Mary Shelley

A review by Shelley of his wife’s novel presents an understanding that there may not be a monster in Frankenstein. He comes to the conclusion that it is in fact a person who was maligned and therefore became iniquitous. But to others it seems as though it is a branch of legendary monsters. The difference is that they combined the characteristics of multiple animals whereas the Monster has united the qualities of a human and of a machine. If the monstrosity of the Monster wasn’t bad enough, the namelessness of it is accentuated as a huge timidity. “In Genesis 3:19-20, Adam’s dominion over plants and animals is demonstrated by his power to name them; knowing the name of something has traditionally conferred magical control over it, as well as giving it a place in an ordered universe. Frankenstein’s creation is simply “the Monster”-aptly communicating its total otherness and man’s impotence before it” (“Mary” 14).
By viewing Frankenstein through the eyes of a feminist, it becomes clear that the novel recognizes the need of woman to care for the newborn baby. Therefore, the novel brings forth the argument against artificial reproduction. This argument is rooted in the birth of Mary Shelley’s baby who died two weeks later. Following the tragedy of her baby girl, Mary gave birth once again to her newborn son, William. Then six months later, she conceived yet another child, Clara Everina, in December. From then on Mary becomes increasingly aware of the dangers of pregnancy and profoundly frightens her (“Mary” 45).
One reason that Mary Shelley’s story has been so popular throughout the ages is because it conveys the greatest concerns of pregnancy possibly for the first time in Western literature. This is partly due to male writers wanting to steer away from the topic of pregnancy and female writers, prior to Mary Shelley, regarding pregnancy or even childbirth as inappropriate to conversed about with men. This in turn comforts the women who are reading that their...