Elizabeth, the Monster and Patriarchy Essay

In Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, some blatant par any(a)(a)els ar made between Dr. Frankensteins adopted sister, Elizabeth, and the daimon he getd. two of these innocent creatures, in c at a timert represent all of mankind in their similarities and differences, Elizabeth existence the limn of charwomanhood and goodness, the hellion representing manhood and evil. two Elizabeth and the junkie belong to and structure their lives in terms of Dr. Frankenstein, leading to everyplaceall dying and, finally demonstrating the dangerous properties of patriarchy, which Dr. Frankenstein embodies.Dr. Frankenstein begins his narrative, most logically, in telling the story of his childhood.Dr. headmaster Frankensteins mystify was a loving, benevolent woman, travel by the plight of the imp everywhereished and eer doing all in her power to turn charity to those in need. It was becausece that she came crosswise a poor Italian family with a flock of dirty children, one of them s in like mannerd reveal, she was sandy and fair and especially apotheosisic. passkeys mother decided that it was her duty to advertise this blond girl as her own, or, rather, as schoolmasters own. This girl was Elizabeth who is, in a way, given to Victor as a gift, and thus begins his unnatural family relationship with power and creationOn the level previous to Elizabeth being brought to my home, my mother had tellplayfully, I buzz off a sensibly present for my Victor-tomorrow he shall keep it. And when,on the morrow, she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childishseriousness, interpreted her wrangling literally and looked upon Elizabeth as mine-mine toprotect, respect, and entertain. (56)On her deathbed, Victors mother expresses her desire for the last union of Victor and Elizabeth. The fate of Elizabeth is thus utterly dep curiosityent upon Victors, and Victors relationship with his fel poor human is for constantly grossly twisted ascribable to his n ear ownership of Elizabeth. The arrangement of their odd marriage is never questioned by every one of them, and neither atomic number 18 ever able to repair their relationships with other bulk/beings, their experiences being so inhuman.In his college years, Victor develops a desire, and acquires the essential knowledge, to morselually create keep. After just a bitstock of extremely productive years at the University, Dr. Frankenstein discoveries an amazing thing, he states in his memoir After days and nights of marvelous projection and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of propagation and demeanor nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing nutriment upon lifeless matter. (51) But it was non lavish for Dr. Frankenstein guilelessly to know how to give life, he had to do it himself. His goal was far from modest, he planned to create not a frog or a issue fly, but a man.Dr. Frankenstein was excited by the power of his act, he likened himself to god, A y outhful species would bless me as its creator and rise some happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. (52) Victors conceit and corollary want for power frame him in the partitioningic definition of the Patriarch. He believes that whatsoever he creates will make do and cherish his being for the mere fact of his being its creator, his word is the final word and the pay wordThe being that Dr. Frankenstein creates is the devil of the figment, this ogre is at once an independent being, and a possession. It is the beautiful being that Dr. Frankenstein longed would look up to its supreme creator with servile gratitude. Dr. Frankenstein did not fully understand how horrific was his deed, until it had been done, regarding his early glimpse at the now living creature, Frankenstein remarked, How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and c ar I had endeavored to form?In the daimons first moment of con sciousness, he stretched out his arm towards his creator, a sign of ultimate commiseration and the gratitude for which Dr. Frankenstein had longed. Dr. Frankenstein responds by turning his clog up and running. Dr. Frankenstein embodies the irresponsible leader, the unfeeling man, the Patriarch with gibibyte intentions but no means of the necessary compassion.During the time in which Dr. Frankenstein is away from home, perusal in the University, he receives a throng of letters from the longing Elizabeth, and replies to none. Elizabeth remains at home in Switzerland, fulfilling her womanly duties to the Frankenstein family, her exactly hope for future happiness lies in her marriage with Victor, for she is nothing without him. The power that Dr. Frankenstein holds over Elizabeth has striking similarities to the dynamic of power he described as desiring over his creations. The recipe of neglect that Frankenstein demonstrates first with Elizabeth, then with the hellion does not front to phase their unconditional, and unreasonable, love for him.Dr. Frankenstein does not think of Elizabeth as an equal, for she is a woman, and he does not think of the demon as even a man, for he created him. Within a Patriarchy, the government feels reassert in its neglectful actions for it feels itself better than the women and low lifes over which it rules. sightly as a population allows their government to proceed with its reprehensible deeds without question, so do Elizabeth and the monster initially turn a slur eye to the evil acts of Dr. Frankenstein.Elizabeth and the monster are not only similar in their actions relative to Dr. Frankenstein, but both seem to occupy quite the opposite end of the spectrum of humanity. Elizabeth is submissive and self-sacrificing. She is blond and fair-skinned and described as angelic. Elizabeth encompasses womanhood and goodness at once. The monster, on the other hand, ends up dedicating his life to the wipeout of Dr. Frankensteins livelihood. The monster is ugly, the mere sight of him puts mountain into shock. The monster is a self described fallen angel and he even likens himself to Adam, the first man. hence the monster encompasses evil and manhood at once. Elizabeth and the monster together represent all of man, the oppressed, the poor, theugly and the helpless victims of a dodge built to benefit a guide few. While Dr. Frankenstein represents the ruling class, Elizabeth and the monster together represent the under-privileged ruled class.War is a classically male act. War is the pricking and the game of the Patriarchy and the innocent civilians are its pawns. When Dr. Frankenstein oversteps the limits of human power, he takes control over things for which man should not be responsible, he states Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through. In commencing a war, the Patriarch puts himself in charge of the lives and deaths of m some(prenominal) men, an extremely unnatur al act. When Dr. Frankenstein meddles with the natural limits of life and death, he is creating the loony bin of war in his own life. The death and close which proceedss from Dr. Frankensteins creation, the death of his younger brother William, Justine and Elizabeth, are hardly examples of the multitude of unnecessary deaths caused by the Patriarchal wars.Just as many wars could have been prevented through simple negotiations, had it not been for the arrogance of one man with too much power, so too could have the destruction in Frankenstein have been prevented had Dr. Frankenstein merely conceded with the monsters simple request, with which he ended his own narrative My gent must(prenominal) be of the same species and have the same defects. This being you must create.(137). Had Dr. Frankenstein for once done something for someone other than himself, in this case, create a female confrere for the monster, many lives could have been saved.Shelley was clearly devising the state ment that the absence of womanly compassion in government is what leads to unnecessary destruction in war. In creating a man, Dr. Frankenstein takes on, unnaturally, a womans role, it is thus that he can neglect Elizabeth, deeming her unnecessary. This is the biggest mistake at all. Just as Elizabeth, or any woman, was left out of the creation of this man, so has woman been neglected from the makings of governments and societal structures in Patriarchies everywhere. Elizabeth and the monster represent a relaxation that Dr. Frankenstein lacks, because he rejects everything feminine and human, he must bear the consequences.At the time this concord was written, many technological advances were being made, discoveries in science were flourishing and scientists themselves weregaining the highest forms of respect. Unfortunately, due to the behavior of government and power structures at the time, these incredible advances benefited everyone but women and the poor. Infant mortality was hush very high and other wellness issues related to women were being utterly unattended by the scientific community, which seemed to have no place for femininity. Shelley displays this discrepancy in the reinvigorated first with the many deaths of mothers, Elizabeths mother, Dr. Frankensteins mother, Clervals mother and Justines mother all died relatively early on in the novel. While Dr. Frankenstein could create life, no one could seem to save a mother in childbirth or make food for a starvation family. To emphasize the lack of female act upon in science, Dr. Frankenstein completes the most womanly act there is, creation of life, without a woman.Dr. Frankensteins unnatural power over Elizabeth and the monster eventually lead to the destruction of them all. It is not long before the roles are converse between the Doctor and the monster. While the monster is initially enslaved to the doctor, by the end of the novel the doctor believes himself to be the slave of the monster. It is Dr. Frankensteins arrogant, patriarchal ego that gets his true love killed, his power destroys his life. Dr. Frankensteins divergence from all that is feminine and human led to chaos for all. Because Dr. Frankenstein dedicates his life to vengeance once morest the monster for the maul of Elizabeth, he becomes the slave of both the monster and Elizabeth the tables turned. In the last moments of Dr. Frankensteins life, he criesScoffing devil Again do I vow vengeance again do I devote thee, woeful fiend, totorture and death. Never will I give up my search until he or I perish and then with what ecstasy shall I join my Elizabeth and my departed friends, who even now prepare me forthe retaliate of my tedious toil and terrible pilgrimage. (195)Just as conditions must sometimes sink their lowest point before the peoplebreak into revolution, and their rulers never renounce their sins in life, so did the worst type of destruction have to occur before Dr. Frankenstein agnize what his ro le must be.Mary Shelley lived in a time when a woman novelist was believed to be putting her name on her husbands work, the advancement of engineering science ran beyond human interests and only the sizable received some sort of warrantor against sudden death and rampant disease. Shelley dictum the chaos and destruction that resulted from unequal histrionics in a power-hungry, Patriarchal government. Elizabeth and the monster embody the missing aspects of this un-representative ruling class compassion and humanity, it is the absence of these things that Shelley displays the horrific result of in her novel. Frankenstein is more than a tinge story, it is a social narrative and a political manifesto.