Frankenstein Women as Ghosts
Mary Shelley and women present and absent
Frankenstein is often referred to as the brightest example of a monster story and the first piece of scientific fiction ever written by a woman Mary Shelley was able to create an image of a monster, which is equally cruel and unhappy about its existence. Unfortunately, Frankenstein is rarely viewed as an object of a peer gender analysis. Yet, the continuous domination of male characters throughout the novel and the lack of specificity with regard to female characters create the vision of women as of a faceless voiceless mass which, despite its overwhelming presence throughout the story, does not have the power necessary to change or at least to influence the development of the plot line. Women in Frankenstein are as present as they are also absent, playing the role of male accessories and used by men to reinforce their narcissistic beliefs about self. Beginning with Caroline who, as a woman, has to submissively carry the burden of her family responsibilities, through Elizabeth and Justine who give away their lives for nothing, and to Margaret who, as a silent listener, never shows her voice, Mary Shelley tries to emphasize the dominant power of males in society and to stress the limited self-realization opportunities for women. Women in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein are nothing but ghosts inanimate, voiceless and faceless objects who are too innocent to be reasonable and too feminine to be able to take decisions. More often than not, the presence and or absence of women in Frankenstein is driven and justified by the needs of men men decide their fates long before women are born and require that they silently reconcile with their secondary gender roles.
Frankenstein and Caroline omnipresence as the sign of submissiveness
Victors mother Caroline should serve the starting point in the gender analysis of Shelleys novel. It would be fair to say that Caroline sets the stage for the development of other feminine roles in Frankenstein and makes it possible to evaluate the hidden causes of Victors attitudes toward women. Caroline positions herself as a woman of obligation and as a person, who should serve her family and her society for the rest of her life. Shelley does not provide any description of her appearance nor does she discuss her character in detail, but that Caroline is eager to minister her dying father for ten month reveals her hidden submissiveness to the dominant power of males This last blow overcame her and she knelt by Beauforts coffin, weeping bitterly, when my father entered the chamber. He came like a protecting spirit to the poor girl, who committed herself to his care, and after the interment of his friend he conducted her to Geneva, and placed her under the protection of a relation. Two years after this event Caroline became his wife (Shelley 19).
Caroline is presented by Shelley as an angel of spirit, who lives her life, helping the poor and giving away herself to save the life of her Elizabeth. However, this very angelicalness, as Dickerson calls it, is the direct reflection of womens ghost image in the novel (85). Women are shown in need for male protection and, simultaneously, play the roles of outside guards and invisible male supporters. Like Caroline, women in Shelleys novel are omnipresent, meaning that they are virtually absent at all. This omnipresence implies the lack of power, complete passivity, and the lack of self-expression. The first time Caroline becomes decisive and goes against her family members will to save Elizabeths life, this decision leads her to death the event that has far-reaching gender implications. Women in Shelleys Frankenstein are so innocent and so sweet that they can hardly hope to ever occupy a social position at least close to that of men. They are destined to experience painful and unfair death, being the bearers of traditional ideology of love, nurturance, and domesticity at worst, they are passive victims (Dickerson 86).
Passive women and the transition of roles
The death of Caroline Frankenstein is actually an act of transition not only does it lead Victor to realize the true value of his relationships with mother, but it also transfers the power and the pressure of masculinity completely onto Elizabeths shoulders. From now on, Elizabeth is the one to exemplify the eternal transparence of the female social position and to serve a silent guard in Victors scientific and personal endeavors. From the very beginning of her life in Frankenstein family, Elizabeth is given a role of an inanimate object On the evening previous to her being brought to my home, my mother had said playfully, - I have a pretty present for my Victor tomorrow he shall have it. And when, on the morrow, she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as mine mine to protect, love, and cherish (Shelley 22-23).
Here, the words protect, love, and cherish are not as important as the word mine, which associates Elizabeth with an inanimate object of proprietorship and forever links her image to that of Victors mother. I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death (Shelley 58). Needless to say, the loss of mother is a serious psychological trauma for Victor. Since the moment his mother dies, he has a deep sense of betrayal and abandonment the feelings which he projects on Elizabeth and which underlie the principles of gender categorization for him (Negra 197). Left without his mother, Victor subconsciously views women as unreliable and shifting, and Elizabeth, like Caroline, Margaret, and Justine, does not have a single chance to improve her social position. She has to comply with Victors decisions and even at the wedding night she is sent away to protect her life but when she dies, Victors decisions no longer look reasonable and justified but once again emphasize the transparency, unreliability, inferiority, and inherent weakness as the determining characteristics of women in Frankenstein.
Women, transparency, and the role of Margaret
Nowhere else is the omnipresence of angel-like women in Frankenstein as visible, as dramatic, and as tragic as in the image of Margaret. That Walton writes letters to a woman who never responds and never reacts to his stories shows Shelleys Frankenstein as an effective tool of aggression against female nature (Seabury 139). Like the sainty soul of Elizabeth shone like a shrine-dedicated lamp in our peaceful home (Shelley 25), Margaret plays a role of a silent observer, a passive guard and a tool of reason for Walton. And now, dear Margaret, do I not deserve to accomplish some great purpose My life might have been passed in ease and luxury, but I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path. Oh, that some encouraging voice would answer in the affirmative My courage and my resolution is firm but my hopes fluctuate, and my spirits are often depressed (Shelley 5). However, Walton designs his questions in ways that do not need answers, and Margaret for Walton is just an effective tool of contemplation, which helps him reasonably reevaluate his deeds and nourishes his narcissistic opinions about himself. This is, probably, an idealized representation of women for both Victor and Walton. These expectations and idealized roles imply that women should reframe themselves to the extent, which will keep them and men at a distance. Like Margaret, women in Shelleys novel act like ghosts they are everywhere and nowhere at the same time. They are like a masquerade and should be elsewhere, to successfully fulfill their social functions (Gill 95). The omnipresence of women in Shelleys Frankenstein is the direct reflection of their actual absence from the major life activities. Shelley shows women as those, who play the major roles of ghosts in her story. They are neither powerful, nor active. They have no face and no voice. They serve silent guards and reinforce narcissistic reactions in men. Throughout the story, they are not given a role better than being a male accessory, which emphasizes their inferior social position and does not give them a chance for self-realization.
Conclusion
Mary Shelleys Frankenstein is traditionally referred to as a monster story. However, the role and functions which women fulfill in Shelleys novel have far reaching gender implications. Women in Frankenstein are as present as they are also absent. Their omnipresence emphasizes their weakness, passivity, and the limitedness of their gender roles. Women in Shelleys novel have no faces and no voices. They act like silent guards and reinforce narcissistic moods in men. They take positions socially inferior to those of men, and ideally, are expected to keep at a distance. Victor and Walton view women as both fragile and unreliable. Women for them are sweet to the extent, which makes them angel-like and thus deprives them of their decision-making powers. In this crowd of voiceless faceless women, Frankenstein turns into a ghost story, in which women are destined to lead the ghost masquerade.
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