During the 1800s, when Mary Shelley first began writing, she struggled to prove to her husband Percy that she was responsible for herself and her artistic talent . Shelley describes Percy as constantly anxious about having to prove herself and find fame (Knudson 11). Percy believed he was a better writer than his wife and therefore thought he could control her and her writing. Mary fought as long as she could but finally “surrendered to the ideal of the respectable woman, devoted to her family at the expense of her own identity and aspirations, when she declared that the literary reputation, which she had once desired, was now ' infinitely indifferent to him because family had become his main concern” (Knudson 11). After fighting the fierce battle for her rights, Shelley put her emotions and pain into her novel Frankenstein, showing the dangers of gender roles in the society of the time. Shelley's character, Frankenstein, possesses many feminine characteristics that blur the definition of gender. She also creates a "monster" that has some of the same characteristics as women and shows the oppression that women had to endure by making her female characters in her novel seemingly invisible. Through the subtle traits of his characters, Shelley has written a novel that shows the threat of a world of unequal lives. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Victor Frankenstein, Shelley's main character in her novel, never seems to be a normal child as he grows up. His interests in science and nature have always led his mind away from the events of his life and he finds great pleasure in abnormal things. As he matures, Frankenstein doesn't change much, except finally becoming fully immersed in science, trying to find a way to bring a creature back to life. For countless years he goes through a phase of near madness as he thinks of nothing but this creation and finally, once it has come to life, he realizes his mistake. The blurring lines of gender begin with Frankenstein's creation coming to life for the first time. Resembling a life-giving mother, Victor seems to completely blur the cultural definition of gender since his creation (Hobbs 3). After his creation comes to life, Frankenstein begins to exhibit characteristics similar to those of hysteria, which during this time period, was a condition applied mostly to women. Doctors during the nineteenth century occasionally diagnosed men with this disorder due to excessive alcohol consumption, pride, disappointment, terror, or anxiety about business—strictly external and uncontrollable forces (Hobbs 4). Colleen Hobbs writes that of all these characteristics of male hysteria, Frankenstein hysteria is closest to female-related symptoms. Female hysteria tends to imply moderation or misdirection of passion, closely resembling Frankenstein. With features resembling women, Shelley is creating a complete mess in his novel. By being emotionally classified as a woman, Frankenstein is placed in a position that has little to no power. This leads to the destruction of the novel as he is male and tries to show dominance and power; both things he lacks due to his femininity. Shelley is trying to show the dangers of the battered woman by putting a man in her place. This is demonstrated by Hobbs who writes: "in describing Victor's response to the complications raised by his monster, Shelley attributes a classically feminine illnessto a male character, producing gender stereotypes that prove to be inadequate and dangerous constructions" (4). After the creation of Frankenstein's "monster", Frankenstein becomes weak and needs Clerval to care for him for several months. It seems that he has gone mad, because he is unable to watch anything that has to do with science and Clerval must always be by his side. By depending on a male to take care of him, Frankenstein is showing that he has no power or independence and displays more feminine characteristics for this time period. Shelley uses this tactic of female hysteria to show the amount of emotional control that is placed on a woman. Hysteria arises from the inability to pursue what women are most passionate about, and Shelley herself also had to deal with restrictions imposed by her husband Percy. Shelley manages to complicate the questions behind emotional control and shows how problematic it is in her novel. The madness associated with Frankenstein is a madness due to repression and misdirection of passion, which is self-destructive for Frankenstein, therefore showing the dangerous nature of oppressed women (Hobbs 4). If this leads to so much destruction for Frankenstein, how can it be any less worse for women? Another common theme in the oppression of women during the nineteenth century was a lack of education. Frankenstein's creation is the closest character to having this trait. Frankenstein's creation is seen as misunderstood and left behind and Shelley manages to make him more than just body parts sewn together. In addition to being a murderous and vengeful "monster", Shelley also manages to compare this creature to women during this time period. David Collings writes in his article “The Monster and the Mother Thing: Mary Shelley's Critique of Ideology” that the Monster is actually a representation of women in the 1800s as they are ignorant and unheard. Frankenstein's creation constantly observes the De Lacey family and is also present when their family friend Safie comes to live with them. Safie, from a different country, is then taught to speak French by her family and the creature learns along with her. Colling's writes, "It is no surprise that the monster learns alongside Safie, as if he too were foreign and a woman" (289). Colling's continues to explain that Frankenstein's creature is placed in a role that women usually perform, which involves eavesdropping on conversations (289). The creature spends the first year of its life observing and listening to these people, as women apparently have done in the past. The comparison of the monster to women shows the degradation of women at this time. The creature is feared but is intrinsically good and is unable to hold power as no one is willing to accept it for who it truly is. He is also denied a formal education and acceptance into society. Colling writes: “If Safie represents woman as she is accepted in language and family, the monster embodies woman as she is excluded from the world of images and words” (290). Although women during this period were taught the language of their community, they were not taught much else. During this time it was frowned upon for women to attend school, as their primary focus was family. The monster is taught French, like the woman Safie, but is not accepted into the world of words and conversations, like all women in this period. Shelley compares the monster to women during this time to show how oppressive the “man” type truly is. . Percy didn't believe she should write the way she did, and given her inability to communicate, she was forced to listen to her husband and respect his wishes;desires that only seemed to hold her back. Shelley is a 19th century woman who is told how to live and with this shows a monster, like herself, incapable of communicating with others. An important characteristic of women in Frankenstein is also the presence of "invisible women". Upon first reading, the novel presents many strong male characters who seem to overshadow any female characters. The female characters don't seem to play any major roles in the novel and also don't have many lines of communication with the audience or the other characters. Shelley begins the novel with Walton's letters to his sister Margaret. The reader is only able to see one side of these letters and therefore his sister's character is seemingly disposable but, looking at this fact again, without Margaret, Walton would have no reason to tell her story. Shelly seems to write in a way that shows women are necessary, but not entirely significant. Like Margaret, Shelley's other female characters also appear to be disposable as the story is read with almost no female characters. Female characters like Agatha, Safie, Elizabeth, and Justine seem to only function as tools for men and nothing more. Women appear to be completely invisible and have no other importance. Each of these women is also extremely passive and submissive, having all the same characteristics of the stereotypical nineteenth century woman. Justine is a powerful example of the stereotypes and passivity of women of this period. Framed for a murder she didn't commit, Justine becomes the emblem of passivity because she admits her guilt, even though she is completely innocent. He believes that it would be better to die knowing that he is innocent, instead of struggling to live (Shelley 73). Because of this, Justine becomes a docile victim of the circumstances of her life. Shelley cleverly uses the name "Justine" to show how distorted this man's world is. This innocent girl, whose name comes from "right" or "justice", gets none of these things because she lives in a man's world where, despite the false accusation, she is sentenced to death. Justine is also seen as a maternal symbol and by having her life in the hands of Frankenstein, as he is the only one who can prove her innocence, Shelley shows that Frankenstein kills the creator, thus being the only one in the entire novel to create anything again. This makes his feminine characteristics even more apparent as he appears to be the only one capable of procreating, regardless of being male, creating a world of complete domination of women, although Frankenstein himself is closely tied to these traits of women. These traits clashing with his actions of being a man ultimately lead to the downfall in the novel as Frankenstein cannot live a life on the border between male and female. Elizabeth appears, like Justine, to be docile and passive, constantly calming Frankenstein and caring for her father. She is the most important female character in Shelley's novel and appears to be Shelley's greatest criticism of the oppression of women during this time period. Although at many points in the novel Frankenstein appears to be indifferent towards Elizabeth, there are some moments where he claims to see her as his property. From the first meeting with Elizabeth he states: “Elizabeth is mine, mine to protect, love and care for. All the praise bestowed upon her, I have received as if they were my own property” (Shelley 23). This may relate to Victor's feminine characteristics. In reality, he doesn't have this power over Elizabeth because he seems to have traits that define him as more of a woman. Frankenstein just believes he has this power that provides an imbalance in him. Elizabeth is also acharacter symbolizing the "death" of oneself upon marriage during this time period. If a woman married during that time, she completely surrendered to her husband. All her property and assets went under her husband's name and, like Shelley, she was expected to let go of her aspirations and take care of the family. The creature warned Frankenstein that he would be with Frankenstein and Elizabeth on the night of their wedding, and Frankenstein took this as if the creature would kill him; “In that hour I should die, and immediately satisfy and extinguish his malice. Their perspective didn't make me fear." (Shelley 153). Shelley then went on to write that Elizabeth had actually been the victim on the night of their wedding, now displaying the symbol of death at the time of marriage. After saying her vows, by the end of the night, she was killed. Like Justine, Elizabeth becomes a victim of her circumstantial, male-centered life and is killed. Without Frankenstein, both women could have potentially lived, like Safie and Agatha, who fled from his creation. Escaping from Frankenstein's creature shows that women can only be safe if they isolate themselves from the dominant power of men, or in Frankenstein's case, the imbalance of power. It seems that Shelley is asking an important question about the dangers of men. Without men, are women safer? Another example where Shelley shows women being overpowered by men is when Frankenstein's creature asks Frankenstein to find him a mate. He begins by stating, “I ask for a creature of another sex” and states that he wants this female creature to then be unhappy next to him (Shelley 131). If he is as unhappy as he claims to be, why would he want to bring another being into the scene with him? Like many women during this time, this female creature would have had no choice but to follow the male and live an unhappy life; the creature and Frankenstein determine his fate. When Frankenstein destroys the creature later in the novel, the creature speaks to him with displeasure, saying, "Every man shall find a wife for his breast, and every beast shall have his mate, and shall I be alone?" (152).In its fit of agitation, the creature states that women are only used as male companions and nothing more. The destruction of the female creature also represents the symbol of the destruction of the female reproductive capacity. It seems that in this book men hold all the power, including something only women can do: reproduce. The entire novel shows Victor attempting to take on the role of reproduction when he first brings his creation to life. In this, Shelley demonstrates that without women, men create monstrous things. Michel writes, “Frankenstein is the story of a man who gives birth to a creature that destroys his life,” and by showing the destruction of male reproduction, Shelley provides a dangerous vision of the world of men (355). Clearly, Shelley made her characters the epitome of disposal: by the end of the novel, all the women associated with Frankenstein were dead. By showing the roles of disposition and submission that these women play in Frankenstein, Shelley dramatizes the real-life roles that women during the nineteenth century were a part of. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom EssayShelley struggled to live a submissive life under her husband Percy, and during this emotional time, she wrote a novel with her exact stance on female oppression. By making Frankenstein the real villain in her novel, she shows that the oppression of women will evidently lead to. 2°.