This essay was written for my British Literature class I took in Fall 2022 at the University of Florida. Please credit me if you plan to cite my writing in any way.
Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, is a work of literary merit. Upon initial publication in 1818, English society was facing strong tensions between class and government, science and nature, and notably, the role of men and women. From a feminist perspective, Shelley’s female characters echo the subdued female role in modern English society to criticize biases and limitations. The novel’s women, namely Justine Moritz, Elizabeth Lavenza, and Margaret Saville, are characteristically docile, meek, and powerless. Their narratives are diminished – only mentioned through the presence of a man – which juxtaposes those narratives of their adventurous male counterparts. The women of Frankenstein function to provoke conversation about the dangers of a growing male society: Margaret is silenced by inactivity, and Justine and Elizabeth are silenced by death. By silencing her female characters, Shelley indirectly instills fear in female readers. She prompts them to reject passivity in the wake of men limiting their identity to nonexistent.
The first female character introduced in the novel is Margaret Saville, the doting and unresponsive sister of explorer Robert Walton. Margaret is made known through Walton’s letters, where he confesses his worries, hopes, and discoveries to Margaret. The novel includes no replies from Margaret, characterizing her as voiceless. She is merely “the silent guardian of Robert’s dreams and aspirations” (Dickerson 83). Likewise, in Letter II, Walton concludes: “I may receive your letters… on some occasions when I need them most to support my spirits” (Shelley 13). This line presents an undertone of female responsibility regarding the power dynamic between men and women. Walton presumes Margaret will soothe his “spirits [that] are often depressed” and comfort his emotional problems, inadvertently placing an emotional burden on Margaret (Shelley 9). This dynamic reflects the societal expectation of women to follow patriarchal authority and play the role of man’s keeper in addition to their traditional roles of mother and domestic caretaker. The imbalance of gender roles is emphasized by the fact that Margaret is rendered as invisible. There is no real encounter with Margaret, and her characterization derives from Walton’s perception of her. As scholar Vanessa Dickerson comments, “the females in the novel are quintessentially ambiguous figures: present but absent, morally animate angels, but physically and politically inanimate mortals” (80). Much like 19th-century women, Margaret is withdrawn physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Though Margaret is an overshadowed and minor character, Shelley characterizes her with little substance on purpose. Margaret’s alien presence indicates that other “women in the novel will for the most part be the listeners to and readers of, not the subjects and agents of stories” (Dickerson 83). Margaret is complex because she is not here but there – haunting the framework with an unheard response, making the reader question her potential if given a proper platform.
Continuing the theme of passive female characters, Justine Moritz is the exemplar of a beloved and compliant woman. She is a victim of injustice, demonstrating the unfortunate reality of lower-class women. Her identity mainly derives from her socioeconomic status. She is a servant to the Frankenstein family, meaning her job is to obey the will of the Frankenstein’s. Her submissive manners are most notable when she is accused of murdering the young William Frankenstein. The prosecution manipulates Justine to confess to a murder she did not commit. She recounts: “He threatened and menaced, until I almost began to think that I was the monster he said I was” (Shelley 75). Like Margaret, Justine is manipulated emotionally and forced to think a certain way. Dickerson notes, “The patriarchy in the form of a confessor coerces Justine into denying her own words, into belying and doubting her own identity” (87). Despite her innocence, Justine conforms to the despicable role society convinces her of, becoming a tragic, “inactive, docile victim of circumstance” (Haddad). Moreover, Justine reveals how long-standing patriarchal institutions stack their odds against women. In comparison to Victor’s trial, the magistrate showed him “extreme kindness… [causing] the best room in the prison to be prepared… [and providing] a physician and nurse” (Shelley 173). The differences in treatment between Justine and Victor’s murder trials capsulize how inequality does not cease until death. It can be argued that Justine’s testimony was over before it began. Her gender and class render her insignificant therefore deeming her voice unimportant. Her muted discourse mirrors the suppression of 19th-century English women. Shelley partly calls out the docile demeanor of Justine, stating that a consequence of passivity is death, a type of eternal silence.
The most prominent female figure in Frankenstein is Elizabeth Lavenza, the cousin and wife of Victor. Despite Elizabeth having the most fully rendered experience of all the female characters, her narrative is not her own but Victor’s. Like all female characters, the reader encounters Elizabeth through a man, functioning as “a channel of action for the male character” (Haddad). The layered narrative showcases how men habitually attempt to control female language and emotion. Victor often describes Elizabeth as “docile” and “good-tempered” (Shelley 25). He believes he is complimenting Elizabeth’s affectionate behavior, but from a feminist perspective, he is minimizing her identity to a meek individual. He refers to Elizabeth as “lively as a bird,” reducing her personhood to that of a pet (Shelley 25). Victor praises Elizabeth for her good virtues, thus presenting her as a “powerless [outsider] made more crushingly powerless by [her] angelicness” (Dickerson 85). However, Elizabeth’s actions contradict Victor’s compliant characterization of her. Elizabeth is the sole Frankenstein member to speak to the court in favor of Justine’s innocence (Shelley 72). Elizabeth’s courage alludes to her willingness to rise against injustice. She shows how women’s voices have a purpose and a right to be acknowledged. However, Victor views Elizabeth’s confession as a “generous interference” thereby reducing her identity emotionally and politically (Shelley 73). Her personhood is eventually diluted to nothingness in the hour of her death. Her narrative is made a tragedy by emphasizing her unfulfilled potential ignored by a close-minded society. It is true then that Elizabeth is not a product of unlucky fate but a victim of male dominance.
The characterization of each woman in Frankenstein ultimately has the same effect to highlight the interconnectedness of the female experience. Their devout, nurturing, and affectionate behavior undermine their potential to develop identities beyond their male-conceived societal roles. Dickerson notes: “The women are suspended in a shadow realm of powerlessness and potential power that ultimately skews their identity” (80). There is no place for women to form their identity in a man’s world. Though Victor possesses inherently favorable qualities – white, upper class, and male – he nevertheless wreaks havoc on society, reflecting the patriarchy’s inadequacy. Therefore, Frankenstein is a nuanced account of the consequences of a male-dominated society. By the novel’s end, no woman is alive, save for Margaret (allegedly). Shelley intimately calls for women to break the gender glass ceiling and step forth into society not as sisters, caretakers, or wives but as independent, functioning members.
Works Cited
Dickerson, Vanessa D. “The ghost of a self: Female identity in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.” Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 27, no. 3, 1993, pp. 79. ProQuest, https://login.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/ghost-self-female-identity-mary-shelleys/docview/1297399393/se-2.
Haddad, Stephanie S. “Women as the Submissive Sex in Mary Shelley’s” Frankenstein”.” Inquiries Journal 2.01 (2010). http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/139/women-as-the-submissive-sex-in-mary-shelleys-frankenstein.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, et al. Frankenstein: The 1818 Text. Penguin Books, 2018.
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