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Justine's trial revisited: A space for women's subculture in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Wake, Ann Frank |
| Copyright Year | 2001 |
| Abstract | That Mary Shelley acknowledged the power of the male gaze to shape female behavior can be seen in letters to close women friends, among them Janey Barry. Percy Shelley used the curious phrase "subterraneous community of women" to describe his recognition of female bonding that he could identify, but not interpret. To assume that Mary Shelley might actually use such "knowledge" in constructing her fiction yields a somewhat different reading of woman-centered events in Frankenstein? The "male eyes" which might censure Shelley's own writing appear reflected in the letter to Barry as forces which not only shape women's behavior ("I will endeavor to be as demure as an old maid") but serve to build female confidences and alliances ("I wonder if you will understand the fitting supplement to that unfinished sentence"). This essay argues that Elizabeth's and Justine's interactions in Frankenstein make use of a similar strategy. Their "performances" during the trial scene become Shelley's vehicle for illuminating the dynamics, the necessity and the significance of female communities that supported women's emotional survival within the patriarchal construct. Following Percy Shelley's death, Mary Shelley heavily relied on female friends. She developed deep feelings for Jane Williams, whose husband had drowned with Percy Shelley in 1822 and was, according to Betty Bennett "her most important link to that past" (MWS Letters, II, xiii). Williams betrayed their friendship in the summer of 1827 and the incident profoundly effected Shelley's life/More than ten years later Shelley wrote of the episode with a poignant depth of emotion that belied the passing of years. Her journal entry |
| Starting Page | 493 |
| Ending Page | 516 |
| Page Count | 24 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.1080/10509580108570153 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://l-adam-mekler.com/wake_justines-trial.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.1080/10509580108570153 |
| Volume Number | 12 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
