An examination of Patriarchy in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.

Elizabeth, the Monster and Patriarchy. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, some blatant parallels are made between Dr. Frankenstein's adopted sister, Elizabeth, and the monster he created. Both of these innocent creatures, together represent all of mankind in their similarities and differences, Elizabeth being the picture of womanhood and goodness, the monster representing manhood and evil. Both Elizabeth and the monster belong to and structure their lives in terms of Dr. Frankenstein, leading to overall destruction and, …

…some sort of security against sudden death and rampant disease. Shelley saw the chaos and destruction that resulted from unequal representation in a power-hungry, Patriarchal government. Elizabeth and the monster embody the missing aspects of this un-representative ruling class; compassion and humanity, it is the absence of these things that Shelley displays the horrific result of in her novel. Frankenstein is more than a ghost story, it is a social narrative and a political manifesto.