Many critics have pointed out that the women characters in Frankenstein seem relatively minor and passive, while the book focuses most fully on the relationship between Victor and his creature. If this is the case, do you think there are things in the novel that mark it specifically as a woman’s novel or a novel that is interested in women’s concerns? In other words, how do you see Frankenstein as fitting into the tradition of the Female Gothic? Or do you think it’s a novel that doesn’t really fit this tradition at all?
Dr. Susan Farrell
26 Glebe Street, #205
Email: farrells@cofc.edu
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I think that Frankenstein does qualify as a novel concerned with women’s issues and roles in society, just not in the traditional sense. Although I think it may not qualify as a Female Gothic novel, as it does not meet most of the criteria we have been discussing in class. I think that this is a ‘feminist’ (to use an umbrella term) novel in the sense that, as I have been reading (as a first time reader), I have been interpreting almost all of the novel as Shelley voicing her critiques of men and the ways in which their manner and conduct can negatively impact those around him, especially women. Through the text, accompanied by the background information we discussed about Shelley’s personal life, I keep coming back to the idea that the novel demonstrates very plainly that Shelley spent a lot of time around men who thought that they were very smart and very important. The nature of the actions and ideas expressed by the men in the novel could be understood to reflect Shelley’s own ideas about the gender ideals of her time.
Though Frankenstein does not include many major female characters, I think the elements and themes explored in the book fit within the tradition of the Female Gothic. For example, supernatural elements are rationalized. The creature is brought to life through study of anatomy and electricity over the course of two years, and is corrupted not by his nature, but by people’s treatment of him. Furthermore, the true horror in this novel comes more from realistic fears like deaths of children, false accusations, creating life, being a mother, and dealing with grief. In the same way that Radcliffe plays with a fear of marriage, Shelley uses this book to give words to fears that women especially experience. To the motherhood and childbirth point, I felt that Shelley’s exploration of Victor’s fear of the creature that he created to be a really interesting vindication of mothers or mother figures who may feel that they must have children due to societal expectations of family regardless of whether or not they want them. Though the story may have been more effective with a female main character, Frankenstein still emphasizes women’s concerns in its exploration of different situations, especially regarding child loss and creation of life.
Before reading your post it was hard for me to understand how Frankenstein was a part of the Female Gothic world. I was stuck on the thought that we weren’t following a female protagonist. I just couldn’t get past that, but after reading your post I can see the fog clearing. To your first point, yes, the supernatural is explained, just like many other Female Gothic novels. What first stood out to me, however, was your mention of the monster not being corrupted by his nature but from the way he was treated. I agree, the horror isn’t in the monster itself but of fears we face in our day to day lives. Ghouls and goblins, sure, done the right way can be scary, but nothing is scarier than something natural, something possible, something that could easily be a part of your own story. Us humans are not only the true monsters but the world in which we live in and helped create is the true horror.
You make a great point regarding Victor and his monster mirroring a mother and child relationship. Victor did create life, much like a mother. Through Victor we are shown women’s fears and concerns.
You say it would’ve been more effective if we were to follow a woman, but perhaps for the time it was written in, ears would only come to listen if we were to follow a man. Unfortunately, even today, when a woman speaks in a professional setting she might be put to the side but if a man were to say the same thing he would be listened to.
Although it might be true that Frankenstein doesn’t put a lot of focus into its female characters I would still consider it to be a part of the Female Gothic genre. While the main protagonist isn’t a female it does give the reader a female’s view of the gothic and how or why men make the decisions that they make. For example Victor see’s other people as less then him and treats them as such and this is made to reflect what a women’s view of how men act at the time. This is also told through the letters that are written as it is sometimes the only way that the men really tell another person what they are feeling. For example in Walton’s letters to Ms. Saville he tells her about how he has no friends and how this makes him feel all alone when all he really wants is companionship, but it has to be a certain way in order for it to be “proper”. This goes into another part of the Female Gothic in that is has a sense of going against the establishment. This goes into how the patriarchy also hurts men just as much as it hurts women as it creates an idealized version of a men that all other men must stride towards or be considered outcasts.
Despite most women characters being passive, they all influence the narrative. Specifically, they contribute to Frankenstein and the Creature’s arcs. Elizabeth, while being considered Victor’s gift and possession, out of all the family members, is the only one to take the initiative to figure out who William’s murderer is. She questions whether Justine’s guilt is upheld while Frankenstein ruminates his guilt, refusing to acknowledge anything surrounding the case. With the villagers, Safie, unknown to her, motivates the Creature to start educating himself. Initially, he would have been okay with the basic knowledge he obtains from the small family, but seeing Safie push herself, he follows along. Even then, while appearing as a passive woman in front of us, this couldn’t have happened if we found out Safie didn’t make the journey to Germany instead of following behind her father. These women while still upholding the typical docile female role, they still push the story forward by causing the male characters to look inward onto their actions. Now, would I consider Frankenstein a female gothic? I am actually tripped up on this. I can’t remember who, but somebody mentioned in class Frankenstein being the female gothic through the outsider perspective or even parodying it. This makes the most sense to me because Victor still faces the fear a woman would have and has a peculiar mother-like relationship with the Creature.
Although the female characters in Frankenstein are often in the background, I think that the themes within the story make it possible for it to be classified as a female gothic novel. The main story of Victor and his monster is ultimately one of creation, which is inherently feminine. Victor creates the monster and immediately feels this sense of regret, and ends up being haunted by him, which can parallel a mother and child relationship in a lot of ways. They misunderstand each other, because one is a mature, developed person, and the other is a childlike figure just now learning the ways of the world. I have previously read Mary Shelley’s The Last Man, and in that novel she did a lot of self-reflection through her characters, so it wouldn’t shock me if Mary had been working through some of the ideas of motherhood with Frankenstein. Frankenstein being written by a woman also makes it inherently quite feminine, with even her male characters having deep and complicated emotions and relationships.
So although the main character is not a heroine, Frankenstein explores a lot of female topics and dynamics throughout the novel. I would make the argument that Frankenstein does fit into the tradition of the female gothic, but in a more non-traditional way than what we have read previously.
I think that Frankenstein fits into the tradition of the Female Gothic very well. While the main character Victor is not a woman, he, in my opinion, embodies typically female anxieties, especially when it comes to his creation. The way he is simultaneously in awe, cares for, and is disgusted by the creature he made, birthed even, could be symbolic of how a woman could view their child after childbirth, especially during the postpartum period, where postpartum depression can haunt a woman’s mind. Contributing to those anxieties could also be the fact that Victor lost his mother at a relatively young age, which is a common trope within the Female Gothic. He has a lack of a true maternal figure in his life to guide him and finds one in Elizabeth, even though he is also attracted to her. Moving on, the idea of an “evil” patriarchial presence can be seen through Elizabeth and even Justine. Even though she is relatively stereotypical, Elizabeth can be seen as a symbol of how women were viewed at the time. Elizabeth even blames herself unfairly for William’s death, and until Victor arrives, is inconsolable, however, one cannot help but question if anyone even looked out for her in the first place. Justine’s unfair execution and forced confession can be argued to show that women were never really given fair chances, especially those of a lower class.
While one would typically picture a female protagonist when thinking of the female gothic tradition, it is interesting to look at Frankenstein from this perspective. The fact that it is written by a female author already lends to a feminine outlook on many of the book’s topics such as birth, bodily autonomy, and repression. Additionally, the novel adheres to the concept of explaining supernatural phenomena in natural ways, particularly in how Frankenstein’s monster is brought to life through unnatural means. While it is not through the conventional means of birth, there is still a scientific process through which Victor Frankenstein creates new life without the involvement of a mother– not some type of curse or magic. Because of this, Victor must take responsibility for the life he has brought into the world, but refuses to do so. This echoes a sense of maternal responsibility and guilt seen in many female gothic pieces, where Victor takes the role of the despondent mother. After taking the initiative to spend years studying anatomy and working on this new lifeform, he abandons his own creation and spends years haunted by regret and fear for what he has done. While this can be interpreted as a critique on paternal abandonment, I feel that it also resembles some maternal themes in other works; one that particularly comes to mind is the unnamed protagonist of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper,’ who suffers from deep postpartum depression and is thus condemned to suffer in isolation while unable to care for her newborn child, whom she regrettably feels too anxious being around due to her postpartum nerves. Much like Victor Frankenstein, who feels disgusted by the monster he put so much effort into, this protagonist fails to feel the sense of nurturing one would expect for something they created and is haunted by it throughout the narrative.