Due to the time period in which a book is written, many misperceptions in the reality of relations between men and women as a utilitarian society arise. Mary Shelley explicitly expresses the unequal, yet made to seem inertial distribution of power and ranking solely into the hands of men in Frankenstein. Frankenstein was published in 1818 and it is my conviction that this fed the bias on the power struggle between the sexes. The power, and lack thereof exemplified between men and women in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein serves as my truth in identifying the trend of women being placed under a stereotypical jurisdiction, which bars all female characters from manifesting proper demonstrations of their inner selves.
There have been many scenarios in which the female characters of the novel are viewed in lesser light than men. It is this ill treatment and negligence of a woman's true capabilities and worth that makes Mary Shelley' s Frankenstein a perfect example of female submissiveness in literature. The author characterizes each woman as passive, disposable and serving a utilitarian function. Female characters like Safie, Elizabeth, Justine, Margaret and Agatha provide nothing more but a channel of action for the male characters in the novel. The monster viewed a majority of the female influences he meets as belongings, quintessentially his possessions. The monster even says, "All praises bestowed on her I received as made to a possession of my own." (Frankenstein 35) Women are viewed as prizes and teachers of emotion, whereas other male characters such as Victor Frankenstein possesses a craft in which pervertibly differentiates women from men. Victor is seen as a beholder of knowledge, versus the perception of a female character such as Elizabeth as a source of emotion.
To take certain characters out of context, Justine's is a very passive, seldom vocal character in the novel.
