Throughout Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and Sembene Ousane’s God’s Bits of Wood the two authors explore the various views of women, and their role in society and family. There are very interesting feminist themes that appear in both of these novels. Although they were written more than a hundred years apart they share similarities in the roles that the women play as well as differences.
Shelly clearly illustrates in Frankenstein what harm comes to women and their families when men pursue single-minded goals. In result of Victor’s lack of work-life balance, almost all the women in the novel die. Victor’s creation of the monster leads to the hanging of the servant Justine, and the murder of Victor’s wife Elizabeth on their wedding night. There are also suggestions that Victor might not like women very much. The monster says that he will leave Victor and all mankind alone forever if Victor will just create a mate for him. Victor begins work but then gets freaked out over what it will mean to create a female monster. “She might become ten thousand times more malignant than her mate…and delight, for its own sake, in murder and wretchedness.” He then tears is creation in pieces right in front of the monster, destroying the monster’s hope for companionship. Victor claims to love Elizabeth but deserts her for years at a time. The monster clearly says “I will be with you on your wedding-night” but then…show more content… Frankenstein admits, “I looked upon Elizabeth as mine,” and this idea of male possession of the female is normal for the time this novel was written. This can be an exploration of what happens when men fear, distrust, or devalue women so much that they attempt to reproduce without them. In some ways Victor is trying to bypass females altogether. He is creating life without a womb. Women in this novel are shown as objects in a male dominated
