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Gender Inequality In Frankenstein

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Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein touches on the inequality between males and females in society. In much of the novel women are being presented as less than or a supporting cast to the men in the novel. It is true though, that the novel also serves as a stepping stone for women and a warning that females are important to both men and the creation of a balanced and functioning society. From the beginning of the novel, male characters share strong similarities with traditional male ideologies. They are uninvolved in domestic affairs choosing to pursue occupations in the public sphere, such as adventuring the world or devoting your life to science and instead. In comparing himself and Elizabeth Victor Frankenstein mentions: For although there was a great dissimilitude in our characters, there was a harmony in that very dissimilitude. I was more calm and philosophical than my companion; yet my temper was not so yielding. My application was of longer endurance; but it was not so severe whilst it endured. I delighted in investigating the facts relative to the actual world; she busied herself in following the aerial creations of the poets. (Shelley 21) Victor Frankenstein embodies masculine attributes with his logical and composed nature, as well as a strong scientific mind well-suited for the male dominated field of natural philosophy of which he was so fond of from a young age. These would be ideal and expected traits for men of this time. In John Tosh’s paper titled “Gentlemanly

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