Gender Differences In Frankenstein

The nineteenth century has a plethora of differences in comparison to the centuries following. The culture that surrounds an author can affect their literary works. Mary Shelley had grown up in a very different culture, much different than the world that modern authors live in today. One example of the difference is the way that men and women are being viewed (Hughes). Mary Shelley uses two male figures as her main characters in the novel (Shelley 25). Another example is the view of mankind versus the view of material. In today’s world, people have a close relationship with their electronics (Everdel). This causes people to be very materialistic. As opposed to the nineteenth century, there is closer relationships with people to people rather

This is a rather interesting action because the author is a female. Typically, males authors will write from the point of view of a male and females will write from female point of views (Hughes). Shelley writes from not one, but two male point of views, which would be Victor Frankenstein and the monster (Shelley 34). In the nineteenth century, males and females remained in “separate spheres”, meaning one genders’ personal ideologies and duties would not mix with the other (Hughes). Mary Shelley defies this principle by writing in the perspective of the male mind (Shelley 56). Today, books are being written from all points of views. Some males write from female point of views, and some females write from male point of views, but it is not an uncommon thing for gender roles to mix (Hughes). That is the difference between the gender roles in the nineteenth century as opposed to the roles of the twenty first

Most nineteenth century literature shares the common ideology that you must work toward something and has a deeper meaning to share to make the world a better place (Anderberg). For example, the novel, Frankenstein, contains the ideas of enlightenment and discovery. The monster discovers how to use fire, Victor discovers how to create life, and he also finds out why to not create life. The monsters progressiveness is highlighted when he says,”I examined the materials of the fire, and to my joy found it to be composed of wood” (Shelley 92) The ideas in Frankenstein are much more progressive as opposed to those in The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is a story of heartbreak. There is no central progressive idea to the story. It is simply for entertainment purposes. Compared to the twenty first century, nineteenth century literature is very different. This affects how the novel, Frankenstein, is written. It can also change how it is interpreted through twenty first century ideology. Mary Shelley had wrote the book in 1817. Gender roles, personal ideologies toward material, and progressive ideas are very different in the twenty first century, rather than in the nineteenth