Journals for Frankenstein

1. "His daughter attended him with the greatest tenderness, but she saw with despair that their little fund was rapidly decreasing and that there was no other prospect of support" (18).

-In this quote Caroline Beaufort, daughter of Alphonse Beaufort, begins to take care of her ill father because she notices that there is no other person that would take care of him and it also relates to feminism because woman back then did not have jobs like men so basically all she could do was to take care of the household, people, most problems etc.

2. "She procured plain work; she plaited straw and by various means contrived to earn a pittance scarecely sufficient to support life" (18).

- Where she worked it was cheap and it was not as much in society. It was also a way they could find jobs more easily especially because she is a girl.

3."Her father grew worse; her time was more entirely occupied in attending him; her means of subsistence decreased; and in the tenth month her father died in her arms, leaving her an orphan and a beggar" (18).

-At this point Caroline's father was dead, she no longer had to take care of him. The tragic view was she was an unmarried orphan and she did not have the same support her father provide for her. It was the time when she had to find a husband or someone that could provide for her; a beggar in a way. Throught the feminist criticism it proves that woman back then were always dependent on a man and did not have the same rights as they did.

4. "He came likea protecting spirit to the poor girl, who committed herself to his care; and after the interment of his friend he conducted her to Geneva and placed her under the protection of a relation"(18).

- This quote basically mentions that the girl had to be protected and rescued by a man because supposably with there protecting and support they could have a better life. Although this believe has changed modern society now, woman still suffer the most because they work atleast twice as harder than men (depending at the situation).

5. "He strove to shelter her, as a fair exotic is sheltered by the gardener, from every rougher wind and to surround her with all that could tend to excite pleasurable emotion in her soft and benevolent mind" (19).

- Mary Shelley points woman as a fragile image toward men and society. Men believe that there role is to love and protect a woman. Feminist Criticism: Woman could take care of themselves.

6. "They sought the pleasant climate of Italy, and the change of scene and interest attendant on a tour through that land of wonders, as a restorative for her weakened frame" (19).

- This quote suggest when woman are feeling weak they should go or think about pleasuring places or things that could prevent all the problems they are being surrounded by. It is also an image that woman are very sentimental/ fragile and that supposably they are not able to deal with there problems.

7. "My mother's tender caresses and my father's smile of benevolent pleasure while regarding me are my first recollections" (19).

- It reveals woman more human like and alive with emotions; for example the mother's tender caresses. The father's smile in this case does not connect emotionally or physically as the woman. It proves that men do have there weaknesses as shown through emotions.

8."My mother had much desired to have a daughter, but I continued their single offspring" (19).

-This reveals that women always have another such as themselves around. That they cannot be satisfied with only a male offspring although it could be benificial because it can help around the house and provide for the family.

9."... it was a necessity, a passion, remembering what she had suffered, and how she had been relieved, for her to act in her turn the guardian angel to the afflicted" (19).

-Compares an angelic figure as a woman in this quote.

10."... none could behold her without looking on her as of a distinct species, a being heaven-sent, and bearing a celestial stamp in all her features" (20).

- In this quote it also describes woman as an angelic figure. When describing a female they always mention thier physically. It relates to feminism because of there looks and not in most cases their knowledge.

11. ".. she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as mine-mine to protect, love, and cherish" (21).

-Caroline dies from scarlet fever, but before she dies she makes sure Elizabeth has love and protection. This relates to feminism because it shows how man views woman as property later on through the novel.

12. "All praises bestowed on her I received as made to a possession of my own" (21).

-Elizabeth is now considers as Frankensteins woman. Men in most cases in this situatiuon like to take their female partner out into public and get compliments about random people so they can feel better of themselves and choices they make.

13. "Elizabeth was of a calmer and more concentrated disposition; but with all my ardour, I was capable of a more intense application and was more deeply smitten with the thirst for knowledge" (22).

-Elizabeth was not able to have enough education which caused her to be less intelligent. If it wasn't for the men dominant role they could have had a better chance to increase their education.Overall if females were allowed to be as intelligent than men it would threaten to take power from the male species which would cause a great chaos.

14. "She busied herself with following the aerial creations of the poets; and in the majestic and wondrous scenes which surrounded our Swiss home" (22).

- In this novel females where made to be very simple, especially through the diction that is shown in this quote. It states that woman like to here wonderful pleasing words all the time and if they have it that way they would be content most of the time.

15. "While my companion contemplated with a serious and satisfied spirit the magnificent appearances of things, I delighted in investigating their causes" (22).

-The female is captivated by nature and is delighted by her surroundings. In mens case they mostly have to get in a scientific approach to have a deeper feeling of nature.

16."The saintly soul of Elizabeth shone like a shrine-dedicated lamp in our peaceful home" (23).

-Elizabeth is representated as a fragile, innocent, angelic, figure. It is mostly shown at thier household.

17. "Her sympathy was ours; her smile, her soft voice, the sweet glance of her celestial eyes, were ever there to bless and animate us" (23).

-Females sign of sweetness, happiness, and kindness. These gestures and actions were taken in consideration it was a way to solve most of their problems.

18."She was the living spirit of love to soften and attract; I might have become sullen in my study, rough through the ardour of my nature, but that she was there to subdue me to a semblance of her own gentleness" (23).

- Nature reflects the females beauty which makes the place and everything else better. In Victors case she wasn't able to alwys be there and make everything better by just sitting there so it was but difficult time they had to go through.

19. "Elizabeth had caught the scarlet fever; her illness was severe, and she was in the greatest danger" (28).

- Ellizabeth got the same sickness Caroline Beaufort had when she died. It put Elizabeth in great danger which shows the victim (Elizabeth) to be weak especially because woman are considered to be more emotional physically and mentaly.

20. "She indeed veiled her grief and strove to act the comforter to us all. She looked steadily on life and assumed its duties with courage and zeal." (29).

- Elizabeth at the moment suffers because her mother has died from the same fever she had. She was heartbroken and feels depressed. It is a sign of emotional weakness but with what Victor later on says in the book also mentions that he feels bad of everything that is going on. Simply both male and female always try to overcome any feeling and obstacle they encounter in life which shows the courage and strength they both contain.

Frankenstein: Feminist Criticism

In the early 1960's the feminist literary criticism became a theoretical issue with the appearance of the new women's movement (Feminist Literary Criticism). Actually, feminist criticism started as part of the international women's liberation movement. In the 1950s women had gone back to the house, abandoning their work to men who came back from the war to claim their positions, and a feminine was created in the media making the housewife and mother; the ideal models for all women. Promoting this ideal of women "reality" reduced the identity of women to sexual and social passivity. According to Critical Approaches: Feminist Criticism has become a powerful force of literary studies in the late 1970s. Since the early 1980s, feminist literary criticism has developed and spread in number of ways and is now criticized by a global perspective. "Feminist critique," through examining how women characters are shown, expose classics which demonstrates attitudes and traditions reinforcing masculine dominance. Another group practiced what came to be called "gynocriticism," studying writings by women and examining the female literary tradition to find out how women writers across the ages have perceived themselves and imagined reality. Later on it gradually became customary to refer to an Anglo-American tradition of feminist criticism. Feminist theory aims to understand the nature of inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations and sexuality. While generally providing a critique of social relations, much of feminist theory also focuses on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests, and issues. Themes explored in feminism include art history and contemporary art, aesthetics, discrimination, stereotyping, objectification (especially sexual objectification), oppression, and patriarchy. The prior “woman’s movement” was primarily about woman as a universal entity, whereas it transformed itself into one primarily concerned with social differentiation, attentive to individuality and diverse.

In the novel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses the character, Caroline Beaufort, as a well represented criticized feminist. Caroline, being a woman that had to take care of her ill father, had been through many other unfortunate situations that proves the reader that she has been a victim of a “female gender” role in society. Unfortunately, “several months passed in this manner. Her father grew worse; and her time was more entirely occupied in attending him; her means of subsistence decreased; and in the tenth month her father died in her arms, leaving her an orphan and a beggar” (18). Therefore as a female, Caroline had lost her father and was not able to provide for herself independently as present/modern people have done already. In Caroline case she did not have the opportunity to become independent for herself and had to face in becoming a beggar because she had become so poor. However, in our society now women are highly capable to work independently without being dependent to a man. It provides more rights and strength to the woman. Typically, the whole image of women’s job back then was to stay home, cook, clean the house, take care of children, but overall please the husband. It seems society saw woman as less intelligent because they were always dependent to their husbands and did not have the opportunity to get an education. At times men feel confident about themselves and always felt the need to have power and take control of situations which set woman as their own property; “all praises bestowed on her I received as made to a possession of my own” (21). Referring to this quote, woman would not be able to have a respectable position in society with the consent of the husbands demands and showed that woman were not taken into consideration for their contributions in society as well. Mary Shelley strictly shows the suppression of woman in society through her female character, Caroline Beaufort, as an example of woman that have been forced to set an image of innocence, fragility, and obedience, but never demonstrate to society how knowledgeable, powerful, and determined they could really be.

Background Information about Feminist Criticism

In the early 1960's the feminist literary criticism became a theoretical issue with the appearance of the new women's movement. Actually, feminist criticism started as part of the international women's liberation movement. In the 1950s women had gone back to the house, abandoning their work to men who came back from the war to claim their positions, and a feminine was created in the media making the housewife and mother; the ideal models for all women. Promoting this ideal of women "reality" reduced the identity of women to sexual and social passivity. According to Critical Approaches: Feminist Criticism has become a powerful force of literary studies in the late 1970s. Since the early 1980s, feminist literary criticism has developed and spread in number of ways and is now criticized by a global perspective. "Feminist critique," through examining how women characters are shown, expose classics which demonstrates attitudes and traditions reinforcing masculine dominance. Another group practiced what came to be called "gynocriticism," studying writings by women and examining the female literary tradition to find out how women writers across the ages have perceived themselves and imagined reality. Later on it gradually became customary to refer to an Anglo-American tradition of feminist criticism. Feminist theory aims to understand the nature of inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations and sexuality. While generally providing a critique of social relations, much of feminist theory also focuses on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests, and issues. Themes explored in feminism include art history and contemporary art, aesthetics, discrimination, stereotyping, objectification (especially sexual objectification), oppression, and patriarchy. The prior “woman’s movement” was primarily about woman as a universal entity, whereas it transformed itself into one primarily concerned with social differentiation, attentive to individuality and diverse.