Milton and Shelley,The Proto-Feminists Mary Wollenstone Shelley, Mother of Gothic Romance, wrote the shell shocking tale of Frankenstein. A novel that changed the way critics viewed Enlightenment values, theories, and discoveries. Setting this thrilling tale in the Victorian Age, Shelley uses methods to criticize the way women and their roles were viewed. Mary Shelley’s novel and another lambasting tale, Paradise Lost, share more than just direct references, but the same ideal premise towards a woman’s role in society and it’s twisted culture. Milton introduces Eve into Paradise Lost in Book IV of his series. She is sent by God to be Adam’s companion, “Mother of human race” (475). Immediately, she is thrown into the typical gender role of
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As a young woman, Shelley was intrigued, tempted by a married man. When she chose to marry Percy Bysshe Shelley, an English Poet, she is disowned by her father. She places herself in the text as Frankenstein’s creature. The creature like Shelley is abandoned by his creator. Milton tells how Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit, thus betraying her father’s commands. Both Shelley and Milton reveal the double standard towards women and their “sins”. In the Victorian Age, if a woman commits adultery she would be condemned instantly. Females were forced to own the title of adulteress, and grounds for divorce were immediate. Whereas a man could commit the same crime, and his spouse had no right to divorce. Shelley and Milton highlight society’s double standards on female sin deep in the texts of both their novels.
“Proto-Feminist”, a term applied to distinguish modern feminist concepts in a subject. It is seen throughout both novels that Shelley and Milton share the same proto-feminist ideas and material. In the story of Victor Frankenstein and his creation, John Milton’s influence is seen throughout the work. Shelley writes, "I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam"
As a young woman, Shelley was intrigued, tempted by a married man. When she chose to marry Percy Bysshe Shelley, an English Poet, she is disowned by her father. She places herself in the text as Frankenstein’s creature. The creature like Shelley is abandoned by his creator. Milton tells how Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit, thus betraying her father’s commands. Both Shelley and Milton reveal the double standard towards women and their “sins”. In the Victorian Age, if a woman commits adultery she would be condemned instantly. Females were forced to own the title of adulteress, and grounds for divorce were immediate. Whereas a man could commit the same crime, and his spouse had no right to divorce. Shelley and Milton highlight society’s double standards on female sin deep in the texts of both their novels.
“Proto-Feminist”, a term applied to distinguish modern feminist concepts in a subject. It is seen throughout both novels that Shelley and Milton share the same proto-feminist ideas and material. In the story of Victor Frankenstein and his creation, John Milton’s influence is seen throughout the work. Shelley writes, "I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam"