Matthew Vaughn

ENG 271

Dr. Theile

Literary Analysis

5/8/2013

The Untold Story:

A Literary Analysis of Female Characters in Frankenstein

In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the oppression of Elizabeth, Caroline, and Justine is

evident by using the theoretical lens of Feminism and Marxism. The three women chosen

represent three different women of the time and carry with them three different sets of issues

facing them. Feminism and Marxism are used to better exemplify the oppression each character

is exposed to. All three women have, in their own way, been “Othered” by the men of the story;

sometimes they are even used as pawns in the lethal game taking place between Victor and his

creature. By drawing on the theories developed by feminist critics like Simone de Beavoir,

Elaine Showalter, and Ulla Wischermann, one will begin to see the definite patriarchal

oppression that all three women of Frankenstein are confronted with. Furthermore, all three

women do not share the same social standing, despite being all women. There are bold and

noticeable lines drawn between the upper class and lower class of the novel, and the lives of

Elizabeth and Caroline do not reflect the life Justine. By examining terms and theories stemming

from Marxism, such as the Superstructure, ideologies, and false consciousness, another level of

oppression is revealed to the reader. Using these two literary theories next to each other will

create a contrast, making it easier to understand the causes, occurrences, and resolutions of the

struggles for Elizabeth, Caroline, and Justine.

First, one must look at Elizabeth, Caroline and Justine under a feminist perspective. In

1949, Simone de Beauvoir introduced the term Patriarchy, which means to be controlled by men.

The control of men within the world of Frankenstein (written 130 years before Beauvoir) is

evident by examining the three women’s description by the male narrators. Elizabeth is described

as the perfect woman by Victor “Elizabeth alone had the power to draw me from theses fits; her

gentle voice would soothe me when transported by passion, and inspire me with the human

feelings when sunk in torpor” (190). Here it is important to note who is doing the describing.

Victor praises Elizabeth for her wonderful traits and countless other times hails her as the perfect

woman but what he means is that she is the perfect woman under the patriarchal society.

Caroline is described by Victor as well “Everything was made to yield to her wishes and her

convenience. He [Victors father] 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” (30). In this passage, Caroline is described

more as a rare object that needs to be sheltered and protected. Instantly, Caroline is viewed as

inferior and needing protection, rather than allowed to be credible on her own merits. Justine is

described by Elizabeth, “Justine, you may remember, was a great favorite of yours; and I

recollect you once remarked, that if you were in an ill-humor, one glace from Justine could

dissipate it” (65).

It is important to make notes of these descriptions and, as previously stated, to understand

who is writing them. Simone de Beauvoir writes about how a patriarchal society makes women

an irrelevant “Other” compared to the relevant man. All three women have been made the

“Other” by different causes. Elizabeth has been swooped up and labeled as the “Other” since

birth and raised under the patriarchal construct by the Frankenstein family. In all likelihood she

was picked up as an orphan to eventually marry Victor. We know from the text that if it wasn’t

for her beauty and lineage she would not have lived with the Frankensteins (35, 36). She was

then trained and applauded by Victor when she became a meek and obedient woman, in his eyes

she became the perfect woman by possessing beauty and obedience. Caroline, in a similar

fashion as Elizabeth, was also swooped up and assimilated into the Frankenstein family. The

difference here is that it was only Alphonse that Caroline was joining, but her beauty and

obedience gave her the same fate as Elizabeth. Caroline seems unconventional at first, which is

what attracted Alphonse in the first place (33), but by time Victor grows up she is once again

labeled as the perfect patriarchal woman. Justine was not a suitable wife to any of the

Frankensteins making her imperfect in the eyes of the patriarchal construct. However, like

Elizabeth and Caroline, her beauty and obedience landed her the praise of the men who were in

power. Victor praises her for how she does her job so lovingly and how beautiful she is. The

overlying theme is that all three of these women fir perfectly into the patriarchal scheme so it is

not wonder that they were heralded as perfect women by the dominant men. It was through this

heralding that they women slowly became the “Other.”

In an academic article entitled “Feminist Theories on the Separation of the Private and

the Public: Looking Back, Looking Forward” Ulla Wischermann discusses the effects of the

private and public spheres that patriarchy has created. They pursued a double perspective: on the

one hand, they forcefully tackled the problem of naturalizing and polarizing gender roles in

bourgeois society, critiqued the resulting marking of the private sphere as "woman's realm," in

which work is performed out of love, and reflected on the way boundaries between the private

and public are drawn in the context of patriarchal power structures” (Wishermann 185). She talks

about the concept that in the patriarchal realm, women were intended to stay in the private sphere

and that their hard work would reflect in their husband while he is out in the public sphere

working. This concept was a genuinely accepted cultural norm around the time that Frankenstein

takes place and Elizabeth, Caroline and Justine were not exceptions. Elizabeth, as is Caroline, is

deeply obedient to Victor. Her countless letters and endless praise of him is solid evidence that

she has accepted her role as comforter and not leader. Caroline also was a comforter to Alphonse

and even Elizabeth when she fell ill. There is a bit of a contrast when comparing Justine to

Elizabeth and Caroline in this respect because Justine was not married, however she did look

after the Frankenstein’s private home to create a tranquil and acceptable home for Victor and

Alphonse. Justine served the men in their public life just as much as their wives did. All of this

points towards all three women continuing to be oppressed and pushed into an inferior role.

How the Men keep their power leads this analysis into the Marxist literary theories.

Marxism is unique in that it is not a literary theory to begin with but more of a social criticism

and it suggests a new social construct within itself. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels began

Marxism with The Communist Manifesto. In it they discussed how the Bourgeoisie (or upper-

class) has successfully enslaved the proletariat (or lower-class) by controlling their ideas of

reality. They make the point that the Bourgeoisie controls the dominant ideology or dominant

idea of the time. In Marx’s example he claims the rich control the poor by using Capitalism

(dominant ideology) by exploiting the labor workers. The Bourgeoisie can manipulate the lower

class because of interpellation, which means to mislead the lower class into buying into the

dominant ideology, thus creating a false consciousness.

All of these terms tie into the scene we already have painted of the women in the

Frankenstein world. Men are controlling the dominant ideology of the day, which is patriarchy.

Before delving any further, it is absolutely paramount to understand that while Marxism and

Feminism complement each other in many ways, they are not the same criticism. Just because

the men control the dominant ideology does not make them the Bourgeoisie. The Bourgeoisie is

a term used by Marxist critics when talking about class and does not apply to simply a dominant

culture. That being said, the men control the women who would be classified as the inferior or

“Other” through the false consciousness that they give them. The men create this false

consciousness by praising the women so much, as we noticed through feminism. The women

themselves don’t feel any pressure to change because every man around them is praising them

for being so good. What they don’t realize is that this praise is entrapping them into the plan that

the men had created to enslave them. It is a system that is 100% exploitation and it is noticed

thoroughly by using Marxism along with Feminism.

Throughout the book, the women act with more authority than they truly have because of

their false consciousness, but there is one instance where this false consciousness is temporarily

broke. This instance is at Justine’s trail after she has been framed for the death of William.

Justine reveals to Elizabeth and Victor that she has falsely confessed to the murder of William.

Elizabeth does not seem worried and assures Justine that she can get her out of it, “But do not

mourn, dear girl. Do not fear. I will proclaim, I will prove your innocence.” (Shelley 87). It is

when Elizabeth does not get the reaction she was expecting; she sees how much power she truly

has. Furthermore it is important to note what Justine’s final words before she dies, “Farewell,

sweet lady, dearest Elizabeth, my beloved and only friend…” (Shelley 89). This line is extremely

important. Justine claims Elizabeth is her only friend despite just acknowledging that Victor

thinks she is innocent as well. There is a brief moment of clarity that Elizabeth and Justine share;

where they realize how helpless they truly are in the grand scheme of the world and that there

was no escaping their fates.

Marxism serves as another alternative purpose alongside illuminating the methods of

oppression; it also shows how Elizabeth, Caroline, and Justine’s fates were decided basically at

birth. As stated before, all three women were beautiful, all three women were adopted, but only

two of them were allowed to move up into a higher social class. Elizabeth was described as

beautiful and “a stock above the rest” but there was no indication that she was going to adopted

until they found out her lineage. Once it was confirmed that she was a child of Milanese

nobleman, than she not only became a prospect for adoption but Caroline was already thinking

about her as a wife to Victor. Likewise, Caroline was actually of a lower class than Alphonse but

because Alphonse adored her father so much, she had a ticket into the upper class. This is the

similarity that Elizabeth and Caroline share; they both have a “claim” to the upper class.

Elizabeth has her father and so does Caroline. This fact holds true when Justine comes into the

story. She is just as beautiful and loving as Elizabeth and Caroline but she does not have any

legitimate claim to be in the upper class. The best the Frankensteins can do for her is to make her

a beloved servant. This proves that there really is no upward mobility for women of the 19th

century, either they have the birth-rite to be upper class or they do not.

In conclusion, while not much is talked about Elizabeth, Caroline and Justine, much is

revealed through Feminism and Marxism as literary frames. All three women are oppressed and

manipulated in multiple different ways. Feminism shows how they are oppressed by forced to

live in complete obedience to men; if they break this social norm than they are shunned and

outcast from society. It also shows how the separate sphere of private and public lives created the

construct that the women were limited to. Their only power was to be able to comfort the man in

the private sphere when he got home from socializing in the public sphere. Marxism examines

the way men keep the power over the women and create a false consciousness to keep the

women calm and complacent. This consciousness is shattered for a brief moment before Justine’s

death; however Elizabeth eventually remains the same. Both of these theories combine shed a

new light to a story that is not told or alluded to in this classic novel, but it is nevertheless

relevant and could very well be more relevant to our generation than any other message in the

story.

Works Cited

Bressler, Charles. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. 2nd Ed. Upper

Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999. Print.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus. London: Oxford University Press,

1969. Print.

Wischermann, Ulla. "Feminist Theories On The Separation Of The Private And The Public:

Looking Back, Looking Forward." Women In German Yearbook 20 (2004): 184-

197.Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 May 2013.