In this paper, Jessica Hale argues that Mary Shelley is trying to break down how women are restricted and objectified in a world where males are typically seen as more dominant, strong, and successful. Hale uses close readings of Frankenstein to give examples of these situations in which women, like Victor Frankenstein’s mother and sister, are treated as lesser counterparts to men. For example, on page 12, Hale analyzes the beginning of Victor Frankenstein’s narrative. She talks about the ways in which his genealogy is strange, and the way he depicts his mother as a submissive, domestic woman, and his sister and an object that he needs to protect. This close reading supports Hale’s argument that Mary Shelley is trying to expose the way which women are treated during this time: weak, submissive, and in need of a protector.

In addition to close readings, Hale also incorporates outside sources to defend her arguments by stating that other readers have shared her opinions. She mentions Deane Franco’s analysis of the gazing of the different characters (all male) and the effect that has in amplifying the importance of the homosocial relationships in the novel. Not only does Hale analyze these glances and stares as important to the significance of the intimate male friendships. She also uses Franco’s analysis to back up her argument that the novel focuses the homosocial relationships to emphasize the role of the male opinion in society at this time.

At first, I did not understand what a homosocial relationship was. I knew that it had the prefix –homo­, which means “one”, and I knew the definition of social, however, I was not sure what exactly it referred to. I Googled the definition, but one could also look for it in a dictionary. A homosocial relationship is a non-sexual relationship between only males in a social setting. This only furthers Hale’s argument that society at this time was male-dominated, as most of the relationships were “homosocial,” and in the context of Frankenstein, friendship with a man is the only thing Victor wants.