social disapproval Flashcards
frankenstein raised number of social issues such as
•the disapproval of the female gender in society
the social class is split along
•gender lines that marginalize women as a result of a predominant patriarchal structure
division among social political status highlights
•the consequences of society’s reaction to class selection & social order
division of gender roles in the 19th century society resulted in
•segregation of women
•women were confined to domestic duties while men performed their work obligations outside the home and in public
•therefore the upper social tier was reserved for
•the seemingly public and hardworking men, while the women performed traditional housewife duties like housekeeping, nursing and babysitting
contrary to this reality, Elizabeth (victors wife and foster sister)
•lacks any special task & simply lingers without a purpose in her life
men, on the other hand, perform their work obligations
•away from their families as explorers, scientists and merchants
•when victor denies elizabeth the opportunity to travel with him to england she expresses her disappointment of missing out on the chance to broaden her horizons
this occurrence is distinctly the separation of
•intellectual and emotional work
•as a consequence, sexual division of work responsibilities results in a situation where masculine works stays out of the house; thus intellectual work becomes separated from emotional duties
this stern separation cause victors
•narcissism and incapability to show empathy
•eg he detached his work from his family duties: “the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to forget those friends…”
victors emotional state causes him to
•abandon his creature, leading to a chaotic and destructive situation
therefore, women end up lacking the
•will to stand up for themselves, as shown in Justine’s (a servant in the frankenstein household) inability to defend herself
justine laments because
•the creature had placed a locket in her pocket, which was the only evidence that could tie her to the murder
although justine is innocent,
•she ignored the only logical explanation that someone framed her
•rather, she relies on emotions that tell her that nobody could be this malicious
this example clearly depicts Shelleys perspective about
•the confinement of women to the household in the 19th century, which deprived them of the opportunity to learn how to use their intellect & disengage emotional reasoning
hence, women ought to be active in the public domain rather than
•staying confined to the traditional social class roles, assigned to them by the patriarchal society
