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Women in Frankenstein

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Sylvia Bowerbank states that she looks in vain for "outrage against social injustice in the females of Frankenstein," but finds nothing (421). The females in Frankenstein (1818) embody the idealized female image of the 19th century - “the Angel in the house”: they are passive, docile and selfless. Someone may question why Mary Shelley, the daughter of an important feminist, writes a novel which is devoid of strong female characters. Gilbert and Gubar may be able to provide the answer. They propose in The Madwoman in the Attic (1979) that in order to transcend the "anxiety of authorship," the 19th century female writers use duplicity and subversion to record their own dreams and their own stories in disguise (73). Therefore, in order to argue that Mary Shelley attempts to use the angel females to imply her critique of the oppression against women in the patriarchal society of the 19th century, I am going to analyze the three female characters in Frankenstein, Caroline Frankenstein, Elizabeth Lavenza and Safie. To begin with, Caroline Frankenstein stands as a perfect daughter, wife and mother in Frankenstein; however, her influence on Justine and Elizabeth indicates that Shelly doesn’t consider her as a role model. Self-sacrifice is evident on Caroline: she devotes her whole life to take care of her husband and children, and dies because of taking care of ill Elizabeth. On the other hand, she has different moral standards for male and female. Although she adopted Elizabeth whose parents both passed away and treats Elizabeth like her daughter, she doesn’t recognize the individuality of Elizabeth. Rather, she considers Elizabeth as "a pretty present for my Victor - tomorrow he shall have it" (Shelly). Therefore, Victor receives her “as made to a possession of my own” and believes “since till death she was to be mine only” (Shelly). Influenced by Caroline, Victor considers Elizabeth only as his possession, not a complete in

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