Female Strength in Frankenstein
Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of Malala Yousafzai, the teenager who stood up for her education in Pakistan where girls weren't allowed to go to school, said that “In most parts of the world, when a girl is born, her wings are clipped. She is not able to fly.” While there has been some progress, even today, girls and women are not treated equally to boys and men. This problem gets worse the farther one looks back in time. Especially in old books, women are often portrayed as weak characters and are only there to be companions to men. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which was published in 1818, women were portrayed as weak because they were not independent, they were seen as possessions, and they didn't solve …show more content…
For example, Elizabeth didn't want to go visit Justine unless Victor would accompany her. “‘Yes’ said Elizabeth, ‘I will go, although she is guilty; and you shall accompany me, for I cannot go alone.’” Why was she restricted to only go if her cousin would join her? Elizabeth was an adult, and should have been free to do whatever she wanted without the aid of Victor. Only imagine if every time a girl in the modern world wanted to do something she needed a man’s assistance. Another example of women in Frankenstein not being independent comes from the portrayal of Caroline Beaufort, Victor's mother, who also showed a lack of independence. “He strove to shelter her, as a fair exotic is sheltered by the gardener, from every rougher wind and to surround her with all that could tend to excite pleasurable emotion in her soft in benevolent mind.” Caroline was taken from the real world and placed in a new one where there was only goodness, because Victor’s father thought she was not strong enough. Some may say that this was just the nice thing to do, that it has nothing to do with the fact that women were not independent in Frankenstein. However, if that is true, when Victor endured hardships, why was he not given the same treatment? Was he perceived as strong enough just because of his gender? Because of both of these examples, one can clearly see that women were not independent in frankenstein, and therefore not portrayed as
Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of Malala Yousafzai, the teenager who stood up for her education in Pakistan where girls weren't allowed to go to school, said that “In most parts of the world, when a girl is born, her wings are clipped. She is not able to fly.” While there has been some progress, even today, girls and women are not treated equally to boys and men. This problem gets worse the farther one looks back in time. Especially in old books, women are often portrayed as weak characters and are only there to be companions to men. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, which was published in 1818, women were portrayed as weak because they were not independent, they were seen as possessions, and they didn't solve …show more content…
For example, Elizabeth didn't want to go visit Justine unless Victor would accompany her. “‘Yes’ said Elizabeth, ‘I will go, although she is guilty; and you shall accompany me, for I cannot go alone.’” Why was she restricted to only go if her cousin would join her? Elizabeth was an adult, and should have been free to do whatever she wanted without the aid of Victor. Only imagine if every time a girl in the modern world wanted to do something she needed a man’s assistance. Another example of women in Frankenstein not being independent comes from the portrayal of Caroline Beaufort, Victor's mother, who also showed a lack of independence. “He strove to shelter her, as a fair exotic is sheltered by the gardener, from every rougher wind and to surround her with all that could tend to excite pleasurable emotion in her soft in benevolent mind.” Caroline was taken from the real world and placed in a new one where there was only goodness, because Victor’s father thought she was not strong enough. Some may say that this was just the nice thing to do, that it has nothing to do with the fact that women were not independent in Frankenstein. However, if that is true, when Victor endured hardships, why was he not given the same treatment? Was he perceived as strong enough just because of his gender? Because of both of these examples, one can clearly see that women were not independent in frankenstein, and therefore not portrayed as