The women in Frankenstein are forced to be obedient, which illustrates how they obey the men in their lives. This can first be seen with Caroline and her father, “his daughter attended him the greatest tenderness...” (Shelly 19). When her father gets sick she takes care of him, and then she becomes their only income of money. It was part of her duty to care after her father, and then once he could no longer work, she was expected to find a job. Obedience can also be seen in the relationship of Victor and Elizabeth. Elizabeth is described like, “The saintly soul of Elizabeth shone like a shrine-decorated lamp in our peaceful home. Her sympathy was ours; her smile, her soft voice, the sweet glance of her celestial eyes…” (Shelley 45). What makes Elizabeth attractive is that she does everything that is asked by her man. Victor claims Elizabeth as his own, All praises bestowed on her, I received as made to a possession of my own” (Shelley 44). He treats her as if she is something he can have, and not like another human.
The women characters in Frankenstein are symbolic how women are seen as unimportant figures—and how men mainly control them. The main character, Elizabeth, is like a toy to Victor, “I looked upon Elizabeth as mine- mine to protect, love, and cherish” (Shelley 44). Like I stated earlier Victor treats her like a thing, a possessions, not an individual. This shows how women in the 1800s were treated like things rather then human beings and that they could not think for themselves.
Women in the novel are portrayed as quiet while the men are seen as angry. Elizabeth’s mother Caroline acts similar to her daughter they are both gentle. Caroline becomes ill when she aids Elizabeth to recover from a bad case of Scarlet Fever. Caroline “Died calmly; and her countenance expressed affection even in death” (Shelley 50). Caroline remains gentle and proper free from anger on her deathbed. Where Victor is extremely ill tempered. “My temper was sometimes violent, and my passions vehement” (Shelley 45). The men characters expect woman characters to be gentle to offset their violent nature.
Shelley’s women characters are seen throughout the story as unimportant, there are on events that make them seem otherwise. They women are to do as they are told, and to always stand by the men in their life. They were treated as property and deprived rights just like the women in the 1800’s.
