Women Play An Indispensable Role In The Novel Frankenstein
Essay by 24 • March 16, 2011 • 486 Words (2 Pages) • 1,781 Views
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Women play an indispensable role in Frankenstein. Women are generally seen as pure, innocent and kind. For example, Elizabeth stood up for Justine's innocence but just because she couldn't prevent her execution, Elizabeth wasn't entirely powerless. Though women in the novel are never given the opportunity to act on their own, they had important status: that of desire. You see, for Victor, Elizabeth proves to be the only joy that could ease his guilty conscience. Similarly, the monster seeks a female of his kind to alleviate his awful existence. For both Victor and the monster, woman is the ultimate companion providing comfort and acceptance. The monster needed this companion to tenderise him, he longed for such a friendship of understanding, love, care, sentimental value. The monster felt rejected by mankind. But he does have something in common with a "normal" man. He is different from a woman, and that is the only thing that makes him somewhat close to normal. Women are appealing because they are SUPPOSED to be different from him.
Some would argue that the roles of the women in the novel could easily be replaced by a man's. This argument is wrong. You see, women send a vibe, an attention to detail that men do not possess. Victor's objective was to create the perfect being. He only cared about obtaining the image in his mind. A woman's basic instinct would have over-analysed everything that could go wrong. A woman's perspective completes the thought of a man. Also, it is the fascination of the natural world that leads Victor to build the monster in the first place. The portrait of the natural world is mandatory of women. In this light, Frankenstein can be seen as prioritising traditional female domesticity with emphasis on family and interpersonal relationships.
Without Victor's mother, who indeed had a small role, Victor wouldn't exist - thus the entire tragedy itself. Which brings
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