It makes sense to think about the female characters in Frankenstein when reading this week’s pieces, however some concepts from Halberstam’s biography and “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” prove interesting when applied to Victor Frankenstein’s creation.
For example, Norton mentions the idea of women being able to, “access masculinity as well, and they can do so without surgically altering their bodies” (Norton 2635). It is fascinating to mull the groundbreaking science involved in Shelley’s “creation.” How far ahead of her time was she, that men and women are now able to serve as their own Frankenstein: with the financial resources available, all modern humans can explore surgically altering their own sexuality.
Halberstam’s piece led me to question the creature’s sexuality. The obvious question that lingers is the true sex of the creature: we can safely assume that the creature is masculine, but we do not know of the true functionality of his sexuality. On page 97, the creature states his attraction to young women, but appears to comprehend the fact that such a beautiful, young woman would not want to engage with him because of the “sanguinary laws of man.”
The creature then explains, “You must create a female for me, with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being.” Does the creature know what those sympathies are? We know he has independently become quite learned, but has he been able to discern the complex issues surrounding sexuality?
Halberstam also brings up the idea of ugliness and female masculinity that might be interesting to discuss within our gathered ideals of ugliness and male masculinity (2650-2651)). Don’t some of these traits relate to the description of the creature, especially the quote from Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White. Assuredly, these are descriptions supporting a thesis about female beauty, but can they be applied - in a human way - to men? Indeed, had the creature possessed more facial beauty, would he not have been revered as a superhuman man? He had great intellect and power; it was his mug - his “yellow skin” that “scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath” that got him in trouble. Similarly, he had “hair of a lustrous black,” like Collins’ Marian with her “thick, coal-black hair” (Shelley 34).
Of course, this passage deals with lesbian ideals of beauty and the ways they are interpreted by men, but it may illustrate a greater human understanding - or, misunderstanding - of “beauty” and “ugliness.”
As Victor himself said, “I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! - Great God!” (34).
No comments:
Post a Comment