Victor Frankenstein is said to be the hero of the novel despite his many flaws. Therefore it is notable that whenever he is away from the Frankenstein household there is a lack of happiness or trouble happens there. Whenever he leaves Elizabeth remains helpless and vulnerable. Her vulnerability coincides with the typical Gothic theme of a damsel in distress who needs to be saved by the hero. There are certain times in the novel where Elizabeth does fill that role, for example; her despair at the death of William can only be helped by Victor. As well as showing Victor as a hero, this part of the story shows the weakness of the characters Frankenstein senior and his son Edward since neither are capable of helping Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s character sometimes contrasts with the gothic theme; she is more forceful and heroic than Victor at times, notably at the trial of Justine where Elizabeth takes an active role against the conviction regardless of all the evidence.
Elizabeth is a strong woman and copes with the constant disappointments that Victor presents to her. Her strength is not common in the perception of women in the 19th century but does play a role in the genre of Gothic fiction whose themes revolve around the resilience and survival of the female characters. This could be Mary Shelley’s attempt at feminism, an adherence to the gothic theme, or the female characters themselves could represent Mary Shelley since all have survival and strength ingrained in their character.
Despite her strength and position in the family, Elizabeth is viewed as a possession of Victors. ‘…I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as mine – mine to protect, love, and cherish. All praises bestowed on her I received as made to possession of my own…since till death she was to be mine only.’ This is a representation of the belief that women were possession of first their fathers and then their husbands in the 19th century. Women at that time had limited rights; they could not inherit their father’s property nor did they have the vote. They were not educated in anything other than the skills required to look after a home and family and were financially dependent on the male in the household. The only work they could have would revolve around domestic jobs such as cleaning other people’s houses or perhaps being a nanny or a cook. Even then the pay would have been minimal.
Mary Shelley writes under the Gothic theme which was most popular at the time. Elizabeth is a classic gothic female victim in that she is vulnerable and in distress to which only her hero, Victor Frankenstein, can help her with. Also classically gothic is that Elizabeth is under threat by a monster; something of hideous ugliness is here contrasted with a person of celestial beauty. This is made worse as she is under threat by this contrasting figure and falls prey to him as a result of Victor angering the monster. She is murdered by the monster as an innocent. As well as highlighting the victims in the story, her death also reflects the true evil of the monster and his spitefulness. Victor destroyed his companion and so he destroys Elizabeth so soon after their wedding. Victor is responsible for another loved one’s death where he could have put an end to it before just by alerting people of the monsters presence at the time of Justine’s trial.
Justine Moritz was accused of the death of young William Frankenstein. The reader is inclined to question the facts as we hear that the necklace was found on Justine. This causes suspicion since we believe that a monster would not be intelligent enough to frame someone else to hide his own crime. At this point in the story we have not met the monster and are therefore unaware of his intelligence. To begin with Justine righteously denies all allegations but unfortunately cannot account for her activities at the believed hour of William’s death. Whilst the reader desperately wants to believe Justine and follow Elizabeth’s conviction, it is near impossible not to suspect Justine.
At the beginning of the trial process Justine denies being any part of the murder. As the trial wears on Justine begins to break down and at a subsequent visit to the jail from Elizabeth and Victor it is discovered that she has spoken with the priest and has decided to confess despite knowing that she is innocent. Justine sacrifices herself for the true murderer. This follows with the theme of female sacrificial behaviours that emerge in other female characters as a standard. Justine confesses after a visit from a priest which shows the heavy influence that religion had in the society at this time and also adds to the theme of religion throughout the novel. Justine confesses due to religion which saves something that defies religion, the monster. It could be argued by some critics that Mary Shelley is commenting on the corruption of religion in making this point. It could also be argued that the monster itself is a reflection on the incapability for a human to perfectly create life without flaws and so humans cannot compare to God.
Justine’s sacrifice and untrue confession saves the monster that is already seen to be a lesser being puts Justine in a very low position. Again the irony of Mary Shelley’s feminist mother comes into the story. If Justine is lower than a monster what comment is Mary Shelley making about the position of women in society? Or perhaps the innocent death of Justine is testament that women are above murder and the death of innocents. Especially since male characters Victor Frankenstein and his monster cause the death of so many innocent women and men.
Mary Shelley does not allow for only women to die, since Henry Clerval and William Frankenstein are both killed by the monster. However, William is just a small boy who has not become a man yet, from what we hear of him he is curious and sweet and referred to as the ‘darling’. These are not terms or characteristics used to describe the typical gothic male, not one of dominant status. Henry is also more feminine that the other male characters, his is not a dominant role and often times he is seen expressing a romantic interest in something or playing a caring role similar to that of a woman. This is seen when he cares for an exhausted Frankenstein in a doting and devoted way. Also, Henry was prevented form entering Ingolstadt University for some time before he persuaded his father to allow him to go. As already discussed, women were not allowed to be educated away from home which provides Henry with a feminine characteristic. None of the dominant male characters with ambitious self seeking tendencies are killed by the monster.
An ideal example of a submissive female is the character of Margaret Saville, she has no active role, we never hear her voice and she is similar to Elizabeth in that she waits for the ambitious male to write a letter. She appears only as Robert Walton’s correspondence and we never see her response to the letters. Therefore it could be argued that she represents the reader and the reader’s role in the novel. As the reader we observe the story and the characters from a safe distance. Her passive role is therefore necessary as it displays no distinguished characteristics and so can represent both male and female characters adequately. Margaret Saville is the only woman to survive in the novel, perhaps this is due to her inactive role in the plot or because she represents the reader. If it is true that she does represents the reader she cannot die since she could represent upper class ambitious dominant men who may be reading the novel and following the theme of the story cannot die.
Though the female characteristics are presented in direct contrast to the male characteristics there are some parallels. The main character and ‘hero’ of the story Victor Frankenstein parallels in character to Elizabeth Lavenza. Victor is an incomplete character, his personality is flawed and in great need of guidance from the wiser characters. Of the wiser characters Elizabeth is the most significant and should have been the most intimate. Her inner strength, loyalty, and endless patience make her the foil to Victor’s weakness, indiscipline, waywardness, and indiscretion. Unfortunately Victor never fully appreciates the full worth of the ‘gift’ of Elizabeth. It is interesting to note that when they are apart Victor’s negative characteristics are more prevalent and cause more destruction, for example, the creation of the monster.
The female characteristics displayed contrast those of the ambitious self seeking men. These submissive, passive, accepting, and self sacrificing characteristics displayed by the women are typical of those in the genre of Gothic fiction and also most desired characteristics of women at the time that Mary Shelley was writing. Mary Shelley was raised by her father who imposed his beliefs on radicalism and the perfectibility of men, it is natural that some of his influence and the influence of society would appear in the novel. Her mother was a feminist but died eleven days after the birth of Mary Shelley and so could not have imposed her views on her child. Though it could be argued that feminine themes are present in the novel, for example Victor’s flawed character is balanced with the presence of Elizabeth, and also Elizabeth’s active role in Justine’s trial. To conclude, Mary Shelley has drawn parallels and provided contrasts between the male and female characteristics in a way that is inconclusive. This could have been the main reason for her novel’s success since it doesn’t strongly lean to either side of the equality debate that began in the 19th century and continued into the 20th and to some extent 21st century. Perhaps a focus on men and women is not what she intends to have as a focal point in the novel. Instead her point is that damages of science, but the equality of men and women makes an interesting sub-theme in the plot of ‘Frankenstein.’