The Development of Prose in Victorian Age

The Development of Prose in Victorian Age

Introduction:

                   Victorian age follows Romantic age. It begins from 1833 and ends in 1900. This ‘age’ is one of the most glorious epochs in the history of England. It was an age of material affluence, political awakening democratic reforms, industrial and mechanicals progress, scientific, advancement, social unrest, education expansion, imperialism and empire building, humanitarianism, idealism, and all pervasive intensity of life. The Victorian scene unfolds a rich panorama of life in all its wide and varied branches – social, political, economic and literacy. It is one of the special features of the age that while it evoked feelings of warm appreciation and commendation in the hearts of many of its admirers it equally well roused the feelings of resentment and condemnation in others.

 The Victorian age is essentially the age of prose and novel. The novelists were freer because their aims were more limited and allowed a pragmatic approach.

Major Novelists:-

Charles Dickens:-

 Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England, on February 7, 1812, to John and Elizabeth Dickens. He was the second of eight children. His mother had been in service to Lord Crew, and his father worked as a clerk for the Naval Pay office. John Dickens was imprisoned for debt when Charles was young. Charles Dickens went to work at a blacking warehouse, managed by a relative of his mother, when he was twelve, and his brush with hard times and poverty affected him deeply. He later recounted these experiences in the semi-autobiographical novel David Copperfield. Similarly, the concern for social justice and reform which surfaced later in his writings grew out of the harsh conditions he experienced in the warehouse.

Ø       Sketches by B02 (1836)

Ø        The Pickwick paper (1836)

Ø  Oliver twist (1937)

Ø      Nicholas Nichleby (1938)

Ø     The old curiosity shop (1840)

Ø     American Notes (1842)

Ø     Martin Clausewitz (1843)

Ø     Donbey and son (1846)

Ø     Bleak House (1852)

Ø  Hard Times (1854)

Ø     A tale of two cities (1959)

Ø     Great Expectation (1960)

Ø  Our mutual friend (1964)

          His last, novel ‘The mystery of Edwin drood’ remained incomplete and his died.

          His novels were very popular. At the age of twenty six he was a popular author. The demands of this novel were very high and this led to lastly work which could not be considered properly his all books were rich and enduring. His all books were rich and enduring. His power of imagination was beyond comparison. Not even a single English novelist excelled him in the multiplicity of his characters and situations. His humour is broad, Humane, and creative. He could describe horrible, as the death of bill Sykes, he could be painfully dramatic as in the characters of Rosa Dartle and Madame defrags. His characters are created in the ‘flat’. His style is clear, rapid and resembles the style of journalists.

“A decidedly indelicate young gentlemen, in pair of wings and nothing else, was depicted as superintending the cooking, a representation of the spire of the church in longhand place, London, appeared in the distance, and the whole formed a “valentine”, of which as a written inscription in the window testified, these was a large assortment within, which the shopkeeper pledged himself to dispose of, to his countrymen, generally, at the reduce rate of one and sixpence each.”

- The Pickwick papers.

William Makepeace Thackeray: (1811-63):

 William Makepeace Thackeray was born on 18th July 1811 in Calcutta, India. His father was Secretary of the Board of Revenue of the East India Company, and he was an only child. At the age of 5 he was taken to England after the death of his father and his school-years were not happy ones.

He went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he made a lot of friends, but left without a degree. He visited Paris a lot and built up large gambling debts. On coming of age (21) he inherited a good fortune which made him independent and able to pay off his debts. But, unfortunately, a few years later the bank holding his money failed, and he was left penniless and needed to earn a living.

 He married Isabella Gethin Shawe in 1836. They had 3 daughters born, but one died when only 8 months old. Sadly, after 1840 the mental health of Isabella began to deteriorate and she eventually had to be put into full-time care. This meant that in fact he had no wife but he could not re-marry. He formed a few attachments to other women, but the exact nature of these is not known with any certainty.

 He had some natural ability as an artist, and attended art schools in London and Paris, but it was his writing that proved to be the only thing from which he could make a living. Progress in the literary world was not easy. It was only in about the last 10 years of his life that his financial life could be described as comfortable. Unfortunately he did not enjoy the best of health and suffered some very serious illnesses.

 He died on 23rd December 1863 in London, aged 53.Most of his work was originally published in serial form (as with Dickens) and gathered into a book-form a year or so later.

Some of his better-known works are:

1848   Vanity Fair
1849   The History of Pendennis
1852   The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon
1852   The History of Henry Esmond
1854   The Newcombes
1855   The Rose and the Ring
1858   The Virginians

          When Dickens’s was enjoying his success Thackeray was struggling through neglect and contempt to rendition. He got success slowly. Once he had gained the favour of the public he held it and among outstanding English novelists there is none whose claim is so little subject to challenge.

          “Since the author of Tom Tones was buried” says Thackeray in his preface to pandemic, “No writer of fiction among us has been permitted to depict to his almost power a ‘man’. We must drape him and give him a certain conventional simpler.” His certain conventional simpler. “His creations are rounded, entire, and quite alive and convincing. He depicted truth with the help of satire. In pathos he is sentimental. He style is effortless and of extraordinary degree.”

“Her eyes beamed out on him with affection indescribable, “Welcome”, was all she said as she looked up, putting back her fair curls and black hood. A sweet rosy smile blushed on her face: Harry thought he had never seen her look so charming. Her face was lighted with a joy that was brighter than beauty – She did not quit Edmond’s arm.”

                                                                             - Henry Esmond

3.      The Bronte:

          

          Charlotte (1816-1855) family (1818-1848) and Anne (1820 – 1849) were from Yorkshire. The three sisters wrote for fun and they published look take different name and not original ones. Female writing was not given much importance in their time.

Charlotte Bronte:

          She work had truth and intensity. Her plots were limited upto her experiences. She brought energy and passion which seemed wonderful and romantic. Her novels are

1.    The Professor

2.    Jane ryre (1847)

3.    Shirley (1949)

4.    Villette (1853)

Emily Bronte:

 She wrote less than charlotte. Her one novel “Wuthering Heights” (1847) is unique in English literature. It depicts the passions of moor. She also wrote few poems. Her finest poems are –

1)   No coward soul is mine

2)   Cold in the earth, and the deep snow piled above three.

Anne Bronte:

She wrote two novels …

Ø Agnes grey (1847)

Ø The Tenants of Wild fell Hall (1848)

 Compared to charlotte and Emily she lacked power and intercity in her work they were pioneers in the field of romantic fiction in their concern with the human soul they were to be followed by George Eliot and Meredith. The following passage shows the quality of Emily Bronte’s work.

“My Great miseries in this world have been healthchieff’s miseries and I watched and fell each from the beginning. My great though out in living is she? If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue tube; and if all else remained and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger; I should not seem a part of it my love for linden is line the foliage in the woods; time will change it, I’m well aware, as winter changes the trees.’’

(4)     George Eliot:

 Many an Evans was the real name of George Eliot. She was born near Nuneaton. She became a member of a literacy circle. In later life she travelled extensively and married (1880) J.W. Cross and died at Chelsea in the same year.

          George Eliot discovered her own was of writing fiction in the middle years of her life. She wrote:

Ø Adam Bade (1959):

Ø The mill of the floss

Ø Silas Marner – The weaver of Raveloe (1861)

Ø Romola (1863)

Ø Felix Holt the Radical (1866):

Ø Middle march, a study of provincial life (1871-72)

Ø Daniel Dernda (1876)

          There is relatively few striking incidents in her novels, but her plots are skilfully managed. Her characters are usually drawn from the lower classes of society and her studies of the English countryman show great understanding and insight. She displays light humor. There are irony and moral earnest an in her novels. Her style is lucid & simple. Her speeches are ordinary and natural. Nature is present in the form of countryside description. Her novels deal with social, personal and psychological problems of ordinary people.

“She wakes to a new condition. She felt as if her soul had been liberated from its terrible conflict, she was no longer wresting with her grief, but could now sit down with it as a lasting companion with her grief, but could now sit down with it as a lasting companion and make it a share in her thoughts for now the thoughts came quickly.”

- Middlemarch

(5)     George Meredith: (1828 – 1909)

          

          He was born at Portsmouth. He was a reader to a London publishing huge but slowly he was able to get the way for his own bolos. He died at his home at box hill, survey.

Poetry:

      I.            Poems (1851) :

   II.            Poems and lyrics of the joy of the joy of earth (1883)

III.            Ballads and poems of tragic life. (1887)

IV.            A reading of earth (1988)

  V.            A reading of life, with other poems (1901).

Novels:

1.     The ordeal of Richard Fevered (1859)

2.     Evan Harrington (1861) – Emilia in England (1864)

3.     Rhoda Fleming (1865)

4.     Vittaria (1867)

5.     The adventures of Harry Richmend (1871)

6.     The egoist (1879)

7.     The tragic comedians (1880)

8.     Diana of the Crossways (1885)

9.     The Amazing marriage (1895)

          His language and style both are praised. His female character where given same importance as males. His style is fully matured. His novels are deep solid. His characters are amazing and accurately woven. For example –

“She had the mouth that smile in repose. The lips met full on the centre of the bow and trimmed along to a lifting dimple, the eyelids also lifted slightly at the outer corners and seemed, like the lip into the limpid cheek, quickening up the temples, as with a run of light, or the ascension indicated off a shoot of colour.”

- The Egoist.

Other Novelists:

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881):

He was born in London. He gained seat in parliament. He wrote:

Ø Vivan grey (1926-27) :-

Ø The Vajage of caption Popanilla.

Ø A psychology autobiography (1932) –

Ø New generation (1844)

Ø The new monthly (1929-30)

Ø The wondrous tale of Alroy and the rise of Iskander (1833)

          His work dealt with fashionable society, His passages are full of decorum. In style the prose is inflated, but the later novels sometimes have flashes of real passion and insight.

Edward Bulwer – Lytton (1803 – 73)

 He had a long and successful career of a literacy man as well as a politician. He wrote –

Ø  Kalkand (1827) :

Ø  Paul Clifford (1830)

Ø The last days of Pompeii (1834)

Ø  Roman Tribunes (1835)

Ø My Novel (1853)

Ø  A strange Story (1862)

Ø  Money (1840)

          His books are full of the pictures of current society. The can be said to be immature in their affection of wit and cynicism.

3.      Charles Reade: (1814-1884):

          He was born in Oxfordshire. He was a successful man of letters. He died at shepherd’s Bush. He began with plays. His works are as under –

Ø Marks and faces (1852).

Ø Christie Johnstene (1853)

Ø The cloister and the Hearter (1861)

Ø Hard Cash (1863)

Ø Griffith Gaunt or Jealousy (1866)

Ø Foul Play (1868)

          He has the dramatics’ sense and gives striking scenes. Sometimes he becomes melodramatic while hi character lacks depth. He gives historical details in his work.

4.      Willkie Collins:

          He is the successful followers of dickens. He was versatile. He specialized in the mysterious novel. Supernatural elements are present in his work. He wrote more than twenty five novels.

ü  The dead secret (1857) :

ü  The woman in white (1860)

ü  No name (1862)

ü  The moonstone (1868)

 There are many major writers of this age apart from the discussed ones. I have tried to include important Victorian writers.

“With all its immense production the age produced supreme writer. It revealed no Shakespeare, no Shelly, nor a Byron as a Scott. The general literal level was, however, very high, and it was an age, moreover of spacious intellectual horizons noble Endeavour, and bright aspirations.”

- A history of English Literature by B.G. Albert.

Study of ‘Frankenstein’

Study of ‘Frankenstein’

Introduction:-

                            

                   ‘Frankenstein’ is a novel written by Mary Shelly. It is a novel of science fiction. And very well written by marry Shelly. It is a story about victor and monster. But here we discussed here it with cultural perspective. Her novel has morphed in to countless forms in both height brow and popular culture. Her

creation teaches us not to under estimate the power of youth culture. It is a truly captivating powerful novel that analyses ‘Monstrosity’ with  regard to ‘Humanity’ however without a sound understanding of the context, in witch the text was written one couldn't completely comprehend the themes, ideas and references did not present nor can the apparent link between monstrosity and humanity be completely fathomed.

                   By studying and reading the novel with the help of scientific discern the reason behind Marry Shelley depicting the creator’s creation and development in the manner she chose to researching in to the literary context provides one with superior appreciation of interstitial references, the style in which the novel has been written and the novel’s secondary title ‘The Modern Prometheus’ similarly an understanding of the historical context grants one the ability to identify the allegory of the industrial revolution.

                   Here one thing is happening is most notable. The creation was made of human parts. It was in essence human can on judge this as being monstrous. Bearing in mind that the industrial revolution. Electricity was another monumental scientific discovery of the time. One those many viewed with clew and wonder. The creature saw characteristics of himself in both Adam and Satan. Just as human that created the monster.

                   Victor can be seen as the god who has created Adam and Eve and Satan. In Milton’s paradise lost god created all human being but some human did not under control of him so god departed them and theme they had become Satan. In this epic we can see Satan wants to be king. The same thing happened in the present novel victor Frankenstein has made the monster and then he wants to become the emperor of world.

                   This novel is also has a subtitle. As we earlier discussed that this novel is subtitle ‘Modern Prometheus.’ We called Victor Frankenstein can be seen as the modern Prometheus. Again with greater knowledge of the context the “Spark of being” is further clarified. Shelley ideally represents electricity as the modern heavy fire. The main influence on Frankenstein avoid had been through the presentation of the Promethean legend. The individual and his quest can be interpreted as Frankenstein or the creature whose journey to achieve revenge.

                   We can also say that marry Shelley’s science Fiction adventure, thriller and dramatize the novel in that one can do the thing which challenging the God’s creation, the cultural sign and its major aspects. In this novel we come across with mythical story or we can say culture take like “Prometheus”, “Narcissus” and “Paradise lost”. Marry Shelley has presented very fruitfully and with appropriate practices. Her novel has morphed in to countless forms in both height brow and popular culture.

                   As we can also say that it is truly captivating powerful novel that analyzes ‘Monstrosity’ with regard to ‘humanity’. In this novel Victor Frankenstein is the first character, who makes a cultural discourse and who occupies our attention, a character for whom his desire to create life is everything while to accept that life is not important. For him the creation “Monster” is not his child and responsibility now. In below given quote we can see his hunger for knowledge and to create a life through that knowledge.

The world was to me a

Secret which I desired to divine.

Curiosity earnest research

To learn the hidden laws of

Nature, gladness akin to

Rapture, as they were earliest

Sensation I can remember.

                   Humanity which sees the moral or ethical consent of the novel and by this I also want to prove my point that why Marry Shelley wants to create a male monster? but by this regard I can say through observing all aspect the aspects of novel and its study that I have, and naturally this clear when its shoes the power of men and in other hand the ugliness of the monster that she wants to show and also we can say in cultural studies of this novel that,

“A message on the Irony and

Danger in the Quest of power”

                   Frankenstein’s rejection of his monster can be interpreted to be a representation of man being ironically disgusted at sin his own sin.

The Modern facts:-

                   When we talking about the modern facts, first one question rise in our mind that what is today’s generation see towards this creation? The answer is may be an irony and power with regard to the text ‘historical context’ Frankenstein is interpreted as allegorical of the industrial revolution. Hence from the knowledge of the novels scientific context one experiences a greater understanding of firstly where the text predominant idea had its origin and also elucidates the creation.

                   As it was human influence that converted the creature into an ‘evil’ being. Some negative aspects can be seen as monstrous if they resulted from humans from the texts scientific context one can see that victor Frankenstein achievement was the objective for many scientist of that time. References to Milton “paradise lost” reoccur throughout the novel. However the gods Frankenstein punished Prometheus was punished by his own creation.

                   Mary Shelly’s creation in Frankenstein is paradoxical. One can say that Frankenstein is a not monster but a made a warrior who is brave and strong person but anything like this when Marry Shelly writes like this;

“Its gigantic stature and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the filthy, daemon to whom I had given life. What did him there? Could he be (I shuddered at the conception) the murder of my brother? No sooner did that I became convinced of its truth; my teeth chattered, and I was forced lean against a tree for support. The figure passed me quickly, and I lost it in the gloom.”

                   On the one hand, they transgress against ‘the establishment’ Shelly’s creation teaches us not to underestimate the power of youth of culture.

                   Cultural sign in Frankenstein made to be a Frankentheme and the heart of the novel irony. How the victor creates a way of live, and how the Frankenstein throws any as a orphan and suffering from society’s cruelness. Even victor’s reliance upon defensive idealization represents one the major narcissistic feature of his. He repeatedly makes one statement about his childhood that;

“No human being could have

Childhood passed a happier than me”

Revolutionary Births: -

                   In Frankenstein we can also see the revolutionary birth in the character of monster. Born like its creator in an age of revolution, Frankenstein challenged accepted ideas of its day. As it has become increasingly modified by modern consumer culture, one wonders whether its original revolutionary spirit and its critique of scientific, philosophical and political and gender issues have become obscured instead its continuing transformation attests to its essential op positional nature. Hardly day goes by without out seeing an image or allusion to Frankenstein, from CNN descriptions of Saddam Hussein as an “American created Frankenstein” to magazine articles that warn of genetically engineered “Frankenstein”, test tube babies, and cloning.

A race of Devils:-

                   In Frankenstein we can see that some different kinds of ‘races’ portrayal by Mary Shelly. Though the creature’s skin is only described as yellow, it has been constructed out of a cultural tradition of the threatening other or giant, gypsy or Negro.

                   Though the abolitionists wished to portray the blank man or woman as brother or sister, they also created an image of the African as a childlike, suffering and degraded being. To turn him (the slave) loose in the manhood of his physical strength, in the maturity of his physical passion but in the infancy of his uninstructed reason. The labors are not educated people and this concept we can see in the present novel.

Archetype of Frankenstein in popular culture:-

                   Timothy Morton uses the term Frankenstein, drawn from sonic elements of language as used in structural linguistics and visual elements as “elements of culture that are derived from “Frankenstein”. We end with a quick look at some of the thousands of retelling parodies and other selected Frankenstein themes as they have appeared in popular fiction drama, film and television. From the “Frankenstein” debut on the stage, the creature has generally been made assigned less blame.

Film Adaptations:-

                   We can see many films made in this story ‘Frankenstein’. In the Frankenstein omnibus readers can study the screen play for the 1931 James Whale film ‘Frankenstein”, the most famous of all adaptations. It was loosely based on the novel with the addition of new elements, including the monster’s body. Thomas Edison in 1910, a one however produced the first film version of “Frankenstein” reel tinted silent. Early German films that were heavily influenced by this Frankenstein” were the cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The golem and metropolis.

Television Adaptations:-

                   “Frankenstein” has surfaced in hundreds of television adaptation, including “Night Gallery, the Addams family, the Munster, star trek. The next generation, notable television creatures have included Bo Swenson, randy quad, David Warner and Lan Holm. Perhaps the most authentic television version was “Frankenstein” the true story with script writing by Christopher Isherwood and acting by James Mason.

Conclusion:-

                   And in the end with the help of the point we can discussed further, we can easily say that in this novel we can see many cultural elements. There is some elements of worker or labor also can see in this novel. And we can study some cultural aspect with the help of Milton’s “paradise Lost”. And in this novel the two main characters represents the cultural things in this novel.

Feminism in Frankenstein

Feminism in Frankenstein

Introduction:-

               

There is another phrase of Feminism and we can see it in Frankenstein Gynocentric (it deals with women criticism).

         Before analyzing Feminism in Frankenstein, let’s have a look on the feminine relation to the novel in detail.

The relation of the feminine to the novel:

           The faminity of the novel is not the product of,

                           “Neither Female nature nor even female culture,

                          Strictly speaking…but of ideology and cultural myth”

-Nancy Armstrong

 At first, I want to discuss about this topic so I want to say that the early nineteenth century was not a good time to good time to be a female writer particularly if one was audacious enough to be a female novelist. Contemporary “wisdom” held that no one would be willing to read the work of a woman; the fantastic success of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein served. Most people think of Frankenstein as a giant, stupid, green, monster with bolts holding his head on and a gravelly incoherent voice that terrorizes small towns.

However, the novel has been written by Marry Shelley, that the monster in popular culture is derived from, is a well developed multi-layered piece of literature with many overarching themes. One of the least thought of themes in the modern conception of Frankenstein is feminism. However, feminism subtly pervades the entire novel. The story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley explores feminist themes through the characters of the story, plot development, and the setting of the novel.

Depiction of Women Characters in Frankenstein:

        

Women as the Submissive Sex in ‘Frankenstein’:

 In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the author characterizes each woman as passive, throwaway and serving a utilitarian function. Female characters like Safie, Elizabeth, Justine, Margaret and Agatha provide nothing more but a channel of action for the male characters in the novel. Events and actions happen to them, usually for the sake of teaching a male character a lesson or speaking an emotion with him. Each of Shelley’s women serves a very specific purpose in Frankenstein.

First, Justine’s character is a very passive, seldom vocal character in the novel. She is tossed back and forth between her family and the Frankenstein’s, until she is ultimately framed for the murder of William Frankenstein. Justine defies the expectations of one wrongfully accused of mans laughter, remaining tranquil and peaceful.

In her own words, she explains,

“God knows how entirely I am innocent.

But I do not pretend that my protestations

Should acquit me; I rest my innocence on a

Plain and simple explanation of the facts…”

            Not only do her speech and actions demonstrate passivity, but the simple act of being framed proves this to be the purpose behind her character:

“But I have no power of explaining it…

I am only left to conjecture concerning

The probabilities by which it might have

Been placed in my pocket”.

            Thus, Justine becomes an inactive, docile victim of circumstance. The next female character encountered is the young cottager’s daughter Agatha, whom the monster studies. Agatha’s purpose, as a kind and gentle female, is to exhibit and embody all virtue and sensitivity. These are the first lessons learned by the monster; he has never seen such tenderness before now. Agatha most moves him in her interactions with her blind father:

“Agatha listened with respect, her eyes sometimes

Filled with tears, which she endeavored to wipe away

Unperceived”.

            Agatha’s female character, through its inactive and tender nature, serves to teach the monster his first lessons on healthy human relationship and love.

            The monster’s next lesson comes from another female close to Agatha. When Safie arrives at the cottagers’ from Arabia, she must be tutored to learn English. As the monster continues his observances of the happy family, Safie’s lessons become his own as well. Thus, because of a passive female, the monster’s first academic education results:

“My days were spent in close attention…and

I may boast that I improved more rapidly than

The Arabian...I could imitate almost every word

That was spoken…I also learned the science of letters”.

            It is inconsequential to the novel whether Safie herself learns the language, as long as the lessons being taught to her are influencing and furthering the monster. She is a means to his educational end, becoming yet another passive, action-channeling female character.

            Perhaps the most important emotional channel in the novel is Frankenstein’s betrothed Elizabeth. Described as a submissive, gentle character from the beginning, Elizabeth has always been a soft spot for her fiancée. Frankenstein views her as a possession:

“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”.

Perhaps the only positive feminist theme in Frankenstein is the comparison of femininity to nature. Throughout the novel, subtle themes of romanticism are mixed in with the dark gothic themes. When sickly and stressed from the goings on of the plot, Victor Frankenstein is able to take solace in nature. it is the only thing that is able to comfort him. Nature is constantly described as beautiful and female. However in this case, nature is not possessible or passive but rather strong and vibrant. Its positive feminine qualities are emphasized in Victor’s descriptions of his interactions with nature. “I pursued nature to her hiding place.” The plot as well as Victor portrayed nature as feminine and positive. When the monster awakens for the first time, he runs off to the forest. Nature provides all the things that victor refused the monster when he abandoned him; food, water, fire and education of how to survive. Edible berries tasted good to the monster but inedible ones tasted bitter. Nature becomes the mother of the monster. Through romantics themes about nature, Mary Shelley emphasizes the positive qualities of femininity, and without the passivity or possessibility that 19^th century Genevian society gave women.

Since Frankenstein was published in 1816, the general story of Frankenstein’s monster has been adapted into different stories, plays, musical, and movies. However, times have changed drastically, in most western cultures, and women are no longer mandated to work in the domestic sphere, and are not treated as badly as they used to. Still women make only 77.5 cents for every dollar a man makes and are objectified by the media. Although the plot characters and setting of the original Frankenstein Novel is often changed, its theme of feminism is still very relevant in the modern age. The fact that Frankenstein is still present in literature, theatre, and cinema, attests to the merit and eternality of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Women in Frankenstein are generally pure, innocent and passive. Though there are a few exceptions, such as Caroline Beaufort, who works to support her impoverished father, women are generally seen as kind but powerless. For example, Elizabeth stands up for Justine’s innocence but cannot prevent her execution. For both Victor and Monster, woman is the ultimate companion, providing comfort and acceptance. For Victor, Elizabeth proves the sole joy that can alleviate his guilty conscience; similarly, the monster seeks a female of his kind to commiserate with his awful existence. Each eventually destroys the other’s love interest.transfering woman’s status from object of desire to object of revenge; women thus are never given the opportunity to act on their own.

In the context of passive female characters, it is interesting to note that Marry Shelley’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was the author of strongly feminist A Vindication of the rights of woman. One can argue that Frankenstein presents a rejection of the male attempt to usurp what is properly a female endeavor birth. one can also interpret the novel as a broader rejection of the aggressive, rational and male-dominated science of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Though it was long met with mistrust, this science increasingly shaped European society. In this light Frankenstein can be seen as prioritizing traditional female domesticity with its emphasis on family and interpersonal relationships.

“It can be said that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein can be examined from a feminist

Perspective. Although written by a female author, Frankenstein can be seen as

Enclosing the role of Women and holding back any future progress into equality.”

Writing in the 1800’s, Shelley was influenced greatly by her patriarchal society during the writing of the novel. In her 1831 introduction to the novel Shelley writes of her husband’s anxiety that she should ‘prove’ herself ‘worthy’ of her percentage-her parents being of literary fame. Whilst on holiday with her future husband and the poet Lord Byron in Geneva in 1816, Byron decided they should ‘each write a ghost story’. Spurred by a conversation between Byron and Shelley, and also by the work of scientists such as Galvani, Erasmus, Darwin and Humphrey Davy Mary Shelley began to write Frankenstein. All ideas Shelley had for the novel came from her acquaintances or from the studies, either way; her influences were prominently male and greatly affected by the outcome of the novel.

            One would perhaps assume a female author would write to try to advocate the position of women in an era where they were virtually unheard of in a field such as science-the subject of Frankenstein. Instead of having the main character as a female scientist, Shelley encloses the role of women by restricting their parts in the novel to the historical roles of child bearers and homemakers,i.e The character of Agatha De Lacey, who spends a large portion of her part in the novel ‘arranging cottage’ while her male counterparts either reinforce their traditional roles by physical work-such as Felix De Lacey leaving with his ‘tools’ and returning with ‘a load of wood’-or being a pillar of strength for a trail and weak woman-as seen when Agatha, who ‘sobbed audibly’, was comforted by her father.

Shelley also promotes male achievement. Various male authors are mentioned in the novel, such as Felix’s reading of Volney or Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner, but there is no use of work from female authors.

It can be said that Shelley had been indoctrinated with male ideology from a patriarchal society and the research she conducted into the sciences. Thus her novel Frankenstein-with a male protagonist-reinforces the stereotypes men and women had traditionally been associated with.

A common aspect of literature analyzed by feminists is the portrayal of women. In Frankenstein this is evident in two ways. Firstly, their physical appearance and behavior. Simon De Beauvoir, a 20^th century feminist, claimed women were either presented as being spiritually perfect or sexually promiscuous. Although in the novel the latter does not appear, the former is very important. Caroline Beaufort serves as an early example of this. When her father died she ‘attended him with the greatest tenderness’ and done all she could to support the both of them with menial work. On her deathbed years later, Frankenstein describes his mother as being the ‘best of women’, reinforcing her good qualities to the reader. as with Caroline, her adopted daughter Elizabeth is seen to be virtually perfect by all in the novel. She is one of the only people who do not believe Justine to be the murder of Frankenstein’s brother William. And is angelic in her nature.

However, Justine mentioned to be ‘very lever and gentle, and extremely pretty’-is soon vilified. Although ‘unjustly condemned’. Blamed for the murder of the William, she was ‘threatened and menaced’ to the stage where she confessed to her male persecutors in order to obtain absolution.

Reference is also made later in the novel to the dreadful example of Eve and the apple by Frankenstein: ‘the apple was already eaten’. Being Eve’s fault that both her and Adam were expelled from the Garden of Eden, the apple is a classic symbol of discrimination against women in literature. one would expect a female author not to mention the Biblical reference, but this is perhaps another example of how Shelley had been indoctrinated by male ideology. But this and the vilification of Justine overshadow the better female characters in the novel and one could argue that it would be hard to defeat the dogma surrounding male and female roles in society with such bias against women as shown here, the novel has a  detrimental effect on equality between the sexes.

A second way the portrayal of women is evident in Frankenstein is in the type of work they do. Agatha de Lacey typifies the role of house-keeper .Shelley reiterates this ideology in her novel. Frankenstein is the scientist. Men also have a substantial amount of control over their female relations. Frankenstein’s mother tells him on her deathbed that ‘my firmest hopes of future happiness were placed on the prospect of your union’ and late in the 18 his father asks of him ‘Tell me….whether you object to an immediate solemnization of the marriage’. Although Elizabeth is in favor of the marriage, the two men discussed and agreed on its taking place without an actually consulting the bride. Similarly, the union between the Arabian Safie and Felix De Lacey.

            Through her father’s ‘promise of her hand in marriage’ Felix helps her father to escape from prison. Safie was not consulted before this promise was given, and when her father breaks that promise he ‘commanded his daughter to think no more of her lover’, although Safie does rebel against this demand. Both incidents show how little power women had in their society, but also how little their male counterparts valued either opinions or their well-being.one would hope a female author would hand her female characters a little more respect in her novel, but it is clear that Shelley through Frankenstein seems to hold the same ideology as men.

Conclusion:

In a Nut-shell, one can clarify that Shelley’s Frankenstein can be seen as being extremely harmful to the hopes of a female authors trying to break down the traditional stereotypes of men and women. Shelley does not use her novel to offer a more unconventional view of women’s involvement in the sciences, and her portrayal of women, both in their appearance and roles in the novel, help to enclose the role of women and support historical inequality between the sexes. it is also possible to say that through living in a patriarchal society, Shelley had been indoctrinated by their ideology and was unable to contemplate a world where a woman’s position was more equal to that of a man’s. As a whole, Frankenstein can be seen as a novel of women with the deep layer.