An Ecofeminist Analysis Of Frankenstein

Published in1813, Frankenstein is a meaningful western literary work inEngland. This work is not only the first work of Mary Shelley, but also the firstscience fiction in the world. The work severely criticizes the male-dominated culturewith strong personal emotion. Moreover, Frankenstein is a gothic story reflectingMary Shelley’s ecofeminist consciousness. This work proposes a new insight foranalyzing the relationship between humans and nature, men and women. At the sametime, Mary Shelley expresses the aspiration of building a biologically diverseharmonious society.As a relatively new theory, ecofeminism absorbs the conception of feminism andeco-criticism. Its severely criticizes the anthropocentrism and androcentrism which isin favour of binary opposition. Ecofeminists speak for nature and women and they putforward new insights in their appeal to build a biodiverse and harmonious society.This dissertation analyses Frankenstein from the perspective of ecofeminism and aimsto find Mary Shelley’s ecofeminist conceptions by carefully interpreting relatedparagraphs and plots. The dissertation firstly makes a brief introduction of MaryShelley’s life, creation background of Frankenstein and ecofeminist theory. Then, toreveal the facts of men’s domination of women and nature in patriarchal society byanalyzing women’s and nature’s status in the family and society. The family tragedyof Frankenstein warns of the revenge of nature and women who are oppressed by men.After that, the dissertation explores Mary Shelley’s concepts of ecological diversityfrom the description of nature and women and related plots. Finally, the dissertationillustrates Mary’s limitations from two aspects: characteristics of narration andcharacters in the story.The dissertation finds Mary Shelley’s ecofeminist conception in Frankenstein.Mary Shelley links gender with nature and she is aware of the domination of natureand women caused by the same culture. She uses an extreme way to describe thedestruction of humans by science and technology and to severely criticize the neglectof female reproduction and the deprivation of women’s social rights. Compared withother female writers at that time, Mary Shelley’s perspective predicts the development of science and technology will bring irreparable damage to the world. In addition, italso finds that the text reflects Mary’s concern over women and her appreciation ofwomen and nature. She affirms the value of women and nature in the society andfamily of her time and puts forward the way to solve the conflicts.Through this interpretation, the dissertation summarises that returning men tonature and the family is the best way to dissolve conflicts between nature and men,women and men. Only by returning humanity to nature and recreating harmony withnature could build a harmonious society between men and nature, women and mencan be built. However, to be the earliest female writer, Mary Shelly has her limitationsof the ecofeminist conception. The dissertation finds the text is dominated by malenarration and the female images in the story are described as the ideal women in apatriarchal society. This reveals Mary’s anxiety about her identity. She is afraid to goagainst male-dominated society unreservedly; instead, she obscurely expresses heroppression to the patriarchal society and the great concerns of nature.By interpreting Frankenstein with the view of ecofeminism, this dissertationseeks not only to help readers understand the text with deeper appreciation, but also toarouse readers to pay attention to the ecological crisis and make them aware of theimportance of building a harmonious society between men, women and nature.