Feminism shown throughout the book called Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Essay Example

Some have considered it quite ironic for a person like Mary Shelley to write a novel in which all female characters have marginal representation compared to the male characters. Shelley was born to a very notable Victorian feminist named Mary Wollstonecraft. Yet, she has portrayed women as creatures of little wisdom or independence in her most distinguished novel. For example, when the text says that “He came like a protecting spirit to the poor girl, who committed herself to his care;” (Shelley 26), it is suggested by Viktor that Caroline, his mother, had no capacity to look after herself and looked up to his father to be taken care of.

She clearly has no means to support herself financially and so, marries Viktor’s father for survival. This possessibility of women, depicted in the novel, could be due to the fact that Shelley wrote in a time when women were expected to abide by some rules which were set for them by the conservative society in which they lived. Her novel does not speak of women with spirited enthusiasm, rather they are described in a very ordinary way which makes the readers perceive them as ordinary and powerless.

For example, at one point, Viktor speaking of his mother says that in his childhood, “she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift” (Shelley 30). Here, it is clear how powerless women then were because Elizabeth, while being unaware herself, is promised by another woman to his child. Elizabeth has no say in this important matter of her life, rather she is treated like an object and handed over to a child. There is a huge gender gap which is clearly noticeable in Frankenstein. This is even considered a sexist book by many critics.

Negative portrayal of women in the novel is traced back by some to the time in which Shelley lived when women were brought up in a such a way that they could not think of