Gender Stereotypes In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Female characters provide nothing more but a channel of action for the male figures in the novel. These women are like a pawn in a game of chess, or in the case of Frankenstein, the end goal. Pawns are merely used to facilitate actions and movements and instead have no real value in a game. The men on the other hand are seen as the queen or kings who cause monumental actions to occur and produce the ultimate outcome. Justine Moritz and her murder trial is a mammoth catalyst for Victor and his realizations of what the creature’s capacities are and that he must inhibit him from causing any further harm. Subsequently from this event Victor Frankenstein claims, “ I had begun life with benevolent intentions, and thirsted for the moment when I should …show more content…
Before being introduced to Safie, Agatha, Felix, and DeLacey in their humble cabin, the creature is faced with understanding humans and their surroundings all by his lonesome. Once meeting the family however, the creature is thus able to progress as a masculine character and develop major attributes. Previous to learning from Safie and Agatha, the creature could be perceived as a young child with no idea as to how the world functions, yet after the creature begins to develop dexterity and progress, he is able to evolve into that same child but with more formal senses on how to go about his daily ways and means. These said ways and means eventually spiral into actions, which in turn majorly affects the outcome of events. Furthermore, Victor’s female monster is an influential metaphor for Shelley’s views of women. Although women are seen subservient of their male counterparts in Frankenstein, men still continue to need women to spur them on, love for them, and care for them. Without the use of women through their actions, thoughts, and reactions to crucial details, Frankenstein’s male characters would have never progressed and reached the realizations that they