionate;” these characteristics help his mother decide that Elizabeth would be perfect for Victor since “these indications…of domestic love, determine[s] to consider Elizabeth as [his] future wife” (Shelly 30). Furthermore, when Caroline says that “I have a pretty present for my Victor” it shows not only Elizabeth as a possession but in that mere statement, it “bears another important aspect of the female subjection…[and that is] the devastating…view of women [coming] from a female perspective” (Pataki 10). Therefore, we can imply that the inferiority concept is embedded in Victor’s mother and she cannot help but act similarly towards other females which reflect what living in a patriarchal society is during the novel’s time. Aside from that, when we think of domesticity, what comes to mind is the comfort, love, and support one brings to someone and Shelley limits Elizabeth’s character to those commitments for Victor’s benefit by just writing to him, waiting for him, and worrying about his health and safety throughout the novel. In terms of being a supportive wife, she does not even doubt Victor’s motives nor contradicts him because for her, going against him might “give [Victor] pain” (Shelley 245). Furthermore, the mentioned characteristics of domesticity illustrate Victor’s perception of Elizabeth as if she is an animal through comments such as “She was docile and good tempered, yet gay and playful as a summer’s insect” and describing their interactions with one another through comments like “I loved to tend on her, as I should on a favourite animal…” (Shelley 20). Women dehumanization is further accentuated when Elizabeth’s role for the Monster is seen as a prop to seek revenge against Victor and this metaphorically implies that she is in fact a “possession;” which portrays how of an item she is in the life of men to whom she is acquainted with.
From their displays of domesticity and comfort, women are assumed to be passive and with this generalization, it proves destructive not only for Elizabeth but for other female characters like Justine Moritz. For Mellor, there are these spheres in which one is designated for “public power” dominated by men and “private affection” dominated by women. Now, because of this division, “women cannot function effectively in the public realm” and this proves to be true in Justine’s case when she is accused of being the murderer of William Frankenstein. In the novel, Justine made many efforts to prove her innocence but it comes to a point where her efforts are deemed useless. According to Justine, she said: “I did confess, but I confessed a lie…my confessor has besieged me; he threatened and menanced, until I almost began to think that I was the monster that he said I was” (Shelley 105). In Justine’s words, not only can we detect the innocence of her character but how selfless her actions are to unwittingly take the fall for Victor’s wrongdoings, through his creation. As readers, we can detect the malpractice in the justice system due to the fact that women are not given the justice they deserve. Going back to idea of spheres, since politics would be considered a “public power,” a woman’s influence in the justice system alone is insignificant. Furthermore, through Elizabeth, who is fully convinced of Justine’s innocence, is unable to save her despite “the impassioned defense she gives of Justine [which] arouses public approbation of Elizabeth’s generosity” (Mellor 80). Overall, the “‘pushing away’ of women…[in which they are] not allowed to ‘speak’ as well as have their opinions seriously taken into consideration[,] no matter which subject they are trying to influence the men on[,]” will always take effect in this kind of society (Pataki 8).
In the final chapters of the novel, Shelley's critical interpretation of “masculine constructions of knowledge and personhood” is further elaborated when Victor decides not to continue on creating the female monster that the creature ordered him to do so (Knudsen 13). As we think back to the features of the male monster in which the “deformity of its aspect [are] more hideous than [what] belongs to humanity,” it shows how he did not put feelings to his creation because he purposely does not surround himself with the good nature a woman can provide. Now, with the monster commanding him to make a female version of his kind, it is not the fear of how malignant she might be but with the female monster’s capability to be a “thinking and reasoning animal” like her male mate, since the free will she may possess once she is given life has a high chance. In addition to that, it destroys the meaning of women being docile and obedient to men since this puts a death sentence to men’s power as a whole. Therefore the idea of terminating a female creature is not merely the fear of female autonomy but rather mirrors that patriarchal desire in validating that men will be superior over women no matter what. Aside from that, Mellor states that through this situation, it also shows how Victor steals “ the female’s control over reproduction” with the godlike knowledge he possesses. Though fearful, we can also say that because of Victor’s capability to “[eliminate] the female’s primary biological function and source of cultural power” he is able to fulfill “one of the deepest horrors of this novel… [and that is to] creating a society for men only” (Mellor 1). Nevertheless we can conclude that because of Victor’s fear of female sexuality, it is definitely an “endemic to a patriarchal construction of gender [due to the fact that] uninhibited female sexual experience threatens the very foundation of patriarchal power [which is:] the establishment of patrilineal kinship networks together with the transmission of both status and property by inheritance entailed upon a male line” thus, it cannot be helped when men want “female sexuality…strikingly repressed” (Mellor 7). Ending the story of Victor’s “intrusion of nature by attempting procreation with no female interference,” we can imply that Shelley’s misrepresentation of women can be interpreted as a critique of that dominance rather than subduing to the patriarchal confines of literature.
From reading Frankenstein, the explicit details of sexism are clearly shown through various experiences from female characters like Elizabeth and Justine. Despite the fact that the story is written by a female, the women in Frankenstein is greatly objectified, abused, and discarded. In fact, some are killed, but others who live serve a purpose that have no voice or power to live the way they want since Shelly, through Victor, deprives all of them freedom. In the end, we can conclude from the beginning to the end of the book, that women serve to show both Victor’s and his societal beliefs in what women should be and the violent reaction against women who do not conform; which in Shelley’s way, is making Frankenstein a great depiction of a feminist text as a whole.