Essay Example on Commodification of Females within Mary Shelley's

Commodification of Females within Mary Shelley's Frankenstein European Females within the eighteenth century were constantly objectified by the male dominated society In Frankenstein Elizabeth Lavenza is the adopted cousin of the Frankensteins and is used for Victor s companionship and pleasure The female monster who is never created by Victor is used as a bribe for the abandonment of destruction but also as a way for the monster to have someone to fulfill his personal needs Safie is used as an object for the regainment of the undeserved freedom that her father seeks and what the monster desires but cannot achieve When viewed from a feminist lens Mary Shelley s Frankenstein is a gothic novel in which commodification of women as objects belonging to male figures is a central topic Elizabeth Lavenza is a woman who is constantly commodified throughout Shelley s novel Elizabeth is objectified by Shelley as an object of the Frankenstein s since she is only deliberated in terms of her significance to them To Victor Elizabeth is the beautiful and adored companion of all his occupations and pleasures mine mine to protect love and cherish since till death she was to be mine only 37 Never within the chapters is it discussed about how Elizabeth feels about exposed and forced to a new family and home To Caroline Frankenstein Elizabeth is a pretty present for my Victor 37 The objectification by Caroline Frankenstein is extremely telling as Caroline is directly comparing Elizabeth to an object that is defined in and of itself as an value for others to gain pleasure from Through this commodification Elizabeth who is without her own feelings is made into an object for the Frankensteins to revere and esteem over Despite her objectification by the Frankensteins in the novel she is very loving and caring towards everyone Because of the constant love and care that Elizabeth provides the commodification that is brought upon her is partly her own fault Elizabeth s inability to defend herself in crucial situations leads Victor and the Frankensteins to constantly see her as a mere object of his ownership and pleasure For example when Caroline declares that Victor and Elizabeth will be married Elizabeth never states her opinion and lets Caroline decide her future 

The female monster is a character that is commodified by the the societal reject known as the monster as an object that will ensure his euphoria and jubilation Her entire existence is morphed into an object for the pleasure of the monster The monster demands you Victor must create a female for me with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being 147 The way the monster describes her as necessary for my being is very telling towards the attitudes of the dominant male figures in society They are very selfish when discussing the females thus creating an image of perfect objects that obey and listen Shelley uses these words to show the monster herself does not matter only the companionship that she will provide for the monster She is also commodified as a bribe A bribe in which the monster will abandon the violence and destruction he is causing in the world of Victor Frankenstein if Victor makes him a female Thus making the female a object of peace as well as companionship Safie is a character who is commodified by Shelley as a token of negotiation not only through the concrete agreement between Felix and Safie s father but also the desire of acceptance of the monster from the DeLacey family In the gothic novel Safie is used by her father as a reward for his freedom from prison but really his freedom from the rejection of his European identity Safie's father promises