A Feminist Reading of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein :: Feminism Feminist Women Criticism

Feminist Reading of Frankenstein When reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, matchless cannot patron but notice that the women characters seem to have little substance compared to the manful characters. This may have been caused by the time utmost in which she wrote nonpareil in which womanishs were considered inferior to males. This difference between the sexes can be looked at apply a variety of different perspectives. Johanna M. Smith, a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, discusses this issue using feminist eyes in her endeavor entitled Cooped up distaff Domesticity in Frankenstein. The main points in Professor Smiths essay are that the womanish characters are there only to reflect the male characters, and that the Frankenstein family has a weird appearance of living, which she describes as a bookkeeping mentality (Smith 279). Smith begins her essay by looking at the historical factors that may have contributed to this seemingly sexist book. Shelley, wri tten material in the first half of the 19th Century, was in a period in which a woman was conditioned to think she needed a mans help (Smith 275). In the novel itself, no women speak directly. The book has three staple narrators Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and Frankensteins nut. The young-bearing(prenominal) characters are very weak in this novel, especially Elizabeth, Victors full cousin/fianc (no they arent from Arkansas). She is portrayed as the perfect woman, especially after Victors mother, Caroline dies. She takes the site of the mother figure in the household. But just like all the female characters in the story, her character has little substance. Victors character is described in detail, as is that of the monster, and Henry Clerval. When Henry gets killed, sympathy is really felt toward Victor, because he has just confounded his lifetime friend. When Elizabeth is murdered, the reader finds it hard to connect with what Frankenstein is feeling. Elizabeth (and the other main female characters Justine and Caroline) are there to reflect the men characters. Professor Smith states in her essay that women function not in their own right but kind of as signals of and conduits for mens relations with other men (283). This is especially clear when the monster kills Elizabeth on their wedding night. The monster is upset with Victor, so instead of nuisance him, he kills his wife. Elizabeth is used as a sort of ruler to measure the family between Victor and his monster.A Feminist Reading of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Feminism Feminist Women CriticismFeminist Reading 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 were considered inferior to males. This difference between the sexes can be looked at using a variety of different perspective s. Johanna M. Smith, a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, discusses this issue using feminist eyes in her essay entitled Cooped up Feminine Domesticity in Frankenstein. The main points in Professor Smiths essay are that the female characters are there only to reflect the male characters, and that the Frankenstein family has a weird style of living, which she describes as a bookkeeping mentality (Smith 279). Smith begins her essay by looking at the historical factors that may have contributed to this seemingly sexist book. Shelley, writing in the first half of the 19th Century, was in a period in which a woman was conditioned to think she needed a mans help (Smith 275). In the novel itself, no women speak directly. The book has three basic narrators Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein, and Frankensteins monster. The female characters are very weak in this novel, especially Elizabeth, Victors cousin/fianc (no they arent from Arkansas). She is portrayed as the perfect wo man, especially after Victors mother, Caroline dies. She takes the place of the mother figure in the household. But just like all the female characters in the story, her character has little substance. Victors character is described in detail, as is that of the monster, and Henry Clerval. When Henry gets killed, sympathy is really felt toward Victor, because he has just lost his lifetime friend. When Elizabeth is murdered, the reader finds it hard to connect with what Frankenstein is feeling. Elizabeth (and the other main female characters Justine and Caroline) are there to reflect the men characters. Professor Smith states in her essay that women function not in their own right but rather as signals of and conduits for mens relations with other men (283). This is especially clear when the monster kills Elizabeth on their wedding night. The monster is upset with Victor, so instead of hurting him, he kills his wife. Elizabeth is used as a sort of ruler to measure the relationship bet ween Victor and his monster.