How to Conduct a Feminist Reading of Frankenstein

Author: Martin Munyao Muinde
Email: ephantusmartin@gmail.com

Introduction

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has been interpreted through multiple critical lenses, but feminist readings remain especially important for understanding its cultural, political, and literary significance. Published in 1818, the novel was written at a time when women’s voices were often excluded from intellectual and scientific discourse. Shelley, the daughter of feminist philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, embedded within her Gothic narrative subtle yet powerful critiques of patriarchal structures, gendered oppression, and the silencing of women in society. Conducting a feminist reading of Frankenstein requires examining how the text reflects the marginalization of female voices, the symbolic erasure of women’s roles in creation, and the broader anxieties surrounding gender and power in the nineteenth century. Such an approach not only deepens the interpretation of the novel but also highlights its enduring relevance to feminist theory and literary studies.

A feminist reading is not limited to identifying female characters in the text but instead involves uncovering the ideological structures that position women as secondary or silent. By analyzing Victor Frankenstein’s attempt to usurp female reproductive power, the absence of strong female voices, and the tragic fates of women in the story, one can recognize Shelley’s implicit critique of patriarchal authority. At the same time, a feminist reading also involves situating Shelley’s novel within its historical moment, where women writers often faced cultural limitations yet subverted them through literary creativity. This approach demonstrates that Frankenstein is not only a Gothic tale of ambition and horror but also a profound feminist text that interrogates the structures of gendered power.

Feminist Literary Criticism and Frankenstein

To conduct a feminist reading of Frankenstein, it is necessary to understand the foundation of feminist literary criticism. Feminist criticism investigates how literature reflects, reinforces, or resists patriarchal ideologies and how women’s experiences are represented or erased in texts. Scholars such as Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar in The Madwoman in the Attic (1979) argue that women writers of the nineteenth century often encoded feminist resistance into their works through themes of silence, repression, and rebellion. Within Frankenstein, Shelley presents a narrative where male authority dominates, and women are pushed to the margins of the story. A feminist approach seeks to bring these silences to light, asking why women’s voices are absent and how this absence contributes to the novel’s meaning.

From this perspective, the novel can be seen as both a product of and a response to its historical moment. Women in Shelley’s era had little access to scientific institutions or intellectual spaces, which were largely reserved for men. The fact that Victor Frankenstein creates life without women can therefore be read as a metaphor for the exclusion of women from the sciences and cultural authority. Feminist criticism highlights how this exclusion is not merely a detail of the plot but a central thematic concern. Shelley herself, writing as a young woman in a male-dominated literary circle, was acutely aware of the constraints placed upon female voices, and her novel both reflects and resists those constraints.

The Erasure of Female Creation and Reproductive Power

One of the most striking aspects of Frankenstein is the erasure of the female role in creation. Victor Frankenstein’s decision to bypass natural reproduction by creating life in a laboratory is a symbolic usurpation of female power. In traditional human experience, women are the bearers of life, yet Shelley presents a world where men attempt to dominate even this most fundamental of roles. As feminist scholar Anne Mellor (1988) argues, Victor’s experiment can be seen as a patriarchal attempt to eliminate women from the process of creation altogether. His act of “playing God” reveals not only scientific ambition but also deep cultural anxieties about the place of women in society.

This erasure is further emphasized when Victor destroys the female creature he had begun to construct. Fearing that she might have her own agency or reproduce in ways he cannot control, Victor eliminates the possibility of female reproduction entirely. The destruction of the female creature symbolizes patriarchal fears of women’s autonomy and sexuality. A feminist reading recognizes that the absence of women from the act of creation is not incidental but fundamental to the novel’s critique of male authority. Shelley, aware of her mother Wollstonecraft’s arguments about women’s rights and the dangers of patriarchal domination, uses Victor’s actions to dramatize the consequences of excluding women from creative and social power.

The Silencing of Women in the Narrative

Another significant element in a feminist reading of Frankenstein is the silencing of female voices throughout the novel. Characters such as Elizabeth Lavenza, Justine Moritz, and Caroline Beaufort play secondary roles, often defined by their relationships to men rather than by independent identities. Elizabeth, though portrayed as loving and virtuous, is largely voiceless, existing mainly as an object of Victor’s affection and ultimately becoming a victim of his choices. Similarly, Justine Moritz is wrongly accused of murder and executed, her defense unheard and her innocence disregarded. These women embody the systemic silencing of female voices in a patriarchal society, where women are denied agency and justice.

From a feminist perspective, these silences are not merely narrative omissions but deliberate reflections of cultural reality. Shelley demonstrates that women often bear the consequences of male ambition and authority without being allowed to shape their own destinies. The fact that the narrative itself is structured through male voices—Robert Walton’s letters, Victor’s story, and even the Creature’s tale—reinforces the exclusion of women from speaking for themselves. A feminist reading thus exposes how Shelley uses silence to highlight the erasure of women, urging readers to recognize the profound injustices embedded within both society and storytelling itself.

The Creature as a Feminist Symbol

A feminist reading of Frankenstein also considers how the Creature himself can be interpreted as a symbol of marginalized voices. Though not female, the Creature experiences rejection, isolation, and voicelessness that mirror the social position of women in Shelley’s time. His eloquent pleas for companionship and recognition echo the struggles of those excluded from dominant cultural narratives. Moreover, the Creature’s demand for a female companion emphasizes the importance of women’s roles in shaping identity and belonging. Victor’s refusal to create a female counterpart not only denies the Creature companionship but also reflects patriarchal fears of female autonomy.

The Creature’s plight resonates with feminist themes because it exposes the consequences of exclusion and neglect. Just as women in Shelley’s era were denied participation in public life, the Creature is denied recognition as fully human. Both are rendered voiceless by systems of power that refuse to acknowledge their worth. Feminist criticism highlights how Shelley’s portrayal of the Creature’s suffering parallels the silenced experiences of women, suggesting that monstrosity is not inherent but socially constructed through rejection and marginalization. In this way, the Creature functions as a powerful metaphor for feminist concerns about identity, power, and otherness.

Mary Shelley’s Feminist Context

To fully understand how to conduct a feminist reading of Frankenstein, it is essential to situate the novel within Mary Shelley’s own feminist context. As the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Shelley inherited a legacy of feminist thought. Wollstonecraft argued for women’s education and independence, criticizing the patriarchal structures that confined women to domestic roles. Shelley’s novel, though not overtly political, engages with these feminist concerns through its themes of creation, authority, and silencing. By writing a Gothic novel that critiques male ambition and the exclusion of women, Shelley asserts her own place in a literary tradition dominated by men.

Furthermore, Shelley’s act of authorship itself was a feminist intervention. At a time when women writers often faced ridicule or dismissal, Shelley published a work that has endured as one of the most significant novels of the nineteenth century. The fact that Frankenstein continues to be studied, adapted, and reinterpreted demonstrates how Shelley defied cultural limitations. A feminist reading therefore involves not only analyzing the content of the novel but also recognizing the significance of its authorship. Shelley’s voice, shaped by feminist philosophy and personal struggle, permeates the narrative, making Frankenstein both a Gothic masterpiece and a feminist critique of patriarchal society.

Conclusion

Conducting a feminist reading of Frankenstein reveals the novel’s deep engagement with themes of gender, power, and exclusion. Through the erasure of female reproductive roles, the silencing of women’s voices, and the destruction of the female creature, Shelley critiques the patriarchal systems that marginalize women. At the same time, the Creature’s suffering serves as a metaphor for the consequences of exclusion, resonating with feminist concerns about identity and belonging. Situating the novel within Mary Shelley’s own feminist context further highlights its significance as both a personal and political text. Ultimately, a feminist reading allows us to see Frankenstein not only as a Gothic tale of ambition and tragedy but also as a profound commentary on the structures of power that continue to shape human experience. By foregrounding the silences and exclusions in the text, feminist criticism ensures that Shelley’s novel remains a vital work for discussions about gender, power, and justice.

References

Gilbert, S. M., & Gubar, S. (1979). The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. Yale University Press.

Mellor, A. K. (1988). Mary Shelley: Her Life, Her Fiction, Her Monsters. Routledge.

Shelley, M. (1818). Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones.

Wollstonecraft, M. (1792). A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Joseph Johnson.