Women in Frankenstein Essay Example for Free

Women in Frankenstein Essay In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley portrays all of her female characters from both positive and negative perspectives. Writing the novel in the early 19th century, Shelley addressed the common stereotypical view of women as inferior to men that society of the time held. Dominated by male narrators, the female’s perspective is ignored in the novel. By excluding the female’s perspective of Frankenstein, Shelley reinforces in the reader the message that society of the time attributed very little to women. In addition to that, the firm ideas that women should be dependent on males, to be taken care of and having little potential to achieve anything independently, resonates in several of her characters. Resonating with other characters, the readers are able to see that women are weak-minded, feeble characters who become easily influenced. This trend can be seen throughout Frankenstein with characters such as Caroline Beaufort, Elizabeth Lavenza, and Justine Moritz, who all played less substantial roles compared to the males in the story. Shelley portrays the persistent feminine strength in her female characters through the small triumphs of Caroline Beaufort, Elizabeth Lavenza and Justine Moritz, however Shelley acknowledges how weak minded and dependent they become in the face of adversity and their lack of control over certain situations. Shelley is able to show that Caroline Beaufort is able to sustain herself financially, however Shelley brings the reader to the harsh reality that she must sooner or later be dependent on a man. Shelley states, â€Å"†¦there was no other prospect of support. But Caroline Beaufort possessed a mind of an uncommon mold, and her courage rose to support her in her adversity. † (p. 28). When Caroline’s father was on the brink of death, she contained herself emotionally and made ends meet in her household financially. However, Caroline’s momentum died out when the harsh reality became that she couldn’t support herself because of her grieving emotional state. Shelly continues, â€Å"This last blow came over her, and she knelt by Beaufort’s coffin weeping bitterly, when my father entered the chamber. He came like a protecting spirit to the poor girl, who committed herself to his care; and after the interment of his friend, he conducted her to Geneva, and placed her under the protection of a relation. Two years after this event Caroline became his wife. † (p. 28). Caroline’s independency and self sufficiency was a failure since she was â€Å"rescued† from her troubles by Alphonse Frankenstein. Shelley’s bigger message to the readers is that women need to be rescued by men because they are incapable of maintaining themselves and need to be dependent on someone else. Shelley is able to incorporate her time period’s stereotypical belief of women being possessions of men that need to be cared for in her example of Caroline Beaufort and Alphonse Frankenstein. Elizabeth Lavenza’s celestial beauty and enticing charm is what sets her apart from other women, however she is met by her death when she was unaware of Frankenstein’s mischievous secret. Elizabeth came into the Frankenstein household fully well aware of her expectations of fulfilling the position of Victor Frankenstein’s wife. Victor states, â€Å"No word, no expression could body forth the kind of relation in which she stood to me- more than sister, since till death she was to be mine only. † (p. 31). Victor expresses that his appreciation of Elizabeth is beyond what words can express, however it was his fault that Elizabeth met her untimely death. Victor’s creation took out his vengeance on poor Elizabeth, who was completely unaware of the knowledge that was being withheld from her. If Elizabeth had taken more of a firm initiative into Victor’s life outside of their relationship, there would not have been any discrepancies between the two. Victor swore to protect Elizabeth, ironically he was the cause of her death because he withheld so much from her. The lack of their bond and understanding contributed to this miscommunication that allowed for the monster to kill Elizabeth. Shelley utilizes this instance to show the readers how the fault of Victor Frankenstein directly hurts Elizabeth Lavenza, which cost Elizabeth, her life. Justine Moritz remained strong in the arms of controversy, but due to her weak-minded mentality she was thrusted into her own downfall. Moritz remained her firm stance on her innocence and she was firm on her beliefs. Her determination and persistence prompted her to gather witnesses in her defense to prove her innocence. She states, â€Å"I beg permission to have a few witnesses examined concerning my character, and if their testimony shall not overweigh my supposed guilt, I must be condemned although I would pledge my salvation on my innocence. † (p. 79). Being the strong and independent minded thinker that Moritz was, she was hoaxed into giving a false guilty plead. Moritz was forced to give a plead when the judicial authorities threatened her salvation, and being belittled forced her to give that statement. Victor stated, â€Å"The person to whom I addressed myself added that Justine had already confessed her guilt. †(p. 81). Victor had the opportunity to save the woman’s life, however it was his hesitation and her weak will that allowed her to succumb to death. Shelley was able to portray a spectrum of both positive and negative perspectives of women, however she is able to show that they are weak infantile beings because none of the women survive. The bigger message that Shelley is trying to send is that women lack the superior characteristics that allow men to be independent, self sufficient and non-dependent beings. Shelley’s significance of eliminating all her female characters surmounted to the feeling that society still wasn’t ready to allow women to reach their full potentials beside their indispensable characteristics. Being overshadowed by the society’s male dominated characteristic, women are set to the side to be onlookers when they should actually be the forerunners in this day and age.

government court cases :: essays research papers

Smith v. Allwright A resolution of the Democratic Party of Texas, a group that the Texas Supreme Court had deemed a "voluntary association," allowed only whites to participate in Democratic primary elections. S.S. Allwright was a county election official; he denied Lonnie E. Smith, a black man, the right to vote in the 1940 Texas Democratic primary. Question Presented Did denying blacks the right to vote in primary elections violate the Fifteenth Amendment? Conclusion The Court overruled its decision in Grovey v. Townsend (1935) and found the restrictions against blacks unconstitutional. Even though the Democratic Party was a voluntary organization, the fact that Texas statutes governed the selection of county-level party leaders, the party conducted primary elections under state statutory authority, and state courts were given exclusive original jurisdiction over contested elections, guaranteed for blacks the right to vote in primaries. Allwright engaged in state action abridging Smith's right to vote because of his race. A state cannot "permit a private organization to practice racial discrimination" in elections, argued Justice Reed. (The Court's decision in this matter was amended on June 12, 1944.) Buckley v. Valeo Facts of the Case In the wake of the Watergate affair, Congress attempted to ferret out corruption in political campaigns by restricting financial contributions to candidates. Among other things, the law set limits on the amount of money an individual could contribute to a single campaign and it required reporting of contributions above a certain threshold amount. The Federal Election Commission was created to enforce the statute Question Presented Did the limits placed on electoral expenditures by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, and related provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, violate the First Amendment's freedom of speech and association clauses? Conclusion In this complicated case, the Court arrived at two important conclusions. First, it held that restrictions on individual contributions to political campaigns and candidates did not violate the First Amendment since the limitations of the FECA enhance the "integrity of our system of representative democracy" by guarding against unscrupulous practices. Second, the Court found that governmental restriction of independent expenditures in campaigns, the limitation on expenditures by candidates from their own personal or family resources, and the limitation on total campaign expenditures did violate the First Amendment. Since these practices do not necessarily enhance the potential for corruption that individual contributions to candidates do, the Court found that restricting them did not serve a government interest great enough to warrant a curtailment on free speech and association.

Milgram and the Nazis

From the point of view of David who was unable to see the various available texts attempting to explain the atrocities of the holocaust, it may truly appear to him as if Germans had developed sadistic, twisted, abnormal personalities. He was an uninformed boy, if we would discuss to him the experiment of Milgram on obedience, perhaps it could open his mind a bit about the different factors that could have influenced the Germans to act in compliance the way they did in WWII. It is the case that Milgram conducted his research on obedience as a result of his own attempt to try and answer the cause of mayhem during the holocaust, at least to the extent that people complied to participate in such acts as merely following their orders. It appears that through the controversial Milgram experiments, Germans would have a warranted defense of merely being compliant to instructions being given out by an authority. Milgram himself did not want to make it look as if the Nazis, including Germans who aided in execution of Jews in World War Two were merely being obedient; he accepts the fact that there was an anti-Semite ideological indoctrination in play as well. Milgram’s experiment included an accomplice participant in the form of the learner, a typically Norman person randomly invited and always gets to become the teacher, and Milgram’s assistant as the experimenter. The teacher is tasked to teach the learner and whenever the latter makes a mistake he is to be administered with an electric shock that ranged from low to dangerous levels. Every time the learner commits an error, the voltage would be increased, during such increase, the learner would demonstrate suffering from pain, on later forms of the experiment, even mentioning a heart condition, pleading for the whole thing to stop (all pretend). One would think that the teachers would refuse at the onset of hearing the learner being harmed and wanting to quit. However, with the right amount of push, and command of the experimenter, 65% of the participants continued with the experiment up to the very last voltage range. Milgram’s study though was seen to be somewhat unethical, proved to be a legitimate way of explaining the pressure and high degree of compliance to a perceived higher authority. This would easily debunk the answer of David, in such a way that we could not simply assume that Germans have become or were evil people who complied because they were sadistic. Rather it is the better explanation to see that participants from everyday walks of life can act to commit evil things under certain conditions as a way of complying to orders. In a sense that what happened during the Holocaust was not committed by monsters in the form of Germans, but rather by people who were ordered to act out the wishes of a monstrous authority in form of Hitler. (Milgram, 1974) Hitler was considered a legitimate source of power and thus obedience was perceived to be the necessary response to his orders; despite these people possibly feeling stressed and personally not desiring to act in such ways. They were led to believe that it is what it is, a following of a command that was given to them as an imperative form of compliance. The participation of Germans in the execution of innocent Jews is indeed brutal to say the least, but Milgram offers through his research an explanation, in which we are able to see that these people acted as a result of situational pressure not because they had an evil character per se. They are ordinary people led to commit evil acts, although a choice was always present, it showed that the probability of defiance begin to deteriorate after adhering to a command during the initial phase. Yes, some German soldiers refused to follow the orders, but it was a significantly low percentage and prior to the actual atrocities. Non-compliance also meant being punished, thus most of Germans had to act in the way they did. David’s answer is weak. Hitler used his position to manipulate ordinary men and women to act on evil, he’s the twisted fellow, there’s no need to generalize. References: Milgram, S. (1974), Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View, New York: Harper and Row.

A Thousands Splendid Suns Book Review Essay - 525 Words

â€Å"A Thousand Splendid Suns† by Khaled Hosseini was an amazing book to read. The book keeps you interested and wanting to keep reading to find out what happens next. The story is set in Afghanistan and tells the story of different families’ experiences during the war specifically Mariam, Rasheed, and Laila. A reoccurring thought throughout the book was that women had little or no power in the Afghan society and that they were mere objects in the eyes of men. â€Å"A Thousands Splendid Suns† by Khaled Hosseini, had many examples that showed that women did not have any power in the Afghan society. For example, the book mentioned a couple times when women and young girls were forced to marry men that were much older than they were and men that†¦show more content†¦A similar instance was with Laila after her family was killed and she was forced to either marry Rasheed or be forced out on her own during the war, giving her no choice but to marry him at a y oung age. The fact that these women and or young girls were forced to marry these older men without a choice shows that they did not have much power in the Afghan society during this time. Another point in the story that shows that women did not have much power in the Afghan society is when Laila and Mariam tried to run away from Kabul, but could not travel alone and need a man to travel with them. Laila says that â€Å"The Supreme Court under Rabbani was filled now with hardliner mullahs who did away with the communist era decrees that empowered women and instead passed rulings based on Shari’a strict Islamic laws that ordered women to cover , forbade their travel without a male relative, punished adultery with stoning†(Page 260). Women during this time had little to no power with the new â€Å"Islamic State of Afghanistan and had to follow strict laws, giving them little to no power to do anything alone, like travel. When the Taliban took over Afghanistan they made strict laws, specifically with the story setting was for the members of Kabul and even stricter laws for the women of this city like Mariam and Laila. Women were seen as objects of theirShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of A Thousand Splendid Suns1570 Words   |  7 Pages A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is a powerful and moving piece of fiction literature. Khaled Hosseini, born in the city of Kabul in 1965, is a successful author and is skilled â€Å"in pulling his readers’ heartstrings†. The title of this 367-page novel derived from the poem â€Å"Kabul† by the 17th-century Persian writer Saib-e-Tabrizi. It was published in 2007 by the Penguin Group (Monteiro). A Thousand Splendid Suns is a heart wrenching story, creating a picture of patriarchal despotismRead More1000 Splendid suns1913 Words   |  8 Pages A Thousand Splendid Suns Research Paper The People of Afghanistan have struggled with invaders in there country for many decades. 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Khaled Hosseini and his novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, showsRead MoreA Thousand Splendid Suns2892 Words   |  12 Pages               A  Thousand  Splendid  Suns  Ã‚   Theme  Analysis  Lesson      Subject:  English  Language  Arts   Grades:  9†12   Timeframe:  Four  45  minute  sessions         Student  Outreach  for  Shelters  (SOS)  Program         Overview   This  lesson  is  designed  to  deepen  students’  analysis  of  the  novel  A   Thousand  Splendid  Suns.  Ã‚  In  addition,  this  lesson  is  designed  to  provide   educators  with  a  core  novel  connection  to  the  shelter  outreach  themes  of   the  Khaled  Hosseini  Foundation  SOS  program.   Preparation   Read MoreOppression of Women in Afghanistan in the Text Aa Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini1141 Words   |  5 Pagesaspects of society we do not normally consider. To what extent do you agree with this view? â€Å"One in every Three Afghan women experience physical, psychological or sexual violence†. This a quote referenced from Harvey Thompsons book review of the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini reveals in his novel an aspect of society we do not normally consider. That aspect of society we do not normally consider. That aspect is the systematic oppression of women in Afghan societyRead MoreA Thousand Splendid Suns: Analysis1447 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å" Nana said, ‘Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. You remember that Mariam† (Hosseini 7). In this passage from A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam’s mother explains to her what her father is really like. Through the begging of this novel, Mariam sees her father, Jalil, as the better parent and views her mother as the more strict one. Nana isn’t fond of Jalil because after he had got her pregnant, he deniedRead MoreThe Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini977 Words   |  4 Pagesand released his book called â€Å"The Kite Runner†. The book opened to widespread critical acclaim and strong commercial success worldwide. And for this kind of novel he received Alex Award, Boeke Prize, ALA Notable Book and a lot of other prestigious awards. He has then authored several other books in his career. There was no turning back for Khaled Hosseini after his first breakthrough because he yet again produced a masterpiece in 2007 with the book â€Å"A Thousand Splendid Suns†. The book has been his mostRead MoreThe Transformation Of War Book2165 Words   |  9 PagesI . Main Thesis Martin van Creveld wrote The Transformation of War book in 1991 when he detailed a predictive hypothesis about the changing character of war into what he called ?Nontrinitarian War. There were conflicts arise as intrastate wars and were not based on the simplified version of Clausewitz?s ?remarkable trinity? of government, people and military forces (Van Creveld, 1991, pg. 49). In his book, Van Creveld offers an account of warfare in the previous millennium and suggests what the futureRead MorePersonal Project4460 Words   |  18 PagesPersonal Project: Book Review Blog - Phase 4 Searage Arabi 10A Supervisor: Miss Oznur Australian International Academy Tables of Contexts Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦................†¦.. Page 3. About My Personal Project †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Page 3. Area Of Interaction (AOI) Used †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Page 4. Plan Layout †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Page 4. Summary †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Read MoreTess of the DUrbervilles5394 Words   |  22 Pages3.62 average rating, 3,301 reviews Tess of the DUrbervilles Quotes (showing 1-50 of 88) â€Å"A strong woman who recklessly throws away her strength, she is worse than a weak woman who has never had any strength to throw away.† ― Thomas Hardy, Tess of the DUrbervilles tags: strength, woman â€Å"Did you say the stars were worlds, Tess? Yes. All like ours? I dont know, but I think so. They sometimes seem to be like the apples on our stubbard-tree. Most of them splendid and sound - a few blightedRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book And The Mountains Echoed By Khaled Hosseini2562 Words   |  11 PagesAbstract The objective of this thesis is to review the book ‘And the mountains echoed’ by Khaled Hosseini. This thesis will deal with the characters and the emotions they portray throughout the book. The book was published in 2013 and received a favourable response overall. It later on became a bestseller like the author’s other two books: ‘The kite runner’ and ‘A thousand splendid suns’. Within a short span of 5 months, it sold over 3 million copies. Being his pattern, Hosseini drew on his