Frankenstein, Gender, and Mother Nature

Why did Mary Shelley create THE myth of modern science on June 16, 1816? This essay explores the autobiographical and scientific origins of Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, focusing on the ways in which the sexual division of labor in 19th Century Britain shaped the novel. Victor Frankenstein’s project – to have a baby without a woman (and thus eliminate the biological necessity for females) – points to the myriad ways in which the women in the novel, from Elizabeth Lavenza, Caroline Beaufort, and Justine Moritz to the female creature, are de-valued or destroyed. But in Mary’s feminist novel, Mother Nature fights back, killing Victor and transforming his creature into a monster. Shelley’s novel implicitly argues that human beings must co-operate with rather than dominate the natural order of reproduction.