'Imprisonment in Frankenstein\r'

'In bloody shame Shelleys gothic novel Frankenstein and Charlotte Gilmans short story â€Å"The icteric Wallpaper,” imprisonment is a reoccurring theme. The main characters in two stories seek to break free of the confinements imposed upon them by hierarchical societies. These strictly stratified societies prosecute the characters;who act with immediate action in order to attain that independence which their societies have purged from them. superior Frankenstein, Frankensteins demon, and whoremasters wife all fulfill the indignities of both literal and figurativeal imprisonment founded on racism, classism, and sexism. In â€Å"Frankenstein,” master endures some(prenominal) types of imprisonment. His workshop is frequently like a prison cell, in that he stays in the get on for months at a time and leaves only for brief stretches. achiever admits that, â€Å"My talk had grown pale with study, and my person had become worn with confinement” (Shelly 3 2). Victor is literally imprisoned by the authorities for the murder of his best friend, Henry Clerval.He is metaphorically imprisoned by his inability to protect his love ones, including his future wife, from his hellion. He reveals the dread pee-peed by his impotence when he says, â€Å"And then I thought over again of his words- I go away be with you on your wedding-night” (Shelly 117). Victor’s fear of social ostracism, which would be the probably step upcome if anyone of his class were to discover that he had created the lewd fiend that had killed so many innocent people, too impairs his actions.It is only after he decides to hunt conquer the monster and vanquish him in order to simple mindedness his conscience that Victor breaks free from the prison that his fears create for him. Although Victor dies before avenging his loved ones, his death is what in conclusion releases him from this prison. Frankensteins monster overly patronages both literal an d metaphoric imprisonment. Because his hideous appearance pr hithertots him from developing relationships with humans, he is a prisoner in his own body. The monster’s accidental killing of a boy in the woods is an ex angstromle his inability to have even the most basic social experiences.The monster is also sentenced to something like solitary confinement by the De Laceys. Although he spends months learning how to speak and read so that others result think him civilized, the De Laceys chase him away when he lastly approaches them. Felix tackles the monster who remorsefully states â€Å"I could have been torn limb from limb” (Shelly 91), this shows how unwilling the De Laceys are to compromise. The monster is wronged in the same way that the victims of racism are wronged: namely, he is rejected for his outwardly appearance.Even though the monster is the only one of its race, he is prosecuted by a hierarchical society who doesnt judge based on character. Frankensteins monster tries to win his freedom from isolation by asking his creator, Victor, to construct a distaff monster for him. The monster pleads, â€Å"You must create a female for me, with whom I crapper live in the pitch of the sympathies necessary for my being” (Shelly 98). The monster believes that having a fellow traveller would give him a reason to live, however Victor denies his monster of this request. We see in Anne K.Mellors â€Å"Processing disposition: The Female in Frankenstein”, â€Å"By stealing the females imprimatur over reproduction, Frankenstein has eliminated the females primary biological function and bug of cultural power”(Mellor 274). This further more states that Victor has created the perfect patriarchal society, in which the creation of humanness no longer needs the service of women. The muliebrity in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper” also experiences several different types of imprisonment. The fair sexs husband, prank, treats her like a prisoner in her own home because of her postpartum depression.She feels that she has very piffling freedom of thought or action because John dictates the course of her life as though he were a prison guard. She has internalized her husband’s authority to the point she hears Johns voice in her head. The narrator states, â€Å"I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus- plainly John says the very worst thing I go off do is think well-nigh my condition, and I blackleg it always makes me feel bad. So I will let it alone and talk about the kin”(Gilman 2).The narrator starts to keep a secret journal because of this captivity, this writing is the only emotional stimulus the woman can forgo to express herself freely. She says, â€Å"I must not let them find me writing” (Gilman 3). In a metaphorical sense, the woman finds herself trapped by her condition and the patriarchal society in which she lives. twa in prevent her from asserting her independence as a women. In a physical sense, she finds herself confined to a room of John’s choosing. All she can do is obsess over the wallpaper. The narrator says, â€Å"I am getting really fond of the room in spite of the wallpaper.Perhaps because of the wallpaper” (Gilman 7). Eventually, when she sees the creeping women in the wallpaper,the narrator gains a measure of freedom when she weeping it all down, thus freeing her mind as well as the imprisoned women, fusing into one. The narrator rejoices that, â€Å"Ive got out at last” (Gilman 10). She goes insane at the comprise of winning her freedom from John and a discriminatory society. The main characters in both stories undergo a major transformation. They all start as prisoners of sorts, but they all eventually break free when they anticipate the powers that imprison them.This proves evident with some truths about humanity, about the prisons that we construct for ours elves and the prisons that our societies constructs for us. Victor Frankenstein, Frankensteins monster, and Johns wife all suffer from hierarchical societies which reject the characters, who attempt to gain their freedom which have been denied to them.Works Cited Gilman, Charlotte. The Yellow Wallpaper. Boston, Ma: Small & Maynard, 1899. Web. 2 Oct. 2010. . Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York, NY: W. W. Norton &, 1996. Print.\r\n'