Elizabeth the Archetypical Woman
After reading Shelley’s Frankenstein, many often wonder why the daughter of early feminist thinker Mary Wollstonecraft did not include any strong feminine roles in her novel. As to the most important female role in the novel, that can be argued, as I am sure Victor Frankenstein’s mother is of more importance to the story than her brief introductory anecdote and appearance in his dream makes her out to be; however, it is Victor’s playfellow and future wife Elizabeth Lavenza that receives the most attention throughout. Elizabeth is positioned opposite Victor as his love-interest and future wife, though she does not play a significant role in her actions or voice. Instead, Shelley portrays Elizabeth as what Beauvoir calls the “living enigma,” a myth from the male perspective. Elizabeth is not a strong and independent woman, rather a simple, bland character easy to overlook. It is obvious that Shelley means for Elizabeth to be this archetypical female character for readers to easily understand her role in the novel as that of Victor’s romantic “other.” Shelley does this on purpose, as to not only use Elizabeth as a motivation and prize for Victor’s actions- vengeful or otherwise- but also as a means to not distract readers from the important relationship in the novel- Frankenstein and his creation. Elizabeth must remain transparent in order to make room for Victor, and she must remain in the background of the novel- sometimes years- for him to finish his complicated duties. In this essay, I will be discussing how Shelley formulates Elizabeth for exactly this purpose.
Elizabeth’s formulation starts in the first chapter of the first volume, as a character in Victor’s history. He begins with her inclusion to the Frankenstein family after Victor’s aunt passes away, leaving Elizabeth Lavenza to Herr Frankenstein’s care. The language surrounding Elizabeth is riddled with an outside opinion on Elizabeth, that of Victor’s mother. Although Elizabeth is the subject, she is pushed to the side by Victor’s mother, the more important point of view according to Victor. Victor “often heard” his “mother say, that she was at that time the most beautiful child she had ever seen, and shewed signs even then of a gentle and affectionate dispostion” (19). It was “these indications, and a desire to bind as closely as possible the ties of domestic love” that “determined my mother to consider Elizabeth as my future wife” (19). Even in her introduction, Elizabeth is not the central focus of the paragraph.
Next, Victor himself describes Elizabeth as “docile and good tempered, yet gay and playful,” and that “although she was lively and animated, her feelings were strong and deep, and her disposition uncommonly affectionate” (19). He is proud of her mind as her “imagination was luxuriant” and her “capability of application” was “great,” though Victor does not support it (19). Instead, he cuts in halfway through describing her to point out their differences: “I delighted in investigating the facts relative to the actual world; she busied herself in following the aerial creations of the poets. The world was to me a secret… to her…a vacancy” (20). It seems Elizabeth is lacking with this vacancy. Shelley leaves a lot of room for interpretation with Elizabeth’s character with Victor’s generalities regarding her. Readers are not meant to look at Elizabeth the character with more interest than any interest Victor gives. Rather, Elizabeth’s role in the novel is simple- that of an attractive partner for Victor.
Elizabeth does not have many functions within the novel, either, outside of personally functioning as a motivation for Victor. After Victor’s mother passes away, Elizabeth takes care of little William, though readers see little evidence of this in the text. After William is murdered, Elizabeth acts as a tie to his home through her letters. Elizabeth’s voice in her letters is typical to the meek female characters portrayed, that of the worrying, always crying damsel: “Dear, Victor, I cannot conclude without again anxiously inquiring concerning your health… I cannot bear to think of the other side of the question; my tears already flow” (41). Elizabeth is a heroine by no standards, and her function extends little past that of concerned future wife.
Of the many myths concerning women, Beauvoir’s myth involving the “feminine “mystery”” is pertinent to Elizabeth’s role in Frankenstein (Norton 1268). Substantiated for the man who “does not understand” a woman, the “feminine mystery” is a happy “substitute” to an “objective resistance for a subjective deficiency of mind; instead of admitting his ignorance, he perceives the presence of a “mystery” outside himself (1268). In this way, the man not only flatters his vanity but also excuses his laziness in learning about his partner. Furthermore, “in the company of a living enigma man remains alone- alone with his dreams, his hopes, his fears, his love, his vanity” (1268). With Elizabeth in this role, Victor is able to leave her in one country to continue his studies in another, personally absolved of any guilt. More importantly, he is alone with his experiment, therefore absolving everyone else in the novel absolved of any guilt. Elizabeth remains innocent and uninvolved.
Shelley makes Elizabeth a bland enough character for readers to forget about as often as Victor does, in order to keep the focus on the tensions between Victor and the creature. Elizabeth’s role is so simple and small that she does not become a distraction to the important story at hand. It makes sense then, that Shelley would include such a transparent and simple female character in the novel. Elizabeth’s role is none other than Victor’s future partner. Her use to the novel is congruent with her use to Victor. It seems that the most important female role of the novel may not be a female at all; rather, a character with feminine traits. Either way, Shelley plays with the rules of sex and gender. Instead of introducing strong, female characters she introduces confused male characters with both masculine and feminine traits.
Diana JW.
ReplyDelete