had a fascinating english class that resulted in the notes header βthe forcefeminization of victor frankensteinβ
what the people want, the people get
you see
my professorβs take is that mary shelley is feminizing victor throughout the novel, as a way of flipping gender roles and putting a male character through female experiences.
evidence as explained:
victor is creating life. he is putting his health at risk (spends two years with little sleep or socialization) to bring life forth into this world
his illness after he is shocked by the creature coming to life is akin to both βhysteriaβ and postpartum depression
he pretty much swoons, letβs be honest
henry clerval, a man who has been characterized as manly and heroic, has to chase after damsel-in-distress victor and care for him as he convalescesΒ
afterward, he hides what he did and went through, for fear that others will label him crazy and emotional and not believe him. sound familiar?
Victor in general is more emotional than the other characters and is constantly tempering his reactions to not be seen as irrationalΒ
the book does not otherwise have central female charactersΒ
Also, Shelleyβs mother died in childbirth. Itβs interesting, then, that Shelley presents the creation of life as something horrific and damaging. She parallels Victor with her mother.
in conclusion, Frankenstein (1818) by MaryΒ Β Wollstonecraft Shelley is one of the first examples of mpreg in English literatureΒ
