Feminism

            What is feminism? Feminism is, simply put, equality for all people in relation to economics, politics, and society. When one applies a feminist lens to popular culture or literature, one is questioning and interpreting ideologies in society or in the text. Feminism can challenge oneself to live differently by questioning and confronting gender roles and stereotypes. Through Frankenstein, Mary Shelley proved that she asked these preceding questions of herself. When reading Frankenstein one is overcome by a patriarchal nineteenth – century societal norm where men are part of the public sector and women the domestic. Men such as Victor Frankenstein and Walton endeavor on quests in search of knowledge, happiness, personal fulfillment, and experience, whereas women are confined to the house and are kept outside of the male public sphere where intellectual activity is abundant. Mary Shelley herself grew up in such a male-identified society.

            It is thought that Frankenstein’s origin is an accumulation of experiences in Mary Shelley’s life, and therefore Frankenstein is abundant with male-identified roles, such as those embodied by Victor, Walton, Clerval, and the monster. Female identified roles are very limited, which may be a reflection of the absence of a mother figure throughout Shelley’s life, as well as the societal ideologies at the time. A film adaptation entitled Frankenstein, directed by Marcus Nispel in 2004, even has very limited female roles, one of which reflects some of  the traits embodied by the women in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. There is one dominant role though in this film adaption that is taken on by a female who plays  a detective on a very heated murder investigation. Perhaps this female dominated role is the director's way of building on the gender equality that Shelley advocates in her novel, but in a very modern way. One of the most palpable feminist aspects of Shelley's Frankenstein is this segregation of male and female roles, with the second being the destruction of the need for a female in creating a human being, as seen in Victor’s manipulation of the natural mode of human reproduction through his creation of the monster. A less palpable, but as equally profound, feminist aspect is the role of Nature.

             I personally enjoyed reading the descriptions in the novel of Nature, such as landscapes like Mont Blanc and the Alps. Shelley’s vivid descriptions brought the novel to life and enhanced Victor and the monster’s experiences. Nature’s disposition changes throughout the novel to fit the mood of Victor, in some instances punishing him for his unethical choices. This relationship between Nature and Victor was intended by Shelley to symbolize the consequences of patriarchal societal norms and the revenge that females will seek upon their patriarchal counterparts. This relationship did not at first reveal itself to me until I read Anne K. Mellor’s critical essay entitled “Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein.” Anne gives a very intellectual account of her theories for feminism in Frankenstein of which I summarize in my blog post entitled “The Female in Frankenstein.”

            Shelley’s questioning of her place in society, as well as her questioning of assumptions about gender and human nature at the time, is confronted in her classic novel. Frankenstein is more than just the classic gothic novel that I have known it as, but rather a novel that interplays feminism with a very ingenious and original storyline that has had critics and readers like myself in awe at such a literary piece.

Film Adaptation: Frankenstein by Marcus Nispel





Frankenstein directed by Marcus Nispel
http://www.amazon.com/Frankenstein/dp/B000LQ9590

       

            Frankenstein, directed by Marcus Nispel, was to be a pilot for a USA Cable Network series based on characters and concepts in Dean Koontz’s novel Frankenstein: The Prodigal Son. Koontz, as did the pilot’s original executive producer, departed from the project with USA Network and removed their names from the pilot after being disappointed in how it turned out. The story is set in modern day New Orleans where Victor Helios, a mad scientist who has made billions off of his biotechnology research, is secretly creating a genetically modified superhuman race in an abandoned warehouse. Victor Helios is Mary Shelley’s Victor Frankenstein who two hundred years after creating his first monster has managed to practice his research on himself, modifying his genes so that he too can have superhuman strength and longevity. Victor’s obsession with perfection has even motivated him to create himself a wife, who like all other superhuman spawn, is programed as he desires. All of Victor’s modern creatures mature in a vat of genetically modified placental fluid that breathes life into his creations, with a shock of electricity awakening them. Victor’s first creation, named Deucalion, is to be synonymous with the monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Deucalion, unlike Victor’s latest creations, is far from perfection. Scars cover his body and the organs gathered to create him were obtained from the most wretched of places through the most grotesque manner. Victor’s latest creations are free of Deucalion’s flaws due to his increased knowledge over years of research and his efforts to delve into genetics.

            The movie, like Mary Shelley’s classic, is a framed story. The movie opens with the monster getting off of what is left to movie viewers to assume to be Walton’s vessel, but there is no clarification or return to this scene. The movie then jumps to a scene set in modern day New Orleans with two detectives working on solving a case involving numerous deaths by the same killer whose signature is a missing organ – a heart, a kidney, a liver. A new victim finds them even more puzzled after an autopsy reveals that the man had two hearts, extra molars, bones of concrete, and 30% more lymph nodes – all abnormal findings. The movie then begins to focus in on Victor Helios, a very wealthy man whose research has made him a name, but he has a secret endeavor, that of which uses his wealth, knowledge, and status as a cover up for the devastation he conceives and makes a reality. Within these three ongoing stories a very disjointed and disturbing remake of Mary Shelley’s classic novel unravels.

            There were very few similarities in this movie to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, one of them being the previously referenced framed story. The second and last similarity was the very primitive outline of Mary Shelley’s story, which includes a distraught scientist and his creation. What this movie’s producer did with the bare minimum of Shelley’s novel was an entirely different vision from what Shelley ever had imagined and put to paper.

            The makers of this film turned Shelley’s classic into a modern science fiction film with highly grotesque and superficial cinematography. Producer Marcus Nispel described the movie as, “not your grandfather’s Frankenstein” (Nispel, 2004). The producer’s vision for this movie was for it to be a continuum of Shelley’s Victor’s endeavor 200 years later, but they’re forgetting that in Mary Shelley’s novel Victor died of physical and mental distress and never lived to see through to finishing off his monster, much less continuing his research and creating a superhuman race two centuries later. The visionaries for the movie also have the monster’s physical characteristics, as described by Shelley, entirely wrong. In the movie the monster is not a man of abnormally large stature and does not have any discernibly horrifying features that would disgust any human being that set eyes on him, rather he is mildly attractive with the only out of place characteristic being the large scar on his face and his clothing. The other glaring differences are the setting, in which there is no discernible landscape that embodies the sublime qualities described in Shelley’s novel, as well as the fact that it is not eighteenth-century Geneva, but rather twenty-first century America. The last key difference that I would like to note is the lack of feminism. Shelley’s novel was based on the premise of feminism, as advocated by her mother. Shelley alluded to feminism throughout her novel rather delicately, but the messages were rather profound. In this film adaptation, if one can even call it that, there were no female characters except for Victor’s wife Erica whom he created to be perfection. Erica herself played a very minimal role in the movie and was killed off by Victor because she felt she did not display the perfection that he sought. He brought her back to life after altering her genetics to make up for what she did not possess in her prior life. One could see this as patriarchy because Victor’s actions towards Erica are centered on his obsession for control, therefore insinuating a displacement of equality, but altogether there was no underlying feminist advocacy.

            In conclusion, Marcus Nispel’s Frankenstein was a large disappointment. The entire movie’s premise was on the foundational characters of Shelley’s Frankenstein – the monster and his creator. From here, the producer deviated from Shelley’s novel and created a very disjointed film adaptation. Even without having read Shelley’s novel, the movie still would have been mediocre because of the fact that it is a pilot for a TV series, therefore the ending left many loose ends because it was to be continued in future episodes. I do give the movie credit though for its creative take and interesting cinematography, but I much rather have seen a movie that did Shelley’s Frankenstein justice.

The Female in Frankenstein

            When reading Frankenstein one is overcome by a patriarchal nineteenth –century societal norm where men are part of the public sector and women the domestic. Men such as Victor Frankenstein and Walton endeavor on quests in search of knowledge, happiness, personal fulfillment, and experience. Men take on the roles of scientists, explorers, and merchants whereas women are confined to the house and are kept outside of the male public sphere where intellectual activity is abundant. Females are passive, weak, sexless, and possessable. One of the most palpable feminist aspects of Frankenstein is this segregation of male and female roles, with the second being the destruction of the need for a female in creating a human being, as seen in Victor’s manipulation of the natural mode of human reproduction through his creation of the monster. A less palpable, but as equally profound, feminist aspect is the role of Nature.

            Anne K. Mellor’s critical essay entitled “Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein” is an eye opening essay about the female role in Frankenstein’s patriarchal society. A recurring question raised by myself throughout the novel was, “How is Frankenstein feminist?” There is an overwhelming reoccurrence of injustice, inequality, and unequal consideration for women throughout the novel, so overwhelming that it makes one think that Frankenstein is anti-feminist. Mellor touches on several points that make Frankenstein undoubtedly feminist. First Mellor touches on a historical point that Mary Shelley’s mother’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman inspired Mary Shelley to portray the consequences of a societal construction that values males over females. It is the separation of public man from private woman throughout the novel that Mellor believes leads to Victor’s downfall as well as that of many women in the novel. Mellor goes on to explain that Victor’s inability to love, what Mellor explains to be domestic affections, and work, what Mellor explains to be male associated, leads Victor to fail to empathize with the monster, in turn leading to his and the monster’s ruin. Mellor also explains through Justine’s character in the novel that despite her innocence of the crime of which she is accused she is executed and that Elizabeth’s defense does nothing to help her. What I found to be very proving of Mellor’s intellect, and of feminism, is Mellor’s synthesis of Shelley’s portrayal of societal construction and the De Lacey family. Mellor believes that the De Lacey family is Shelley’s way of portraying an alternative social organization, one more favorable and embodying of mutual concern, love and equality.

            The division of male and female societal roles is endorsed by Victor – this is especially clear in his attitude towards the monster’s request for a female companion as well as his exclusion of a female in creation of the monster. Upon the monster’s request for a mate Victor surprisingly has a revelation and promises to create the monster a female companion, after months of delay Victor finally begins creating a female for the monster but later stops his work upon deciding to deprive his creation of a female companion. Mellor raises a great question, “What does Victor Frankenstein truly fear, which causes him to end his creation of the female” (360)? Mellor believes that Victor is fearful of an independent female will that will drive the female creature to have desires and opinions that her male counterpart will not be able to control. "Moreover,” Mellor interjects, “those uninhibited female desires might be sadistic: Frankenstein imagines a female ten thousand times more evil than her mate, who would delight in murder for its own sake” (360). Lastly, Mellor explains that Victor is afraid of her reproductive powers, as expressed in this quote: “Even if they were to leave Europe, and inhabit the deserts of the new world, yet one of the first results of those sympathies for which the daemon thirsted would be children, and a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth. . .” (119). Mellor’s feminist approach to Victor’s patriarchal views is that Victor truly fears female sexuality – a woman who is free to make her own choices, choose her own life, and is sexually liberated. He is “terrified of female sexuality and the power of human reproduction it enables, both he and the patriarchal society he represents use the technologies of science and the laws of the polis to manipulate, control, and repress women” (Mellor, 363). Some may say that Victor’s decision to not make the monster a female companion is due to his own selfishness, hate for the monster, and fear of the future repercussions, but Mellor’s approach is, I believe, very insightful and follows with Mary Shelley’s inspiration from her mother’s feminist advocacy.

Mont Blanc: http://xianblog.wordpress.com/tag/mont-blanc/

            Lastly, Mellor brings a very discerning approach to the role of Nature in Frankenstein. Mellor opens her critical essay stating that Victor identifies Nature as female – “I pursued Nature to her hiding places” (33). The novel is laden with references to nature, referring to its grandeur, wonder, and awe. Landscapes such as Mont Blanc and the Alps are revered by Victor and numerous times throughout the novel Nature pursues Victor, her disposition changing with his. At first Nature to Victor is passive, beautiful and serene, but once he manipulates her, thunder, lightning, harsh winds, and rain rage around him. Mellor explains that Victor assumes that he can violate and manipulate Nature through his creation of the monster, but Nature revenges herself upon his attempt by denying him mental and physical health. The descriptions of Nature throughout the novel may be dismissed by some as mere Romantic literature but it in fact is a symbol of the repercussions of the division of male and female roles. Mellor’s connection of feminism to Nature is what I find to be truly beautiful and creative. I myself saw the descriptions of nature throughout the novel as Romantic literature but there is a deeper meaning. Nature preventing Victor from constructing a normal human being, bringing upon him illness, and punishing him for transgressing her boundaries is Mary Shelley’s way of portraying the consequences of societal construction that values males over females.

            Shelley’s feminist approaches may not have been outward and tangible, but they were very profound. Mellor’s critical essay is very insightful as well as intriguing. Reading Frankenstein after reading Mellor’s essay may take away some of the mystery and imaginative aspects of the novel that leave one to reflect upon their own conclusions, but reading it in association with Frankenstein undoubtedly adds a feminist perspective that was but a far distant thought in my mind.

 

Works Cited

 

Mellor, Anne K. "Possessing Nature: The Female in Frankenstein." Frankenstein. Ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012. 355-368.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. J. Paul. Hunter. Norton Critical Editions. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2012.

 

What are Readers Saying About Frankenstein?

             Many of the reader reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble are mixed in terms of reader opinions and critiques. Reading through them I have found readers that highly recommend the novel, referring to it as innovative, classic, striking, and enjoyable. On the contrary, there are readers that are very cynical and refer to the book as ridiculous, detestable, horrible, and unreadable.

            Most of the reviews I found were concentrated on Goodreads with numerous lengthy reviews, some attesting to the book’s excellence, some summarizing the novel, and others criticizing the plot, characters, word use, and Hollywood’s portrayal. One reader criticized the novel stating, "It's been almost 30 years since I've detested a book this much…” (Hannah, 2009), meanwhile two other readers commended the book commenting, “This truly is a classic tale of social insight, a story of one seeking acceptance and desiring companionship…” (Michael, 2012) and “[Frankenstein] has the greatest pursuit in fiction” (Zaki, 2012). Many criticisms about the novel’s characters focus on Victor and the creature with one reader writing, “I also found it almost ridiculous the creature could not only remain hidden long enough to learn and sponge off the family in the cottage, but to also become such an eloquent speaker” (Christina, 2007), a second reader wrote, “speaking of tools, Victor Frankenstein is a giant one” (Stephen, 2012). What I found on Goodreads that I did not come across on Amazon or Barnes and Noble was reader’s connections to Hollywood’s portrayal. Some interesting reader comments about Hollywood’s depiction include: “Dear Hollywood…please learn to read and get yourself a copy of the source material” (Stephen, 2012), “…no film version of Mary Shelley's novel has ever gotten the themes or the characters straight” (Charity, 2008), and lastly, “Blast the media for making me think all these years that Frankenstein is a horror story” (Angus, 2012).

            Amazon had few reader reviews but the few that were present centered on criticism of the novel. One review criticizes Victor stating, “Dr. Victor Frankenstein, is an incredibly irritating character and completely ruined what could have been an incredible story. He seems to have the attention span of an intoxicated gnat, and his feelings swing from pole to pole in an instant” (Maggie McGovney, 2012), a second reader states, “I also had some issues with the writing style and verbage” (Lisa, 2012), and lastly the third commenter interjects, “More time describing the surroundings of Europe than the reason for traveling. . .” (Bernie, 2012).

            Barnes and Noble, like Amazon, has minimal reviews but instead the majority are in favor of the novel’s ingenuity and depth. Reviews include, “an eye opener” (Anonymous, 2001), “a great read” (Anonymous, 2011), and “best thriller I have read all year” (Anonymous, 2001).

            In conclusion, there were many mixed reviews from readers on all three book review sites. Half of the readers fell in love with Mary Shelley’s craftsmanship while others despised her character development, use of words, and the plot.

Works Cited

Angus. “The Fame Monster.” Goodreads. Goodreads Inc. Web. December 6, 2012.

Anonymous. “How I Felt About Frankenstein.” Barnes and Noble. Barnsandnoble.com. Web. December 6, 2012.

Anonymous. “Outstanding Thriller that has an end that is Suspenseful!!” Barnes and Noble. Barnesandnoble.com. Web. December 6, 2012.

Anonymous. “Great book!” Barnes and Noble. Barnesandnoble.com. Web. December 6, 2012.

Bernie. “Cursed, cursed creator.” Amazon. Amazon.com, Inc. Web. December 6, 2012.

Charity. “Frankenstein.” Goodreads. Goodreads Inc. Web. December 6, 2012.

Christina. “Frankenstein.” Goodreads. Goodreads Inc. Web. December 6, 2012.

Hannah. “Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus.” Goodreads. Goodreads Inc. Web. December 6, 2012.

Lisa. “Frankenstein.” Amazon. Amazon.com, Inc. Web. December 6, 2012.

Maggie McGovney. “Frankenstein’s monster has more brains.” Amazon. Amazon.com, Inc. Web. December 6, 2012.

Michael. “Frankenstein.” Goodreads. Goodreads Inc. Web. December 6, 2012. Stephen.

“Frankenstein.” Goodreads. Goodreads Inc. Web. December 6, 2012.

Zaki. “Frankenstein.” Goodreads. Goodreads Inc. Web. December 6, 2012.