Frankenstein reflecting Mary Sheley's values

Throughout the novel ?Frankenstein? the composer Mary Shelley unambiguously reflects her values as well as that of her society. The context in which it was composed exemplifies profound statements of Mary Shelley?s time. Initially, conceptions of man and the human race are characterized, distinguishing man as dominant over women, merely perceiving them as objects of man thus creating gender roles of the early eighteenth century. On the other hand we see perceptions of greed and obsessive behavior through the central characters Frankenstein and Walton who become driven by selfish desires. The influence of the development of science evidently caused a foremost impact upon Mary Shelley?s society therefore it became a primary theme during Frankenstein, particularly the ascendancy of science over nature. Nature becomes symbolism of the sublime while Mary Shelley?s conception of the negative consequences of science over nature becomes apparent. In addition we may distinguish science as a representation of man and nature as women, which was most likely a view determined by Shelley?s view of her mother and father since her mother was a feminist and father was a scientist.

Steel engraving (993 x 71mm) for frontispiece to t...

English: Portrait of Mary Shelley

Manuscript page from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Thus, Mary Shelly includes these ideas in Frankenstein making imperative statements as well as reflecting values due to the context it was written.

Through the focal characters of Frankenstein we gain an insight into the way in which Shelley perceived men through the influences of male role models in her life. Due to the death of Mary Shelley?s mother when Shelley was born, she would have had few female role models growing up, consequently we see the dominance of male characters in the novel with women characters contained in passive roles. Shelley was frequently surrounded by scientific philosophers, such as, Humphry Davy and Erasmus Darwin, both having insightful theories regarding creation. Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein are both...