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Stephanie Gordon
Sam Bundy
Honors English 12
March 10, 2016
Feminism in Frankenstein
At a young age, Mary Shelley gained her knowledge about feminism by reading her
mothers pieces of literature. Her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, who died in childbirth, was
one of the first feminists. (Shelley) Wollstonecraft would be proud of her novel,
Frankenstein, which has multiple feminism interpretations. In her childhood Mary Shelley
was left to educate herself amongst her fathers intellectual circle. (Shelley) Influenced by
her mothers works and her fathers peers, she formed her own opinions about the different
aspects of life.
The lack of femininity in the creatures life is the reason why he turned out to be
Frankensteins worst nightmare. Creating human life instead of natural birth is inhumane and
oppressing to women. Women were held to a very low standard in Shelleys lifetime.
Therefore, there is very little female character development. Motherhood is absolutely crucial
in order for anyone to have a fulfilled life. Mary Shelley turned to literature to indirectly
express her opinions of feminism.
The absence of a naturally occurring birth and the tragedy that follows gives an
insight to Mary Shelleys feminist views. Not surprisingly, the creature's non-birth,
occluding an unavoidably female act, has dominated feminist interpretations of Frankenstein.
(Yousef) The creature was made by Victor Frankenstein rather than being brought into the
world by a natural birth. Shelley is showing her disapproval of non-births when she writes
about the consequences that Frankenstein endures.

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Victor Frankenstein was terrified of the monster that he had created and practically
left him for dead. Frankenstein contends with ideals of autonomy and self-sufficiency not
only by narrating the unnatural fashioning of a creature in an act of solitary conception but,
perhaps more important, by narrating the unnatural development of the creature after it has
been abandoned to its solitary fate. (Yousef) The monster was forced to live a life in
isolation, learning how to speak by spying on people in the community. This way of living is
unnatural and would be deemed unacceptable in todays society.
Mary Shelley wrote the story in this fashion in order to show how creating human life
is non-beneficial. This argument makes possible a richer recognition of Shelley's
intellectual feminism, particularly her sophisticated engagement with influential theories of
development in her day. (Yousef) The monster did not live a normal life because he was
brought into the world unnaturally and without a mother to take care of him.
Mary Shelley is making a statement by choosing little to no female characters in her
novel. For in this novel where narcissistic males like Walton and Victor tend to be the
scientists, the doers, the literalizers who dominate the story, the selfless, ethereal and
unscientific women in the novel are practically transparent if not invisible. (Dickerson)
Walton and Victor are consistent characters throughout the story. Female characters, on the
contrary, were seemingly irrelevant.
She wrote about the women in this manner to educate others on how women were
being treated. All the interesting, complex characters in the book are male, and their deepest
attachments are to other males. The females, on the other hand, are beautiful, gentle, selfless,
boring nurturers and victims who never experience inner conflict or true desire. (Johnson)
There is only background information given about the females, making them seem irrelevant
to the story. Shelley does this to nonchalantly show her disapproval of how women were

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treated in her lifetime. Authors often neglected the female characters in their novels, much as
they were neglected in the real world.
The monster asks Frankenstein to create a female monster for him. Monstrousness is
so incompatible with femininity that Frankenstein cannot even complete the female
companion that his creature so eagerly awaits. (Johnson) Not only were there no female
humans, but there were also no female creatures. Frankenstein was able to create a male
monster, but unable to create a female monster.
It was extremely selfish for Frankenstein to create his monster and then not take
responsibility for him.It is the story of two antithetical modes of parenting that give rise to
two increasingly parallel lives -- the life of Victor Frankenstein, who is the beloved child of
two doting parents, and the life of the monster he single-handedly creates, who is
immediately spurned and abandoned by his creator. (Johnson) An infant, or in this case,
even a monster simply cannot live a normal life without a mothers love. The monster lived a
terrible life because he had no one to take care of him.
The creature has been alone since the day he was created. The hateful feelings that he
grows for Victor Frankenstein are valid because he understands that Victor abandoned him.
"Begone! I will not hear you. There can be no community between you and me [. . .]
(Shelley) The monster later seeks revenge on Victor for abandoning him and also because
he did not create a mate for him. He gets back at Frankenstein by killing everyone he loves
one at a time. He is unable to live a stable life because nobody loves him.
The monster knows that Frankenstein is a bad person and treated him with disrespect.
God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy
type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance. (Shelley) He knows that he was
created to look like a normal human, but he is not pleasant to look at. Gods creation of life is

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beautiful and cannot be mimicked. He is saying that it is even more horrid because of the
filthy resemblance.
Mary Shelleys views in life were way beyond what her peers had in mind. She was
incredibly open-minded and an empathetic person. Creating human life rather than natural
birth is inhumane and oppressing. Women were not held to a high standard in Mary Shelleys
lifetime. Parenthood is absolutely crucial in order for any kind of human to have a fulfilled
life. Mary Shelley wrote about feminism in her ironic novel, Frankenstein.

Works Cited
Dickerson, Vanessa D. "The Ghost of a Self: Female Identity in Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein." J Popular Culture The Journal of Popular Culture 27.3 (1993): 79-91.
Robeson. The Journal of Popular Culture, 1993. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
Johnson, Barbara. "Johnson, "My Monster/My Self"" Johnson, "My Monster/My
Self" University of Pennsylvania, 1992. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein, Or, The Modern Prometheus 1818.
Engage Books, 2008.
Umland, Samuel J. Cliff's Notes on Shelley's Frankenstein. Lincoln, NE: Cliffs Notes,
1982. Print.
Yousef, Nancy. "The monster in a dark room: Frankenstein, feminism, and
philosophy." MLQ: Modern Language Quarterly 63.2 (2002): 197-226.