For those of you who were on the funsics field trip today, you missed a lot! We talked about heroin, orange lipstick, and playboy, among other things. We held off on talking about feminism, since we figured it'd be much less fun without Theresa there to counter everything I say. Here's a brief summary of what I found on the feminist criticism of Frankenstein.
Shelley's examination of science in Frankenstein may be read as a warning that man, as the father of science, had a responsibility to control scientific and technological development. Also, it is evident in this novel that women, since they are confined to domestic tasks, are not given the opportunity to pursue the same scientific and intellectual ideas and opportunities as men. In Frankenstein, many of the female characters were murdered. Some speculate that this was done to illustrate that the female role model of an independent, intelligent, kind woman, as described in Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Women, did not exist in 19th century society. Additionally, this novel is an exploration of male fear of female sexuality. Two pieces of evidence to support this claim are that all females in Frankenstein are sexless, and that Frankenstein destroys his female monster because he could not control her ability to reproduce. This is a commentary on men using technology to control women and to control their sexuality.
The men in Frankenstein are also guilty of objectifying women. Victor Frankenstein states, "I...looked upon Elizabeth as mine--mine to protect, love, and cherish. All praises bestowed on her I received as made to a possession of my own." A possession?!
Tomorrow in class we might want to delve into the implications of Nature being personified as female. Shelley first personifies Nature as female when Victor says that the studies of Isaac Newton "partially unveiled the face of Nature, but her immortal lineaments were still a wonder and a mystery." In this story, science, typically characterized as masculine, is able to conquer nature, characterized as feminine. Is this meant to symbolize male dominance over females?
Sorry if this post doesn't make sense. It was interrupted by multiple phone calls... Do your best to piece it together and we'll talk about it in class tomorrow!
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2 comments:
I agree with everything you wrote in your post, Kelsie, but there's something I really don't understand. This book is written by a woman. By that fact alone, I beleive that this book should have more infuencial female charactors. I understand that this isn't a feminist novel, and that the point isn't to promote women's rights. However, an author writes about what he or she knows. And how can a woman like Mary Shelley not have beleived that women are more than just objects? She knows that women don't just cook, clean, and concieve. I just don't understand how she couldn't have portrayed this at all in her book.
Something I wanted to bring up in class, but never got a chance to. We were discussing that Nature is personified as female and Science as male. We've also discussed that this is a story of the failure of science, thus implying that science is bad. Frankenstein disrupts the natural order of things by giving men the ability to create life (through science). The reproduction of life is a determinedly feminine characteristic and the natural way things are done. However, Frankenstein's act of creating life backfires and his monster goes on a killing rampage. From a feminist point of view it can be conjectured that men cannot be trusted with this power and that science is innately bad.
I also read a short piece about how all of Shelley's female characters are very passive. They all silently suffer and endure and eventually die. The author explains why this is surprising because of Shelley's family history, yada, yada... and that Shelley's female characters are passive to serve as a foil (!) for Victor and the monster. Their lack of action and strength magnifies the obsessive and destructive behavior of both Victor and his monster.
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