Frankenstein's Monster or a Gay Cruise to the arctic
Artem Cherne
Core 3107
3.9.2014
Frankenstein’s Monster or A Gay Cruise to the Arctic
Though the critical interpretations and allegories of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein number in the hundreds, none stand in so stark a contrast with the prevailing zeitgeist of the time as Shelley’s treatment of the sexes. The books characters are predominantly male and they are all filled with passion, longing and even lust. None of it, unfortunately for women. Shelley’s curious choices of language when the men are describing their feelings toward, and impressions of, one another lead the modern reader (and perhaps even her contemporaries) to conclude that whether by accident or through meticulous planning, in her book Frankenstein, Shelley produced the first ever scifi gay adventure.
In his letters to his sister, Walton establishes himself as effeminate with homoerotic yearnings from the start:
“I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy; I have no friend Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment no one will endeavor to sustain me in my dejection...I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me; who’s eyes would reply to mine...gentle yet courageous, [who would] approve or amend my plans...I am too..impatient of difficulties...I greatly need a friend who would have affection for me to...regulate my mind.”
What Walton is describing, what he so desperately pines for, is a lover, not a friend. Those are not the qualities of a platonic companion, in fact, taken out of context completely they would be interpreted as the qualities one seeks in a husband or wife. Walton is characterizing himself as impatient,
with a mind that needs regulating by a more capable intellect: a classic (if sexist) portrayal of women in
Mary Shelley’s time, yet it’s not a woman Walton desires, it’s a man.
With the introduction of the emaciated Victor, Shelley
Core 3107
3.9.2014
Frankenstein’s Monster or A Gay Cruise to the Arctic
Though the critical interpretations and allegories of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein number in the hundreds, none stand in so stark a contrast with the prevailing zeitgeist of the time as Shelley’s treatment of the sexes. The books characters are predominantly male and they are all filled with passion, longing and even lust. None of it, unfortunately for women. Shelley’s curious choices of language when the men are describing their feelings toward, and impressions of, one another lead the modern reader (and perhaps even her contemporaries) to conclude that whether by accident or through meticulous planning, in her book Frankenstein, Shelley produced the first ever scifi gay adventure.
In his letters to his sister, Walton establishes himself as effeminate with homoerotic yearnings from the start:
“I have one want which I have never yet been able to satisfy; I have no friend Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment no one will endeavor to sustain me in my dejection...I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me; who’s eyes would reply to mine...gentle yet courageous, [who would] approve or amend my plans...I am too..impatient of difficulties...I greatly need a friend who would have affection for me to...regulate my mind.”
What Walton is describing, what he so desperately pines for, is a lover, not a friend. Those are not the qualities of a platonic companion, in fact, taken out of context completely they would be interpreted as the qualities one seeks in a husband or wife. Walton is characterizing himself as impatient,
with a mind that needs regulating by a more capable intellect: a classic (if sexist) portrayal of women in
Mary Shelley’s time, yet it’s not a woman Walton desires, it’s a man.
With the introduction of the emaciated Victor, Shelley