FREE ESSAY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF A MOTHER FIGURE IN FRANKENSTEIN

THE IMPORTANCE OF A MOTHER FIGURE IN FRANKENSTEIN

Schuyler Sokolow and Regan Walsh
1/5/00
Frankenstein Essay
The Importance of the Absence of a Mother Figure in Frankenstein 
Frankenstein can be read as a tale of what happens when a man tries to create a child
without a woman. It can, however, also be read as an account of a woman's anxieties and
insecurities about her own creative and reproductive capabilities. Mary Shelley, in the
development and education of the monster, discusses child development and education and
how the nurturing of a loving parent is extremely important in the moral development of
an individual. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley examines her own fears and thoughts about
pregnancy, childbirth, and child development. 
Pregnancy and childbirth, as well as death, was an important part of Mary Shelley's young
adult life. She had four children and a miscarriage that almost killed her all before the
age of twenty-five. Only one of her children, Percy Florence, survived to adulthood and
outlived her. In June of 1816, when she had the waking nightmare which became the factor
of the tale, she was only nineteen and had already had her first two children. Her first
child, Clara, was born prematurely on February 22, 1815, and died on March 6 of the same
year. Mary, as any woman would be, was devastated by this and took a long time to
recover. Mary's second child, William, was born on January 24, 1816. (William died of
malaria June 7,1819 .) The time that Mary had the idea for the story, her first child had
died and her second was only 6 months old. There is no doubt that she expected to be
pregnant again and about six months later she was. Pregnancy and childbearing was in the
front of Mary's mind at this point in her life. 
Frankenstein is one of the first stories that expresses the anxieties of pregnancy.
Obviously male writers avoided this topic and it was considered poor taste for a woman to
discuss it. Mary's focus on the birth process allowed men to understand female fears
about pregnancy and reassured women that they were not alone with their anxieties. The
story expresses Mary's deepest fears: What if my child is born deformed? Could I still
love it or would I wish it were dead? What if I can't love my child? Am I capable of
raising a healthy, normal child? Will my child die? Could I wish my own child to die?
Will my child kill me in childbirth? Mary was expressing her fears related to the death
of her first child, her ability to nurture, and the fact that her mother died having her.
All of this is expressed in Victor Frankenstein's complete failure in parenting. 
For approximately nine months Victor Frankenstein labored on the creation of his child.
Finally, he witnesses the birth: I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it
breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs. (Frankenstein, p.51). Instead
of reaching out to his child, Victor rushes out of the room, disgusted by the abnormality
of his creation. When the creature follows after him, Victor runs away in horror
completely abandoning his child. While creating his child, Victor never considered
whether this creature would even want to exist. He also didn't take enough care with the
creature's appearance. He could not take the time to make small parts so he created a
being of gigantic size. Victor never considered how such a creature would be able to
exist with human beings. He did not take time with the features either and created a
being with a horrifying appearance. Unable to accept his creation, Victor abandons his
child and all parental responsibility. He even wishes that his child were dead. I gnashed
my teeth, my eyes became inflamed, and I ardently wished to extinguish that life which I
had so thoughtlessly bestowed (Frankenstein, p.87)
From the moment of the creature's birth, Victor thought of it as a demon and abused it.
Frankenstein represents the classic case of an abused and neglected child growing up to
be an abuser. The monster's first murder victim is a small child. As Mary Shelley wrote
the novel, she began to focus more on the idea of the monster being an abandoned child.
The creature realizes that a child that is deprived of a loving family becomes a monster.
The creature repeatedly insists that he was born good but was compelled by others to do
evil. Mary Shelley is suggesting that a rejected and un-mothered child can become a
killer, especially a killer of its own family. 
Even without the proper nurturing the creature manages to get an education. Mary sides
with nurture in the development of a child needing nurture vs. nature. It is only later
through contact with society that the creature develops a consciousness and realizes that
he is a societal outcast. The creature obtains a moral and intellectual education through
his observation of the DeLacey family, who lived in the cottage adjoining his hovel. The
DeLacey's provide the creature with an example of a kind, loving family. They stimulate
his emotions and inspire him to do good deeds for others (he secretly collects firewood
for the family). Through the creature's observation of the DeLacey family, the creature
is also stimulated intellectually and is introduced to spoken and written language. He
learns about human virtue, heroism, and civil justice, corruption and the decline of
empires, the origins of good and evil as well as the roles of the sexes, and the range of
emotions, from love to depression and despair, all from books he finds at the DeLacey's.
"I learned that the possessions most esteemed by your fellow-creatures were, high and
unsullied descent united with riches...but...I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of
property. I was, besides, endowed with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome;...When
I looked around, I saw and heard of none like me... I cannot describe to you the agony
that these reflections inflicted upon me; I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only
increased with knowledge. Oh, that I had ever remained in my native wood, nor known or
felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat!" (Frankenstein, p.115). 
After being rejected by Victor Frankenstein, his father, the DeLacey family, and society,
the creature abandons all good and lives out a course of vengeance against Frankenstein.
He murders those close to Frankenstein and eventually leads Victor on a journey that will
destroy both of them. Even though the creature received a moral and intellectual
education, the lack of a nurturing and loving parent as well as companionship and
acceptance from society led him to reject morality and instead destroy. The creature as
well as the reader realized that he would have been better off without the education. If
he wasn't going to have love and acceptance, it would have probably been best for him to
live in an animal like state without a developed consciousness that made him realize how
alone he was. Victor never realizes that his lack of parental love and guidance is what
led to the creature's murderous path. He only felt guilt from having created the
creature. If Victor had only been a loving parent, the creature could have probably
overcome all other obstacles and remained moral. 
One way to read Frankenstein is as an articulation of a woman's fear of pregnancy,
childbirth, and her ability to raise and educate a child properly. This is especially
poignant due to the fact that Mary was so young and had already experienced two
pregnancies as well as the death of a child. What Mary may have been questioning through
her novel is whether a child whose fundamental experiences are of pain rather then
pleasure will ever develop a healthy moral sense and a normal personality.