Gender Roles in Frankenstein Essay Example
AP Lit
7 - October - 2013 Gender Roles in Frankenstein The gender roles of males and females is the most blatantly expressed theme in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. It is as if Mary Shelley saw the theoretical horse that represents gender archetypes laying alive and well in the middle of a exquisite field of grass, and then proceeded to repeatedly strike the poor animal, with a hammer made of ink filled quills, until there was an unrecognizable mesh of blood, fur, and tissue lying before her. In Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus almost every level in the character tree there is a dominant male character that plays a significant role in the plot. In contrast, while there are some women that are main characters, the roles they play are often passively docile and supportive roles. For the most part the women in Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus act as tools for the men to interact with one another and for some of the women in this story, the main purpose of their role is their death. It is clear that Mary Shelley is projecting through Frankenstein what she thought the typical man of the early 1800s thinks about when it came to women.
When trying to make some sort of interpretation of male and female character roles in Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, it is important to understand the life of its author Mary Shelley and the period the book was written. Mary Shelley’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, died 10 days after giving birth to Mary Shelley so she did not play a major role in Mary’s life, despite her mother being a women’s rights activist that authored the book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Instead of having a strong motherly figure, like the character Caroline Beaufort from Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, she had her father, William Godwin. Mr. Godwin was a well read man that had some radical political anarchist views for his time
7 - October - 2013 Gender Roles in Frankenstein The gender roles of males and females is the most blatantly expressed theme in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. It is as if Mary Shelley saw the theoretical horse that represents gender archetypes laying alive and well in the middle of a exquisite field of grass, and then proceeded to repeatedly strike the poor animal, with a hammer made of ink filled quills, until there was an unrecognizable mesh of blood, fur, and tissue lying before her. In Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus almost every level in the character tree there is a dominant male character that plays a significant role in the plot. In contrast, while there are some women that are main characters, the roles they play are often passively docile and supportive roles. For the most part the women in Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus act as tools for the men to interact with one another and for some of the women in this story, the main purpose of their role is their death. It is clear that Mary Shelley is projecting through Frankenstein what she thought the typical man of the early 1800s thinks about when it came to women.
When trying to make some sort of interpretation of male and female character roles in Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, it is important to understand the life of its author Mary Shelley and the period the book was written. Mary Shelley’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, died 10 days after giving birth to Mary Shelley so she did not play a major role in Mary’s life, despite her mother being a women’s rights activist that authored the book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Instead of having a strong motherly figure, like the character Caroline Beaufort from Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, she had her father, William Godwin. Mr. Godwin was a well read man that had some radical political anarchist views for his time