Personal Synthesis

So, what do I think about Frankenstein as a novel? After listening to several classes’ worth of discussion on the book along with reading some other blogs and critical essays, it is quite obvious that Frankenstein doesn’t portray a DIRECT sense of feminism. Women aren’t equal in any aspects of the book, which is clearly emphasized in Mellor’s article along with the general class discussions we had. Personally, I had to keep remembering that the author of Frankenstein is an eighteen year old woman who grew up in the early 19^th century. The fact that this young woman was able to make all of these observations and connections at such a young age and had the guts to write a novel on it, I’m truly amazed. So, does the book promote feminism? I believe it does in a very subtle way. At first, when I read the novel, I thought that the book portrayed strong male relationships and simply wanted to get rid of women altogether; but about halfway through the book I realized that Shelley probably wrote these absurd ideas to get her point across. She wanted to show how chaotic society would be if women aren’t valued as anything more than reproductive organisms (which is later unnecessary). If women continue to behave and be treated as household objects without any desires or hopes, men would find a way to do without them. Once men are able to create beings, they would become murderous creatures because men don’t actually have a motherly instinct. I believe Shelley wanted to get this point across that women are vital to the survival of mankind because we are mothers to our children and nurturers; if that one right is taken away, society collapses.

I do think the overall point of the story is that women should be allowed to be mothers, but Shelley also takes many other little jabs at society such as showing that Elizabeth wasn’t allowed to travel or go to college to visit Victor. She already has a crazy and what could soon be a real possibility (at the time) setting for a story and tries to show what happens if society continued in the direction it is going. I also think Shelley wanted this to be a call for action to women, to become more than the submissive house pet to their husbands. Not very many women were educated at the time and allowed to read, but I like to believe that Shelley hoped the word of mouth would travel from the few fortunate women who were able to read, such as school room teachers.

I noticed a few other blog posts agreed with me, stating that Frankenstein does promote equality between men and women, and yet I’m still intrigued by those who say otherwise. I’m not saying that these opinions are wrong, because many of them do make very valid and clear points, but in my mind; I keep going back to the fact that the author is a female. If Mary Shelley hadn’t written this novel and perhaps someone like Victor Frankenstein did, I think the overall reader response would have changed. The fact that a woman wrote a novel about issues women face in society is what has pushed Frankenstein into the classic literature genre.

If you have only seen the movies, I strongly recommend reading the book, and if you’ve only read the book try comparing the films, they can be very amusing. The ability to see the same work portrayed in different ways allows one to open their minds and develop their own opinions and I must say, I did enjoy the overall message of the book. I’m still working on whether or not I enjoyed reading the text but I’m sure my opinion on the book will change as I get older and re-reading the novel will surely bring up points I missed.