"Elizabeth shone like a shrine-dedicated lamp in our peaceful home. Her sympathy was ours; her smile, her soft voice, the sweet glance of her celestial eyes, were ever there to bless and animate us. She was the living spirit of love to soften and attract: I might become sullen in my study, rough through the ardour of my nature, but that she was there subdue me to a semblance of her own gentleness." pg 20
There are so far three main women in the tale of Frankenstein. The first is his mother, Caroline. Caroline was described as the perfect mother, wife, and charitable women. She was compassionate, gentle, giving, and beautiful. Victor idolizes her. Caroline took pity and adopted Elizabeth, the girl described in the paragraph above. The praise showered on Elizabeth is lavish and extravagant. She is Victor's best friend and confidant, and sometimes it seems she may be a little bit more. However, when Caroline dies, she takes over to run the family affairs and almost becomes the new mother. The third woman, Justine, is a dearly loved girl who is taken in by the Frankensteins when her own mother dies. She is loved and considered a part of the family and another pseudo mother figure to the younger children like William. All three are described highly and reverently. They are clearly different, but Victor reveres them all with the same type of respect.
I got to wondering whether it was Mary Shelley's opinion of women leaking through a it into her main character's voice. Perhaps Shelley is a feminist and regards all women highly and that is why she includes such wonderful female characters in her story. I also wondered maybe Shelley had a deep love for her mother that was perhaps the inspiration for some of the female characters in the novel. For whatever reason, the female figures of Frankenstein's world are all similarly wonderful and idolized.
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