Gilbert and Gubar point out that Walton, Frankenstein, and the monster “are obsessed with problem-solving” (227). She goes on to say that “all three, like Shelley herself, appear to be trying to understand their presence in a fallen world, and trying at the same time to define the nature of the lost paradise that must have existed before the fall. But unlike Adam, all three characters seem to have fallen not merely from Eden but from the earth, fallen directly into hell, like Sin, Satan, and – by implication – Eve. Thus their questionings are in some sense female…” (229).
I must admit that I’m much more familiar with the creation myth as it appears in Genesis than I am with Milton’s telling of it in Paradise Lost, so it’s very possible I’m missing something. That being said, this seems inaccurate to me. I don’t understand how Walton, Victor, and the creature’s supposed descent into hell makes them like Eve. Eve was never cast into hell – she was cast out of Eden and into the world, as was Adam. I do see connections to the Adam/Eve/Satan/God relationships all over this novel, but I fail to see how the obsessions of the aforementioned characters are female in nature in this particular context.
There are moments later in the essay where I have an easier time buying some of their arguments, but here it seems like a stretch. Again, I admit that I’m not as familiar with Milton’s version of the myth as I am with the way it is rendered in Genesis.
Another point that bothered me: Gilbert and Gubar use the following quote, alongside others, to illustrate how the “Adamic Victor” is “curiously female:” “He is consumed by ‘a fervent longing to penetrate the secrets of nature’” (234). Were I the author of this essay, I would not choose a quote that indicates a desire to penetrate as evidence of a character’s femaleness – especially right after suggesting that we should pay special attention to words like “dilate.”
That's all for now.
Dan Fiorelli
I agree that many times their arguments are a bit of a stretch. I also have a problem when they say that "femaleness and fallenness being essentially synonymous" (234). I know this is true for Milton, but is this true for all? I feel like the essay is harsh on women, and I can't tell if it is this way simply because Milton's treatment of women in Paradise Lost. I feel like some sort of clarifier is needed here, because the argument loses me once the authors start comparing Victor and the creature to Eve. I understand there is a connection here, but they don't convince me with the evidence they present.
ReplyDeleteAlso, why are sex and death "complementary opposites"? For me, this is another instance where their argument is unclear, and I then cannot follow how this connects Victor to Eve.