Friday, May 17, 2013

What injustices do female characters in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein fail to confront?

Certainly, Justine fails to truly confront the injustice of her trial.  She ultimately confesses to a crime she did not commit, the murder of William, an act that devastates Elizabeth.


Elizabeth never truly confronts the injustice of Victor's treatment of her.  He distances himself from his family while he's at Ingolstadt, then delays their intended nuptials again and again, sometimes for years at a time, seemingly without much regard for Elizabeth's feelings.  She never addresses the injustice of this treatment.


Safie never confronts the injustice of her father's actions toward Felix and the rest of the DeLacey family.  She simply shows up at their house one day and is taken in.


Even Mrs. Saville, the sister to whom Captain Walton writes all his letters, is treated somewhat unjustly by him.  It doesn't seem as though he'd had a conversation with her about his intentions and goals when he left on this very dangerous journey.  Then, because of the nature of the expedition, he can write letters to her, but she has no way of getting a response back to him.  He has, effectively, silenced her and taken away her ability to express her opinion concerning his voyage.

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