The Idea of Feminism and the Discovery of the Self Beyond Gender Constructs in Frankenstein and the Awakening

Any attempt to present a baseline representation of a conunon basis of all feminisms may start with the statement that feminisms trouble themselves with women's subordinate status in society and with prejudice faced by women because of their sex. Moreover, one could claim that all feminists call for changes in economic, political, social, or cultural order to decrease and ultimately overcome this discrimination against women. When the term 'feminist text' comes to judgment concerning literature, we typically think of a novel with a strong female lead. The novels, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Awakening by Kate Chopin connect to the idea of feminism as how they contrast both sides of gender ideologies; therefore, both authors reinforce the struggles of woman that is prevalent in mainstream society.

The Feminist Literary Theory, the feminist lens provides the reader with an objective view that mirror relative roles of women in society to novels. The feminist lens takes a new Obrero 2 abstract view on how novels can be portrayed. In the novel of Frankenstein, men are portrayed as being 'outside of the home,' as public servants such as Alphonse Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein as a scientist, merchants such as Clerval and his father, or Walton as an explorer. While women are portrayed as being 'confined to the home.' This relationship directly affects male characters because they are being separated from the domestic realm of women. For example, Victor cannot be a scientist and love Elizabeth at the same time and this lack of love leads to Victor's downfall. If Victor cannot accept Elizabeth's love, he cannot give out himself which causes the monster to crave affection from Victor. Shelley demonstrates that without feminist qualities or characters to care for other male characters, the male character will fail. Masculinity is possessed through masculine traits one displays. The masculine traits are constituted by history because of general roles males have had in the past. Masculinity is commonly associated with males because they are generally the ones that display it. Likewise, femininity is possessed by one having feminine traits, and commonly these people are women! females. Through literature and stereotypes of the past of humanity, femininity is associated with being weaker. 

Patriarchy is a system of society or government in which men hold power and women are largely excluded from it. Patriarchy works to keep men and women in traditional gender roles, where men are dominant, and women are viewed as the weaker sex. Victor viewed Elizabeth as his own because she is viewed to be the weaker gender stating, 'I looked upon Elizabeth as mine'. Patriarchy forces women to believe they need the help of a man to survive. Frankenstein demonstrates the role of women in the 18th and 19th-century play making the story dominated by male roles. By making the role of women in the story extremely Obrero 3 limited, Shelly shows the oppression of females and how they are unable to contribute to society because of male dominance established by patriarchy. Victor Frankenstein's fiancee, Elizabeth, is a marginal character. Therefore she is peripheral to the novel's main plot lines. As an illustration of this absence/presence idea, we look at the passage when Frankenstein, in response to the creature's request, has begun to make the creature a female companion. The creature has come to Victor and said, 'You must create a female for me, with whom I can live in the interchange of those sympathies necessary for my being. This you alone can do; and I demand it of you as a right which you must not refuse to concede'. As Frankenstein begins the process of producing the female monster, he imagines what will occur when this female comes into life: She who, in all probability, was to become a thinking and reasoning animal, might refuse to comply with a compact made before her creation. They might even hate each other; the creature who already lived loathed his own deformity, and might he not conceive a greater abhorrence for it when it came before his eyes in the female form? She also might turn with disgust from him to the superior beauty of man; she might quit him, and he be again alone, exasperated by the fresh provocation by being deserted by one of his own species. Victor Frankenstein rejects the creature's plan because he fears that the female monster would have autonomy, have her way of thinking, and may decide to breed.

The novel, 'The Awakening,' by Kate Chopin was published in 1899 and stirred a great deal of controversy in contemporary society. Centred on the main character of Edna Pontellier, a Obrero 4 woman who decided to leave her partner and start an affair with another man, the novel tackles sensitive issues in late nineteenth century Southern society such as divorce, social norms, and sexual freedom for women. The novel is a collection of actions aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. In The Awakening, Edna Pontellier undergoes many changes. She discovers a sense of independence and shows this through her emotions and rebellion against society. Edna's life is altered so drastically that she realizes that she can no longer live a lie, playing the role of mother-woman. Evidence of feminism is shown in throughout the novel, such as Edna being treated as personal property, shown as an irresponsible mother, and the beginning of her awakening. The first evidence that portrays feminism is when Mr. Pontellier sees that his wife has been out in the sun a while, he states, 'You are burnt beyond recognition,' … looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage'. When Leonce looks at his sunburned wife as a piece of his property that has been damaged, he is showing male chauvinism at its height. According to him, she has no personal self-fulfillment and no independence, and must only live for him. Secondly, Edna is recognized to be an irresponsible mother, when Mr. Pontellier 'reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual neglect of the children' Leonce believes that Edna is not fulfilling her womanly tasks and is an unreliable mother. He believes females must tend to their children, household chores, and their spouses alonehen Edna starts to show signs of independence, he erupts with frustration and anger. The beginning of Edna's Awakening occurred dnring her decision of going out into the ocean and claimed that 'A feeling of exultation overtook her, as if Obrero 5 some power of significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far out, where no woman had swum before'. Edna's plunge into the deep ocean waves at night after the Ratignolle's party seems a stroke of independence. She presents her new ability in front of her colleagues and tries it on her own. Everyone watches her swim into new, foreign territory in the water, and also in her soul, for she is now awakening to her freedom and female capabilities, aside from simply cleaning, cooking, and child-rearing.

Mary Shelley and Kate Chopin are two authors who fight for femininity but presented it uniquely. Mary Shelley shows her creativity and writing genius through the novel, Frankenstein. Many people read the novel Frankenstein knowing the past of the author, Mary Shelley. Shelley's mother was an advocate for women's rights, and by knowing this, men readers take on the novel with a feminists outlook. Femininity was so constrained during the period which the book was written, Shelley decided to express herself and feminine aspects as much as she could while writing Frankenstein. With a father who strictly believed in the equality of both sexes and a mother who was a huge indicator for rights, Mary Shelley took a lot of pride in the 'intellectual legacy' she inherited from her parents. However, the female characters in her novel, Frankenstein, makes people question whether she was a feminist. Mary Shelley stood out in an age where women were valued for their dowries and their fertility. She rebelled against conventions, followed her heart and supported herself financially by writing. Mary Shelley is an inspiring woman because she was a feminist before the word and movement even existed. On the other hand, Kate Chopin possessed a special spark that transcends time, and she was 43 when she Obrero 6 was published for the first time. Being a female writer in the 1800s is enough of a daunting task and to add that Chopin was published in her lifetime is an amazing accomplishment. Kate Chopin is an astonishing writer that is known because of the important issues that are incorporated in her writing such as, racism, sexism, and feminism. Kate Chopin is admired for her bravery in writing about issues she believed in during a time that people continuously turned their cheek to injustices against innocent people. Kate Chopin is most known in the literary world of today as the author of the novel The Awakening. Highly provocative in its time, The Awakening deals with the condition of the nineteenth-century woman in marriage and has been newly rediscovered and identified as an overtly feminist text for these same reasons. She uses literary individuality and originality and, ultimately, speaks in a positively feminist voice. She examines and explains what she saw in life for women, and in doing so, undermines the very male French tradition from within which she writes.

In conclusion, Mary Shelley and Kate Chopin uniquely displayed their perspective of feminism through their novels, Frankenstein and The Awakening. The two books where the interests of women and femininity are the alpha and the omega of the story, but it also deals explicitly with stories, with the participation of women. The novel, Frankenstein does not display feminism as other novels which promote feminism. Feminism is supported in Frankenstein through the lack of female characters and the abundance of male characters. Elizabeth, one of the main female character in the novel, exemplifies the feminism in the story and brings out feminism in other characters as well. When the creatures kill Elizabeth, Victor is in confusion as Obrero 7 he states, 'Could I behold this and live?'. This shows how ifthere is not a female character, they will not be able to carry on properly and be emotionally grounded. On the contrary, Edna's transformation is not entirely within her control, and this naturalistic element allows a strong feminist reading of The Awakening. The importance of imagery also reveals a novel centred on feminism and the discovery of sensuality and the self beyond gender constructs. Chopin is perhaps posing a challenge to consider the humanity question in illustrating the journey an individual must take to recognize the self in a society in which he or she does not fit. The authors of both novels experienced and have identified the lack of recognition of women in reality and fiction. Thinking about the absence and the self-discovery of a woman in this way helps us to see that the novel is not fundamentally about finding answers. Though, it is about asking various sorts of questions, such as the nature of society and creation, the power of the environment to shape character, and the relationships between men and women, individuals and society. Frankenstein and The Awakening take to light the numerous obstacles that were and still are, prominent in the world of women by intentionally describing them as something vulnerable, disposable, and secondary to men.