When the word “feminist” comes to mind, people typically tend to think of a strong independent female. However, historically speaking, women have been portrayed as emotionally, weak and inferior to men. Until recently, women have been unable to shake off the image of “a damsel in distress” who is only ever capable of caring and loving. Even though Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is narrated through the eyes of men, Shelley includes multiple female characters from different backgrounds such as Elizabeth, Safie, and the near creation of the female companion that leaves a strong impact on the plot. Though Shelley was a known feminist, she tells the story of “Frankenstein” through the eyes of a man and purposefully characterizes them as someone who is weak, simpleminded, disposable, and a servant to men to depict the problems that were and still are currently present in this world for women.
One of the first important female characters Shelley introduces is Elizabeth Lavenza, Victor’s love interest and future wife. Even though she’s been there for Victor since they were young, he still values his friendship with Henry Clerval more important than hers, viewing her as submissive rather than an equal. While he does think of her with only fondness and love, he does not realize how he unintentionally degrades her when he treats her as an object, describing her as “a possession of my own” instead of someone who he cherishes and loves (Shelley 31). He then dehumanizes her by making comments such as “happy creature” (Shelley 90). Towards the end of the novel, she is further degraded when the monster goes on his rampage and kills her merely because he sees her as one of Victor’s “possessions” he can use to hurt him. Furthermore, Shelley incorporates Elizabeth’s death taking place while still dressed in her wedding gown to create an extended metaphor that she intended for her readers to interpret marriage as a literal death wish, displaying her opposition to marriages that are similar to Elizabeth and Victor’s. Shelley uses Elizabeth as an example to emphasize the treatment and value women held in society in the 18th century.
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Though Shelley displays a poor attitude towards marriage, she does include her preferred companionship of equality between a man and a woman through the story of Safie and Felix. Even though they aren’t legally married, their relationship is strong and supportive. They decided to build their relationship off of loyalty, trust, and emotions, in contrast to Elizabeth and Victor’s, whose relationship was mainly focused on the pressure of marriage Victor’s parent put on them since they were kids. Felix risked everything for Safie to be with her and Safie abandoned her culture to be with the man she loved, which was completely unheard of during this period in time. In turn, this causes the monster to “admire their virtues” despite the hatred and fear he finds whenever he encounters humans, showing the strength of their relationship. However, Safie only appears in a couple of chapters, displaying that although she is a strong female character and what women should stand for, she is simply a myth because of the standards men had set for women during this period.
Despite the inference that Safie seems to represent the strength of women in “Frankenstein,” the female companion Victor intended to create is probably the strongest female character in the story. While she is never actually brought to life, Victor fears that she may have the ability to “think and reason” and possibly refuse to “comply with a compact” (Shelley 164). Revealing that creating another creature is not what he is afraid of, but rather creating a female who is rational, intelligent, and disobedient towards men. This new image of a female who is capable and free conflicts with his view of obedient and submissive women causing him to destroy what he created, disposing of this new idea of a woman, allowing men, in his mind, to stay dominant over women. The destruction of the female companion not only symbolized the fear of what women could be capable of if given the chance, but also men’s desire to stay superior to women.
Overall, Shelley’s decision to include female characters and emphasize their place in society below men who are in their lives serves as examples of men’s need to be in charge and how it negatively affected and still affects women.
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