Frankenstein

WOMEN IN FRANKENSTEIN

In this presentation we have talked about the novel Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley in 1818. We focused, mainly, on women.
The presentation has been divided into threeparts: first of all, we have presented all the female characters found in Mary Shelley’s work and we have also mentioned how Mary Shelley played with some of their names; secondly, we have comparedthe novel with one of the film versions which have been made out of it; and, finally, we have contextualized the book within the period in which it had been written.

There are only six women on thenovel. The first one we hear of is Margaret Saville, but we only know about her because her brother, Robert Walton writes to her explaining the story which Victor Frankenstein has told him. Margaretis Robert’s confident and only friend.
The second woman to appear in the novel is Frankenstein’s mother, Caroline Beaufort. She is depicted as a devoted daughter and mother. However, she seems to besuperficial.
Nonetheless, it must be said that Caroline dies when she was taking care of Victor’s cousin, Elizabeth Lavenza, who she had adopted as her daughter. Carline Beaufort dies because shecaught Elizabeth’s disease, the scarlet fever.
Therefore, the following female character appearing in the narrative is Elizabeth. Caroline wanted her to be Victor’s wife and protector. It is interestingto see how Elizabeth becomes, unwillingly, her step-mother’s murderer. Here we find a parallelism with Mary Shelley’s own life, for Mary Wollstonecraft died from an infection she contracted upongiving birth to her.
Justine Moritz is an important character. Her name is ironic because she has undergone through many injustices throughout all her life: she has been treated very badly by her familyand even accused to be the cause of her brother’s and sister’s deaths. The biggest injustice she goes through leads her to her death. She is accused of having murdered Frankenstein’s brother,...