Essay 1

How are Female Characters Portrayed in the Opening Chapters of Frankenstein?

‘Frankenstein’ has only a few female characters, however, Shelley makes these female characters part of the plot and uses descriptive vocabulary to make then seem ‘more important’ within the novel.

The female characters that are featured within this gothic novel, never really seem to have any dialogue within the text, however, this reflects the time period it was written in, because women were supposed to be ‘seen and not heard‘.

This idea is also presented upon the pages of this novel, because this was what was socially acceptable at this time, with this idea in mind Shelley used descriptive language to describe the appearance and behaviour of the female characters, from Victor’s and ‘the monster's’ points of view.

The female characters within the novel are… Caroline Beaufort, this is Victor’s mother. Beaufort was her maiden name before she married Victor’s father, then she became Caroline Frankenstein. Caroline Beaufort possessed a mind of an uncommon mould, and her courage rose to support her in her adversity. “She procured plain work; she plaited straw; and by various means contrived to earn a pittance scarcely sufficient to support life”. This describes how determined Caroline was to earn enough money to support herself and her father during his ill health, when she was child. Victor’s character describes how hard life was for his mother before she married Victor’s father, this is because Victor was inspired by his mother and loved her dearly.

Mary Shelley’s reason for including this part of the character's life must have stemmed from her own personal life, as her mother was a feminist writer, so including statements of women’s independence must have been important and rewarding for her mother and perhaps Victor’s mother's character brought this element of femininity to the novel.

Elizabeth Lavenza became Victor’s adopted cousin after Victor’s mother saw her as a baby being nursed by a ‘peasant woman’ in Italy. ‘The peasant woman, perceiving that my mother fixed eyes of wonder and admiration on this lovely girl, eagerly communicated her history. She was not her child, but the daughter of a Milanese nobleman. Her mother was a German and had died on giving birth. The infant had been placed with these good people to nurse; they were better off then’.

Shelley describes how Victor’s mother and father came to love Elizabeth and soon after adopted her and returned home to introduce her to Victor. ‘Elizabeth Lavenza became the inmate of my parents’ house - my more than sister - the beautiful and adored companion of all my occupations and my pleasures’.

This shows how much Victor loved Elizabeth even from being a young child, and as his love grew he later married her in his adulthood.

Appearance and the description of how the female characters looked within the novel is a frequent characteristic that Shelley uses throughout the novel, this may be because women were judged upon how they looked rather than what they said or did. Shelley regularly describes how the female characters look, i.e as we are introduced to Justine’s character Victor describes her appearance in these exact words… ‘The appearance of Justine was calm. She was dressed in mourning, and her countenance, always engaging, was rendered, by the solemnity of her feelings, exquisitely beautiful’. This is the first description Victor gives on introducing Justine, the maid that they have known for years and that has lived with the Frankenstein family for years.

Further into the novel we discover more of Victor’s love for Elizabeth, which tells the reader women were seen as lustful and loveable and impracticably (in Elizabeth’s case) good friends. Good. ‘Elizabeth, my beloved and only friend; may heaven, in its bounty, bless and preserve you; may this be the last misfortune that you will ever suffer! Live and be happy, and make others so’.

This is an affectionate account of Victor’s feelings towards Elizabeth. Again, this writing style was in keeping with the time it was written and this use of language would be used regularly when describing your love for someone at this time. This is a more romantic gesture and is less commonly used today. Shelley may have got inspiration from her husband when writing these particularly affectionate and romantic verses as her husband Percy Shelley was a poet, she may also have included this because she felt what Victor would be feeling, and as she had taken on the persona of Victor’s character within the novel she wanted to include this.

Victor’s creation ‘the monster’ also commented on the appearance of the female characters that he witnessed, ‘Agatha listened with respect, her eyes sometimes filled with tears, which she endeavored to wipe away unperceived; but I generally found that her countenance and tone were more cheerful after having listened to the exhortations of her father’.

This is how ‘the monster’ describes Agatha, (one of the three inhabitants that live at the cottage, where ‘the monster’ slept near and watched. to learn more about human behaviour).

‘The monster’ particularly focuses on describing Agatha’s body language rather than her looks, however, he does also comment of how the female characters look further in this chapter. -

‘The lady was dressed in a dark suit and covered with a thick black veil… Felix came up hastily to the lady, who, when she saw him, threw up her veil, and I beheld a countenance of angelic beauty and expression. Her hair of a shiny raven black, and curiously braided; her eyes were dark but gentle, although animated; her features of a regular proportion and her complexion wondrously fair, each cheek tinged with a lovely pink’. This again links back to beauty and how women were seen as ‘beautiful’ and ‘angelic’. ‘The monster's’ feelings are similar to that of Victor’s and they both see women as ‘beautiful’ and delicate. However, they seem to be judged on their appearance and how they look too much, although this is how women were seen at the time the book was written, so this shows how society has changed and how people are now judged on ‘what they do’ not ‘how they look’.

In conclusion, the female characters that are featured within the novel are portrayed as ‘beautiful’ and are supposed to be seen not heard, although the character of Caroline Beaufort was slightly different to the other female characters within this novel, ‘But Caroline Beaufort possessed a mind of an uncommon mould, and her courage rose to support her in her adversity‘. This describes how Caroline’s character contrasts with the other female characters in the novel because she is more ‘independent’ and ‘has a mind of her own’ which is an important characteristic to have in a novel especially if you are a female author like Mary Shelley.