Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Frankenstein: A Feminist Interpretation Of Gender Construction, Jackie Docka

Augsburg Honors Review

There is a long history of exploring Frankenstein through a feminist lens. A historical examination that explores Mary Shelley’s life and the literature that influenced her writing is key to understanding the feminist elements of Frankenstein. Additionally, this paper will call upon Judith Butler’s concept of gender performativity to examine the ways in which Victor’s monster constructs his own gender identity based upon his creator’s own flawed masculinity. Victor’s gender expression is defined by the time period in which he was created and also by the masculine literature of the time. While masculine literature helped to define both the monster’s …